M43 Lens Suggestions for Newborn Photography?

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Aarron

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Darren
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Hi Togs,

I was wondering if anyone in here hasd any experience with baby photography, more specifically baby photography with a Micro 4/3 system?

I recently bought a Pana G80/85 and we have a baby due in the next 2 weeks so I would LOVE to get some really nice photos of him with some soft creamy bokeh in the background. I would really appreciate if anyone could advise on lenese for this purpose, at the moment I onlyhave the standard 12-60mm kit lens which is nice for learning the camera but I know I need some better glass if Im to get the shots Im looking for.

Just to be clear these images are the style I would like to recreate with my own son:

1) https://tinyurl.com/y72clnou
2) https://tinyurl.com/y99cklgw
3) https://tinyurl.com/yatcz2zu
4) https://tinyurl.com/yasb248o

Im thinking a macro is going to be a good lens to get hold of but not sure which.

Many thanks
 
I’d concentrate more on lighting tbh, it will have more impact on your shot.

As for lenses decide which focal length would suit you best and then get a fast lens of that focal length, something like an f1.4 or f1.8. Of course you could get a macro lens but I believe they’re all f2.8 so you aren’t going to get tons of background blur on a shot like this.
 
Aarron said:
Hi Togs,

I was wondering if anyone in here hasd any experience with baby photography, more specifically baby photography with a Micro 4/3 system?

I recently bought a Pana G80/85 and we have a baby due in the next 2 weeks so I would LOVE to get some really nice photos of him with some soft creamy bokeh in the background. I would really appreciate if anyone could advise on lenese for this purpose, at the moment I onlyhave the standard 12-60mm kit lens which is nice for learning the camera but I know I need some better glass if Im to get the shots Im looking for.

Just to be clear these images are the style I would like to recreate with my own son:

1) https://tinyurl.com/y72clnou
2) https://tinyurl.com/y99cklgw
3) https://tinyurl.com/yatcz2zu
4) https://tinyurl.com/yasb248o
https://tinyurl.com/yasb248o
Im thinking a macro is going to be a good lens to get hold of but not sure which.

Many thanks
Click to expand...


As said, lighting is the key to shots like this although some of these are very shallow DoF which were probably achieved with a full frame camera and fast primes (although the first looks photoshopped). You can't really replicate this exact look on m43 without getting a f/0.95 or f/1.2 prime lens.

But still, the Oly 45mm f/1.8 will give you as shallow DoF you can get for sensible money and it is as sharp as a sharp thing, but this alone will not get you the shots you aspire to.
 
It's a while since I photographed a baby but one thing I'd aim for is getting both eyes sharp. Looking at the pictures in the link in all but possibly the last (which seems to be at f11) the eyes are pretty much on the same plane but anything other than that if the head or the shot is at a slight angle f1.8 is possibly in danger of being on the wide side for the DoF needed to get the eyes sharp so I wouldn't worry too much about needing a f1.2 or f0.95, if you want to get both eyes sharp, a f1.8 prime could possibly be enough.
 
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You can easily get nice shallow DOF using M43 primes, the ones that focus in closest will give you the best chance for what you're after here. The Panasonic 42.5mm f/1.7 might be perfect, it focuses closer than the Olympus 45. The lighting isn't anything special in the examples you link, a simple off cam flash unit in a soft box can achieve this, babies are tiny after all
 
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