FOXY wrote
>I just tried my 200 f5 and my OM-1n. It wouldn't work! The mirror flipped
>up, and nothing. No flash, no shutter. When it was in this condition, I
>tried to remove the lens, and when I turned it slightly, it worked. I tried
>this a few times, and this was the only way to get a shot. So I tried the
>lens on my 4Ti and 2SP. Worked perfectly. I tried my 90mm Tamron and 75-150
>on the OM-1n, worked perfectly. Put the 200 on the 1n again, still no good.
SNIP
These are the exact symptoms exhibited by my ex OM4 with my Kiron 70-210/f4
mounted. This lens performs flawlessly on my other OM4 and OM1n.
The cause of my problem? - the aperture lever on the Kiron is positioned
just out of reach of the aperture coupling arm on said ex OM4. Setting the
camera to bulb and with the back of camera open, you can see the OM4
aperture coupling arm take a swing and a miss at the lens aperture lever.
The second curtain still actuates, and you effectively end up with an
exposure at wide open aperture but with the mirror locked up, and the film
advance lever not useable until you start dismounting lens - mirror comes
back down when doing so.
My solution? YMMV-disclaimer applies here - coerce (bend) that stumpy
little aperture lever on the Kiron enough so that physical handshaking can
be had with OM4 aperture coupling arm. No further problems after that.
By the way my Kiron 70-210/f4 is a lovely lens. I purchased it at the
bargain basement price it is usually found at, after reading Gary Schloss's
glowing recommendations on it on the Oly list last year. It be capable of
sharp n' contrasty slides and demonstrates quite ok wide open performance as
I discovered when it locked up my ex OM4 mirror while shooting a thirsty
lion at drinking at watering hole. Also find that of the three 70ish to
210ish zoomers that I own, the Kiron exhibits the least distortion at each
focal length extremes. If you happen to own one and can't find the original
bayonet mounted lens hood then I can tell you one of the Tamron bayonet lens
hoods fits on it perfectly and can be reverse mounted.
The visiting Judge at last month's Camera Club photo comp commented on how
fine and colorful the wing feathers on a pair of Whistling ducks looked on a
slide taken with this Kiron lens. Unfortunately for me, he then went on to
bag the composition and lack of depth of field throughout the shot.
Also would like to plug my Vivitar S1 35-85/f2.8. I accuse it of being sharp
n' contrasty especially in the center of the frame but not so sharp towards
the corners. It is also prone to vignetting at the wide end with even just
the Hoya 72mm HMC UV filter attached. Oh, and as others have alluded to -
it is an ergonomic and handling disaster area. Given all that, like it I
do!
On the matter of sans tripod techniques with long telephoto's, I personally
found using Zuiko/300 4.5 with shoulder pod, @1/60 sec will result in camera
shake showing in about %50 of 6x4 machine prints from the roll. Replace
shoulder pod with a monopod and I can get up to 1/30 sec. Add the 1.4x to
the Zuiko 300/4.5 and I discount using shoulder pod and revise the low limit
to 1/60 with monopod. A good bit of experimentation was required with both
monopod and shoulder pod before I got to the above figures YMMV. There was
discussion on this list last year re: the merits of string and chain pods
but I have yet to try those items yet.
For a shoulder pod, I've used the Cullman combo table top/shoulder pod - an
ingenious little device that folded up to the size of your average banana (6
inches). For monopod, I used the cheapest Manfrotto/Bogen model but now
will be using a Cullman Magic 2 tripod (I believe Tomoko has or had the same
tripod) - one of its legs detaches for use as a monopod in combo with the
centre column/ball head. The Cullman Magic 2 folds flat to assume the shape
and area similar to that of your average 101 keyboard. Both Cullman
products are quite innovative in their design and functionality, but I would
advise the that the Cullman Magic 2 is not steady enough for full time
duties supporting the Zuiko 300/4.5 1.4X combo.
Regards
S.C.
PS My Ilfochrome of a sunrise at Lakes Entrance taken with 24/2.8 Zuiko won
the postcard size print category at the Camera Club photo comp. mentioned
above. My other two unsuccessful entries were taken with third party zooms.
Positive proof of Zuiko quality??.
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