Olympus-OM
[Top] [All Lists]

Re: [OM] Zuiko 80 f/4.0 really is impressive

Subject: Re: [OM] Zuiko 80 f/4.0 really is impressive
From: Dawid Loubser <dawid@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2012 08:54:44 +0200
On 20 Mar 2012, at 12:49 AM, Ken Norton wrote:

>> I must say, scanning some of these old images, the resolving power  
>> and
>> crisp contrast of this lens is truly impressive (almost 40 years  
>> old!).
>
> Which brings up a mid-life crisis kinda question:
>
> In a few short years, the OM system will be pushing 50 years old. Will
> I just be some geezer grayhair curmudgeon type using this obsolete
> equipment or will it be recognized as sought-after and cool?

Yes it will (still be cool). Especially if you make analogue prints in
the darkroom. I have shot almost exclusively B&W film for a couple of
years now, and the tones are, and will forever remain, very different
to any digital monochrome image I have yet seen. If you value this look
as I do, there is no point in *not* using cool old analogue equipment
to make analogue prints.

It was touch and go for me with the OM system, having been both under
threat from Nikon F and a Leica M3 (I had to try the three great
35mm systems to make my choice). The F and the M3 each have some really
sexy aspects, and even the lenses (well, the Heliar 50mm f/3.5 is the
highest-performance 35mm lens ever, period!) have some desirable  
aspects.

Still, when I pick up my OM-3Ti again and when I print images from the
negatives, there is a "sum of the parts are greater than the whole"  
thing
going on. I really like this stuff, flaws and all.



> Thinking back over any 40 year period of time since the dawn of
> photography, and I can't think of any point where 40-year old lenses
> held their own against the latest/greatest. Newer lenses offer many
> advantages, but when it comes to the thrill of high-end image making,
> I think that the '70s and '80s reached the pinnacle of lens design.
> I'm not saying that newer lenses aren't as good, but what I am saying
> is that many of the lenses from that era can hold their own in any
> fight.

Of course lens technology advances. There probably isn't a lens in the  
OM
system that can do what the (really crappy, cheap construction, plastic)
E-System 50mm f/2.0 Macro can do - it's one of the best lenses ever.

The M.Zuiko 12mm f/2 beats the pants off the (more expensive second- 
hand!)
OM 24mm f/2 or 21mm f/2 if the images I've seen are representative.

The difference is, the so-called "second-generation" of lens technology
from the 1970s/1980s were truly good enough for most people's needs, and
either by design, or because of the flaws, they often produce images  
with
strong character (good or bad, depending on the lens!).

The OM-D E-M5 looks like a freakin' awesome camera (finally, a M4/3  
camera
that's not a silly toy). I might go that route eventually. But for the  
time
being, favouring analogue B&W work, the OM system will stay with me for
35mm work - and larger formats also.

Either all of that, or I will also end up being a
geezer grayhair curmudgeon-type :-)

Dawid


P.S. I just did something which I don't really have the funds for, but
I blame Zuikoholism. I located a Mint+++ 50/1.2 that has a date code  
that
says it was manufactured in 2002! I can't resist. I'll report back :-)
-- 
_________________________________________________________________
Options: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/listinfo/olympus
Archives: http://lists.thomasclausen.net/mailman/private/olympus/
Themed Olympus Photo Exhibition: http://www.tope.nl/

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Sponsored by Tako
Impressum | Datenschutz