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Re: [OM] Lenses: The Good, the Bad, and the Average.

Subject: Re: [OM] Lenses: The Good, the Bad, and the Average.
From: Henrik Dahl <hdahl@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 9 Nov 2001 00:53:14 +0100
Dean wrote:
I'm interested in opinions on the following Zuiko lenses (or something
close to the ranges below).

21mm
24mm
50mm
somewhere between 85 or 100mm
135mm
200mm

I've not started yet, and I'd like some info as to which ones are Good or
even Great, Average, or not so good? thanks.
-dean

Dean,
you have huge bunch of options there, and you'll probably recieve tons of answers. All Zuikos are generally good, some are great, and the "not-in-my-price-range" ones might very well be outstanding in the world. You will have to go bargaining second-hand
Choises has a  lot to do with:
1) what type of photography you mainly do/want to try
2) if you're a poor student or "hemhorroging" money (a new expr I learned from the list the other day, means you have a bunch, I think)
3) the limits you set for lightness vs weight, bulkyness vs small equipment etc
4) if you prefer the slightly warmer tone as reported rendered by single-coated (SC) versions or the less flary multi-coated (MC) ones
5) sheer "feeling" (subjective, hard to describe) for a lens

Personal: I myself am not very rich, so I always have to go for the slower, lighter glass. I'll go through the ones I know about:

24 mm. I use the 24/2.8 SC (yes, Ken it's a silvernoze), with a lot of joy. It's compact and light and in my non-professional eyes very sharp. The 24/2 is one stop faster and probably even sharper, but also slightly heavier and twice the price. The 24mm is ideal for scenics and IMHO portraits, giving a not too, but yet exaggerated wiew. Haven't had any distorsion problems at all, but it's a little tricky with filters because of vignetting. This is one of my absolute favourites. A great WA in between the real ones (21-16) and the wishy-washy ones (28-35) The 24/2.8 is 120~200 depending on version

50 mm. There are so many to chose from. You must have at least one of these. Zuikos are made in either normal 50mm with varying speed or 50mm macro. From what I've learned and experienced: 50/1.8 - very cheap ($20~35), very light and very sharp if you get a late version ("made in japan" on front) 50/1.4 - more expensive ($40~100), and very sharp if latest version (serial >1.000.000) If you find a late version one for a reasonable price - get it! 50/1.2 - The fastest, heaviest and most expensive ($250+) But a lot of glass for the money 50/3.5 macro - a little inbetween: not fast and (as I'm told) not to sharp, but quite cheap. Serves doubleduty as standard and macro. As does
50/2 macro - This I would really like to afford, but alas...

85 mm. I use the 85/2 wich I enjoy fully. It's the MC version, and it's simply beautiful. Perfect, of course, for portraits, but it also serves as a standard for far away wiews. The 85/2 is one I'll never let go of. It's tiny and not too expensive ($140~220) and worth every cent 100 mm. I had the 100/2.8, but gave that up in favour for the faster 85. This is else a cheaper version with almost the same perspective The big brother is the 100/2 which I hear is fantastic, but again out of my economical reach.

135 mm comes in two flavours: 3.5 and 2.8.. None of them are very expensive (3.5 $40~70, 2.8 $70~130) and they serve very well as short telephotos. The 3.5 is obviously somewhat smaller, but not much. To my knowledge that one was only made in SC. A good lens to have in handy. The 2.8 I believe is sharper, though.

As said, many of these opinions are purely subjective.

Some links:

The "bible" http://www.taiga.ca/~esif/om-sif/lensgroup.htm

Buying used http://brashear.phys.appstate.edu/lhawkins/photo/olympus.faq.html#ques_L0

Lens tests http://members.aol.com/olympusom/lenstests/default.htm

Good luck hunting. You've choosen the best of systems, there's something for every type and wallet.

Henrik Dahl



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