Actually,
both lenses are good for shooting anything. Just that they have close focusing capabilities and therefore they are known as "Macro" lenses. They would be the same as any 70mm or 100mm lenses out there (in 35mm format).
The
14-54mm for example, have close focusing capabilities too (0.22m to subject, as opposed to 0.24m on the 50mm Macro, surprise!) and therefore it causes some confusion at first for me (should be called a Macro Zoom!), but the f2.0 on the 50mm and the bokeh it creates makes it a bloody amazing lens, not to mention being a prime, the sharpness is really very much unrivaled by many other lenses from the ZD series.
SEE THE E-SYSTEM LENS LIST FOR MORE SPECS ON THE LENSES.
Just to de-myth what everyone always thinks... there are NO RULES to what you can shoot with what lenses. Just that it would be easier to classify the lenses into categories when putting them into catalogs, at least that is what I think.
I have done fashion work with
8mm fisheye and used the
300mm prime(have to stress that this is loaner) to shoot fashion too mainly because the surrounding was too messy and I wanted to compress the perspective. After a while of shooting, you kind of understand how every lens behave and how you can control perspective or Field of View, which makes one a better photographer (note: I am no master, just a serious amateur). That was also my biggest problem when I first switch from traditional film to 4/3 because the system totally threw me off when it comes to FOV. If you have been shooting film that long, you will understand.
Anyway, regarding focusing issues, the
35mm and
50mm has lots of ground to cover, from as close as 0.146m for the 35mm to infinity... and the "travel" for the focusing barrel has a long way to go. It was a little frustrating when the lens hunt because I did not point the lens at something contrasty to start with. This is an inherent "issue" with the Olympus AF but you will quickly learn to get use to it. So that is not really a problem at all, unless you have read about other problems that I have not come across.
I never had any problems with the 35mm or the 50mm at all. But I find myself going for the 50mm all the time because the focal length is close to my old time favourite lens, the Nikkor 105mm that was built in the 70s and honestly, I love the 50mm Macro more because it is a much sharper lens than any primes that I have used (except the 150mm prime, which is a monster in itself... that was made by aliens... truly an amazing piece of glass, rivaling the famous Tessa "Eagle's Eye" lens in my opinion).
But sharpness comes with superb details revelation and it sometimes backfire if you are shooting human subjects with bad skin. Everything is revealed and that is not very flattery to the subject that you are shooting (but of course, these days you can do post work to sort this out easily).
Take your time to study a lens well before making any impulsive purchase decision. If you can only afford to buy one Macro lens from the ZD family and not in hurry to have it, I would suggest that you save for the 50mm Macro because it is one of the most important lens to me personally. Lightweight and produces superb images. A joy to have if you love shooting details. Weatherproofing the lens means it can take a little bit more abuse and is protected against the elements. That is something "extra" that I would gladly pay for.
Hope the above information helps.
