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Re: [OM] opinions of short Olympus teles

Subject: Re: [OM] opinions of short Olympus teles
From: "John A. Lind" <jlind@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 21:36:29 +0000
At 20:19 7/24/01, Michael Zimmet asked:

Also, could someone tell me about the 85mm f/2 Zuiko? I've heard
virtually nothing about this lens, and it interests me quite a lot,
as fast to moderately fast 80-85mm lenses have long been among my
favorites in 35mm photography.

The 85mm f/2 would be used pretty much the same as the
aforementioned 135mm lens, although portraits would seldom be taken
wide open, as f/2.8-4 is about as shallow as I usually care to go,
in terms of depth of field. Still, the f/2 lens would probably make
focusing a snap, and even though I don't usually shoot at f/2 or
faster, it's nice to know the option's there.

The 85mm f/2 has become one of my favorite lenses for portraits, field macros, and anything needing just a little more distance (and the perspective it creates) than a standard lens. It is small, light and one of the few very fast Zuiko f/2's with a 49mm filter ring. The others have 55mm rings. All the screw-on filters used with the standard 50mm can be used with this lens. IMO it's overshadowed by the 90/2 Macro and the 100/2, overlooked as a result, and doesn't get enough credit. One of the beauties of the 85mm focal length is being long enough not to get into perspective trouble with tight portraits while leaving some depth with a perspective less flattened compared to the 100mm length. 85mm is almost exactly twice the diagonal of a 35mm film frame.

Did my TOPE 5 with this lens at f/2.8, indoors with available light, using Kodachrome 64.

-- John


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