Wide angle lense for Olympus 400

Grislo

I somewhat recently bought a barely used Olympus 400 at a good price, which came with 2 standard lenses.

The 14-42 and 40-150 are fine for now, since I'm just getting used to the camera, etc.

However, I get a lot of request from people (read: mostly my mother) to come by and take photos, but my lenses aren't always up to it.

For example, she wanted a good photo of a Christmas tree (she has an obsession of some kind), but since it was placed in a rather small room, the above lenses just couldn't get a good picture showing the full tree (the 40-150 obviously couldn't).

I assume that I need some kind of wide angle lens?

So, question (s):

1. What kind should I get? I've been looking at some Sigma lenses, but I'm not sure.

2. Also, will that kind of lens be good for portrait work?

Under optimal conditions I'd try a few out, but there aren't that many options around here, so it'll be an internet purchase. I think I'll end up using it a fair bit, but obviously I'm not looking for THE top of the line lens here.

Grislo

Would something like this be a good idea?

http://asia.olympus-global.com/imsg/dslr/lenses/35_35M/index.html

Not a wide angle, but it should let me do what I was looking for, yes?

saltiness

Well, you're looking for a wide angle and that 35mm lens is certainly not a wide angle on your camera plus you already have that focal length covered so it doesn't give you anything new except for macro for which you expressed no need or desire. You want something like this http://asia.olympus-global.com/imsg/dslr/lenses/7-14_40/ which is ridiculously expensive. Unfortunately Olympus is the wrong camera to go with if you like super wide angle shots.

For portraits however, the lenses you have right now should be just fine. You might want to consider getting an older fast lens (f/2 or faster) so you can play around with background blur which works well with portraits.

Grislo

I wasn't looking for 'super wide angle' exactly. Essentially just slightly more than the kit lenses provide. Or rather, being able to get a slightly wider angle without needing to be as physically far away as you do with those kit lenses, which can be a problem in tight spaces.

Dark Moon

The 14-42mm you have is already pretty damn wide, though the crop sensor reduces the width quite a bit. With a 2x focal range multiplier because of the sensor size you simply aren't going to be able to get very wide with that body. Once you start delving below the 10mm mark pretty much your only options are going to be fish-eyes, which aren't what you want. You're sure 14mm (28mm equivalent on that body, but still) wasn't wide enough?

Grislo

Yeah, not quite wide enough. It's not something I'll be needing that often for my own things, so it's no big deal. The Zuiko wide angle stuff does indeed look rather expensive, and Sigma and other 4/3 manufacturers do not really seem to make anything I'd want/need for that purpose.