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Re: [OM] SC Retrogrouch

Subject: Re: [OM] SC Retrogrouch
From: "Tom Scales" <tscales@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 29 Jun 2001 15:31:14 -0500
About the only thing I can add is that I do have a 21/3.5 silvernose and
love the lens.  From an academic point of view is the MC version better?
Probably, but I love the little lens.  I have a mix of SC and MC and have
tended to make my keeper the WORST lens that has passed through my hands.
Why? Because they're cheaper, of course.  Seriously, though, I tend to agree
with Ken. The results are exceptional and I can count on one hand the number
of shots in the last 20 years that have been ruined by flare. Does it
happen?  Sure.  Would I have fewer with all MC lenses? Probably.  Am I going
to run out and upgrade?  Nope.  I actually have the same opinion of the fast
versus slow lenses.  I've owned both the 21/2 and 21/3.5.  Which did I keep?
The 21/3.5.  In the circumstances that I use the lens, the difference in
speed isn't a big deal.  The 21/3.5 is so much smaller and lighter that I
can take a much bigger kit with the same weight.  I made the same decision
on the 24, 28, 35, 135 and 200 lenses too.  OK, so I have a 100/2 and
180/2.8, but they sit on the shelf more than the 100/2.8 and 200/5 do.

I use these things, even though I enjoy looking at them on the shelf.  I
worry less and use them more when I have equipment that I'm not worried if
it gets worn.  My most frequently used body is an OM-4T that is almost down
to the Ti on the top.  Brass, brass, brass.  Hey, it looks good to me.  I
also own a Black 4T that probably qualifies as mint.  Does I use it?  Almost
never.  Who wants to beat it up?

If the silvernose 21/3.5 has clean glass, buy it.  You won't regret it.  My
21 gets 10 times the use of any other wide angle.

Tom

> > Garth or Ken;  Wasn't it one of you two that eschewed all
> things complex
> > (particularly MC) and reverted to an all SC, even to the point
> of all silver
> > nosed, small kit????  Just curious if that included a silver
> nosed 21/3.5.
>
> No, I don't have a 21/3.5 of any flavour.  Can't help you there.
>
> But about this anti-modernistic thing--guilty as charged.  Well
> sorta.  It's mostly a forced attribute thanks to financial
> realities.  Even at the outset I bought used equipment which
> meant SC lenses were what was available in 1987.  My 100/2.8 was
> my first lens and it remains my favorite.  Does it flare a bit
> more than the newer MC versions?  Sure, but it also has a couple
> characteristics which, for me, make it superior.  It is a
> slightly warmer lens than the newer lenses (any radioactive
> elements are a result of too much airline travel, but that's
> another story), and it has unbelievable bokeh characteristics at
> F4 and F5.6.  I believe that the newer versions have slightly
> different iris blades which do not operate like mine.  Mine is
> so sharp that I hesitate to risk getting a different 100mm lens
> that doesn't work as well.  I will shed tears when it is
> lost/stolen/sold/broken/retired.
>
> The 24/2.8 is SC, but really is a pain.  This is one lens that I
> really would like to have the latest/greatest coatings for.
> Granted, mine has been dropped, smashed and banged enough that
> the glass is probably stressed beyond belief.  The SC version of
> this lens is OK, but when given the choice, go MC.
>
> My (new to me) 50/3.5 is SC and is such an excellent lens and
> flares less than anything else I've owned so even though MC
> might be better, I'm not going to compare to find out.  The SC
> is serving my needs perfectly.  The way I shoot, I don't need
> the MC version.
>
> The 200/4 is SC.  Again, financial realities.  However, I am
> pleased with it and it flares very little.  The built-in hood
> works well.  The 200/4 (and my previous one-RIP) flare less than
> ANY other tele or zoom I've owned--and they were all MC lenses.
>
> Retro-grouch?  More like a realist.  I just completed the filing
> of around 1700 slides that had escaped their sheets (published,
> etc) or never were filed in the first place.  I was making note
> of which lens was used for the shots and rarely was flare ever
> present or contrast reduced by the SC lenses.  Granted, I do
> shoot slightly differently than others and I shield the lens
> with my hand when the lens is shining on the glass (but out of
> the frame) so the older designs have been fine for me.  The
> other aspect of this is tonal qualities.  I happen to prefer the
> warmer look of the older lenses than the sterilness of some of
> the newer glass.
>
> My set of lenses may not be as colour accurate as the newer
> glass, may be less contrasty, and may not even be as sharp as
> the latest.  However, just like vehicles, you adapt to the way
> they handle.  My preferred film is Velvia.  Why? Because it
> seems to be a nearly perfect match to my SC glass.  It ups the
> contrast to keep the shadows from getting muddy and saturates
> those colors which may flatten out some.  Flat films such as
> Astia and some of the Ektachromes just die a fast death with my
> lenses.  SC lenses seem to work great for portrait and B&W work
> too.  I've learned not to use warming filters (or any filter if
> at all possible) with my SC lenses as you can kiss the blues
> goodbye.
>
> I have no allusions that SC lenses are superior to MC lenses.
> Quite the opposite.  If I was starting out, I'd get only MC
> glass if possible.  But given my tens of thousands of pictures
> successfully shot with SC lenses, I have no hesitation in
> continuing to do so until I change systems entirely.
>
> Best of all, the silver-nosed lenses just look cool!  Like
> chrome wheels on a low-rider.
>
> Ken (retrogrouch) Norton
>
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