Lens advice sought

Somehow, I've got a couple weddings lined up for this summer even though I am

not a professional and did not seek this work out. Also I have come into some

extra money that I thought I'd buy a second Olympus 4/3s body and an additional

lens. It's been 30 years since I last shot a wedding and then I used a Mamiya

C330 (I was young and had a strong back!). I'm fairly certain, if I wanted to,

I could book quite a few weddings each year and I am seriously thinking about

it.

 

Currently, I am using the Oly 2 lens kit of a 14 - 45 mm (35 mm equiv 28 - 90

mm) and the 40 - 150 mm lens (35 mm equiv 80 - 300mm). I am reasonably

comfortable that the image quality of these lenses will be up to the task

though they aren't very fast lenses.

 

For a new lens, I'm torn between the higher IQ of the 14 - 54 mm 35 mm equiv

(28 - 108 mm) Zuiko which will duplicate the shorter kit lens, or the also

higher quality 11 - 22 mm Zuiko (35mm equiv of 22 - 44mm). The 11 - 22 mm

Zuiko is about $250 USD more than the 14 - 54. Both will be a full stop faster

than the kit lenses.

 

My questions are these.

 

1) How useful overall would the extra wide angle be in a wedding situation?

2) Would you rather have a higher quality (and faster) modest WA to short tele

or would you feel that a medium WA to almost normal would be a better addition

to the lens mix?

 

I'd like to do as good a job as possible for these kids, but I'm just not

certain which new lens would be a more cost effective choice. I'm comfortable

that my other equipment needs have been met.

Why not get 2 fast primes? Does Olympus have any? I would get a wide prime and a medium tele prime. That should be the same cost as a large ap zoom. That is what I would do. You are going to need faster lenses.

I agree with Robert. A couple of primes is probably faster to handle, and once you "get to know" their coverage you soon find yourself knowing exactly where to stand and what each lens covers ~ much faster than twiddling with a zoom contol for every shot. Perhaps a 28 and an 85?

Aren't they about to release a 14-35/2 or something? That would be a nice one to have (28-70 equiv.)

 

Otherwise, using a second body, two primes as Robert and Al both say.