I posted an update on the Olympus OM System Lens Tests site:
6-20-2000: replaced 16mm Fisheye Zuiko test, added a 35mm Shift Zuiko
test, added 35-70mm f/3.3~4.5 Nikkor.
Here are some comments about the tests:
The Nikon Nikkor got a Photodo.com rating of 3.3 While I have yet to
evaluate it at 70mm, it is clearly surpassed by the 35-70mm f/3.5~4.5 S
Zuiko at 35mm and at 50mm! Viva la Zuiko. Makes me wonder how the
35-80mm f/2.8 Zuiko could have only got a 3.6 rating?
My new 35mm Shift test sample showed significant better performance at
the no offset setting than the earlier one I tested. It might have been
lens sample variation, since without an automatic diaphragm one would
expect little difference between a OM-1 w/ mirror lockup test and a
OM-2S with mirror prefire. The earlier one was in a higher condition
grade, though. Another possibility is that I was careful to compensate
for what seemed greater than normal curvature of field in this lens
design. At the no offset setting, the corners appeared to be focusing at
a different distance than the center. I chose an intermediate distance
on the lens focusing scale. Note the word "appeared." Anytime you are
dealing with a lens that produces a C or poorer grade wide open, you are
going to see the effect in the viewfinder and it is going to show itself
as a less than crisp image which is difficult to focus. So determining
corner focus with a 2-4 screen was a bit of a guess.
The 16mm Zuiko test is a new lens sample, tested using a curved map. The
center of the map was at a distance to the lens equal to the distance to
right and left edges of the map. In the previous test the map was flat,
which made for wildly different distances. Since I'm no math genius,
someone might argue that is the corners which should have been equal
distance, rather than the edges - since it is near to the corners where
I made my "Corner" evaluation. At any rate, this fisheye produces
wonderful contrast at the slight expense of resolution. Details in a
16mm view are going to be so minute and the composition is going to be
so much more important that I think Olympus made a fine trade-off here.
This trade-off is even more pronounced in the 8mm Zuiko. Focusing the
16mm with a 2-4 screen was a delight. Certainly a fine lens, although it
needs stopping down for an even exposure across the frame.
Gary Reese
Las Vegas, NV
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