Juha, I am currently exploring the 45mm lens on my G3, and learning to love the slight compression of perspective it gives, along with the fine blur in different layers of depth in an image. And here I think light and subject and technique are finely matching, the subtle colors further enhancing the strong black shapes of the tree.
Thanks, Cedric! I should never again complain that I have already seen all facets of my hometown… there is always something new to discover and compose in a frame. And these are probably the last days this spring where there are trees without first traces of green leaves sprouting on all twigs.
Carl, thank you very much! Currently we have a lot of opportunity to enjoy the beauty of rainy weather – and this is a lot easier with the G3 and 3 primes fitting so nicely in the pockets of my anorak. And the minimized weight on the shoulder helps to keep the eyes open.
Markus, I recently got the 45mm Olympus. Longer than normal is not my regular lens choice, but once in a while I need it and my first impressions of this lens are very favorable. One handling quirk, though. Unlike my Lumix lenses, when I switch the camera on, the 45mm seems to come up defaulted to a very close focus which it then has to hunt from to find the subject. Focusing is excellent and fast after that first move, but I like to turn the camera off and then on for each shooting situation. The camera turns on very quickly, as I’m raising it to my eye, and battery power is conserved very nicely this way. But the focus startup with this lens interferes with this approach.
This is something I did not observe until now, Carl, but probably only for the reason that I mostly switch off the camera only when changing lenses. In the menu I have set the sleep timer, and carry the camera switched on. Usually a fully charged battery lasts more than a day, but I rarely leave house without a second one in my pocket. Overall I find the 45mm a very enjoyable lense, with a smooth out-of-focus rendering and sharp when only modestly stopped down, still sharp enough wide open for portraits. And the angle of view is narrow with the perspective becoming much flatter, but not to an extent that it would seem unnatural or look contrived.
Another lovely picture. Like you and Carl I love the 45mm. I don’t often shoot at that length, favoring the incredible 20mm or even the little 14mm. But when I want to compress a little it is lovely.
Like Carl I find that focusing close can be a problem if the subject doesn’t have a lot of contrast. I live with it though as my subjects rarely move;-)
James, as much as I love my 14mm, the 45mm for me is a wonderful tool both for the narrow perspective and the bokeh. I rarely use it for closer distances, but there I also have experienced that focus lock, forcing me to reframe and aim the focus field at something different. And what I do not love at all with this and also the Panasonic lenses is that awful indirect behaviour when focusing manually. I know that it’s possibly the price for size and minimized energy usage, but still… my socialisation was with manual lenses, and that feeling I still crave.
The tree feels a bit like etching, dark indeed; the smooth painted walls provide an interesting visual contrast.
Juha, I am currently exploring the 45mm lens on my G3, and learning to love the slight compression of perspective it gives, along with the fine blur in different layers of depth in an image. And here I think light and subject and technique are finely matching, the subtle colors further enhancing the strong black shapes of the tree.
This is a great image, I can’t stop looking at it. Cool dynamics. Excellent job with the composition.
Thanks, Cedric! I should never again complain that I have already seen all facets of my hometown… there is always something new to discover and compose in a frame. And these are probably the last days this spring where there are trees without first traces of green leaves sprouting on all twigs.
The tree seems almost to dance. Lovely.
Carl, thank you very much! Currently we have a lot of opportunity to enjoy the beauty of rainy weather – and this is a lot easier with the G3 and 3 primes fitting so nicely in the pockets of my anorak. And the minimized weight on the shoulder helps to keep the eyes open.
Markus, I recently got the 45mm Olympus. Longer than normal is not my regular lens choice, but once in a while I need it and my first impressions of this lens are very favorable. One handling quirk, though. Unlike my Lumix lenses, when I switch the camera on, the 45mm seems to come up defaulted to a very close focus which it then has to hunt from to find the subject. Focusing is excellent and fast after that first move, but I like to turn the camera off and then on for each shooting situation. The camera turns on very quickly, as I’m raising it to my eye, and battery power is conserved very nicely this way. But the focus startup with this lens interferes with this approach.
This is something I did not observe until now, Carl, but probably only for the reason that I mostly switch off the camera only when changing lenses. In the menu I have set the sleep timer, and carry the camera switched on. Usually a fully charged battery lasts more than a day, but I rarely leave house without a second one in my pocket. Overall I find the 45mm a very enjoyable lense, with a smooth out-of-focus rendering and sharp when only modestly stopped down, still sharp enough wide open for portraits. And the angle of view is narrow with the perspective becoming much flatter, but not to an extent that it would seem unnatural or look contrived.
Another lovely picture. Like you and Carl I love the 45mm. I don’t often shoot at that length, favoring the incredible 20mm or even the little 14mm. But when I want to compress a little it is lovely.
Like Carl I find that focusing close can be a problem if the subject doesn’t have a lot of contrast. I live with it though as my subjects rarely move;-)
James, as much as I love my 14mm, the 45mm for me is a wonderful tool both for the narrow perspective and the bokeh. I rarely use it for closer distances, but there I also have experienced that focus lock, forcing me to reframe and aim the focus field at something different.
And what I do not love at all with this and also the Panasonic lenses is that awful indirect behaviour when focusing manually. I know that it’s possibly the price for size and minimized energy usage, but still… my socialisation was with manual lenses, and that feeling I still crave.