What is the best lens for...
- around 135mm-150mm eq. (70-85mm)
- smallest possible (with a small adapter)
- F2.8 or faster
- with Excellent IQ
- Less than $750
- Mostly used for portraits
Currently I'm considering the Pentax 77mm F/1.8. It's fairly small and fast lens, but the adapter makes it bigger than what I hope to have.
Any suggestions?
Thanks.
So you're looking for a 70-85mm lens. This is a wonderful telephoto range for FourThirds. Why confuse things with 35mm Equivalence stuff?
The Pentax FA77 Limited is a delightful lens, but pricey (now particularly ... it's much more than when I bought one). At nearly $800, I think it's way over-priced. When I bought mine in 2006, it was $600, and I thought that was pricey.
I am using a somewhat rare Olympus Pen F G.Zuiko 70mm f/2 on the G1. Very small, excellent imaging quality:
That's a B+W 49mm telephoto hood on a 43->49 step up ring. The lens cost me $415 last year, the adapter is about $60 IIRC. The lens is really very small and quite light. Olympus also made a 60mm f/1.5 which is beautiful, but even rarer than the 70/2.
I haven't found anything "soft" about it either ... although wide open it is just a touch soft at the edges. It does need a good deep hood ... 1960s lens coatings.
Panasonic G1 + Olympus Pen F 70mm f/2
ISO 100 @ f/2.8 @ 1/800 second
If you want a little longer, the Nikon 85mm f/1.8 is a superb performer and costs around $450. It's not as compact as either the Olympus Pen or Pentax, however. There's also the Samyang 85mm f/1.4 (sold under Vivitar and Bower names for Nikon mount) which is quite a good performer and only $350 new.