The engine's answer
Best lens for portraits, under €500
OM System M.Zuiko 45mm f/1.8
80% match
The hundred-gram portrait lens
Why it wins here
The OM System M.Zuiko 45mm f/1.8 takes this question at €280 — €220 under the €500 ceiling — with a 80% match against 65 current lenses. For portraits the engine leans on bokeh and max aperture: it scores 72/100 and f/1.8, where the pool averages 71/100 and f/3. At 116 g it is lighter than the average lens here (633 g). No prime-or-zoom preference was required, so the whole pool of 65 was in play.
The dimensions where it beats the rest of the field by the most, for this question specifically.
- Budget
- Use
What's good
- Portrait compression that weighs nothing
- A classic first prime for the system
What to watch
- No sealing
- Simple build, simple bokeh
What came close — and what each gave up
- Sony FE 50mm F1.876%The cheapest ticket to real bokehThe Sony FE 50mm F1.8 (76% match) trails on bokeh — 66/100 against 72/100. Check price: B&H Photo Adorama MPB (used) eBay (used)
- OM System M.Zuiko 60mm f/2.8 Macro75%The field-macro featherweightThe OM System M.Zuiko 60mm f/2.8 Macro (75% match) trails on max aperture — f/2.8 against f/1.8. Check price: B&H Photo Adorama MPB (used) eBay (used)
- Nikon Z 40mm f/273%The friendly little character primeThe Nikon Z 40mm f/2 (73% match) trails on bokeh — 64/100 against 72/100. Check price: B&H Photo Adorama MPB (used) eBay (used)
Questions this answer raises
- Is the OM System M.Zuiko 45mm f/1.8 within a €500 budget?
- Yes. At €280 it leaves €220 of the ceiling unspent; the Sony FE 50mm F1.8 costs €250 and the OM System M.Zuiko 60mm f/2.8 Macro costs €500.
- How good is the OM System M.Zuiko 45mm f/1.8 for portraits?
- On the use question it scores 61%, 11 points above the average of the 65 lenses ranked. Its strongest numbers for this use are bokeh (72/100) and max aperture (f/1.8).
- What comes closest to the OM System M.Zuiko 45mm f/1.8 for portraits?
- The Sony FE 50mm F1.8 at 76%, then the OM System M.Zuiko 60mm f/2.8 Macro at 75%. The section above names the measure each one lost on.
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