Favourite OM Lens

VaryaV · Aug 21, 2009

Sweet! I have been thinking about the Telescopic Auto Tube myself.... for awhile. EBay is the only place I have ever seen one available.

What I am really lusting after is the Zuiko Macro 38mm f3.5 to use with the auto bellows. KEH had one available like 1 1/2 yrs ago and I couldn't swing it financially at the time and I haven't seen another one available since. Of course I kick myself now because I haven't seen another one come up. (I prefer to buy from them). I am assuming I have to find one with the PM-MTob right? I can imagine all of the cool shots I could get of my toys.... really abstract b&w stuff with gorgeous grain.

Have any of you folks ever used one or the 20mm f3.5 macro? They both look incredible.

Q.G. · Aug 21, 2009

I haven't myself (i use a set of Zeiss Luminars) but i have seen many images taken with these, and they are indeed great little lenses.
The bellows unit suits these lenses more than the telescopic tube though, making it much easier to adjust things with the precision needed.

VaryaV · Aug 21, 2009

And I do love the auto bellows. It's actually a really fun toy.

Steve Bellayr · Aug 22, 2009

35mm f2.0 Easy to work with. I have several 35mm f2.0 for different systems. Also, 85mm f2.0 nice portrait.

Ed Sukach · Aug 22, 2009

My favorite (more or less) is a 75mm-150mm f/4 Zuiko.... Has a history behind it ...

I originally bought this used. It had a problem in losing its focus when "zooming" from one end of the range to the other. I lived with it.

A few years ago we had the "Mother's Day Flood" ... 12" of rain in about 12 hours. My Olympus and all the accessories were caught underwater as a result. Everything was borought to a respected repair shop - one of those shops dedicated to repairing professional equipment only (knock three times and tell them "Scott" sent you). Everything was dried out, cleaned, lubricated ... an excellent job - EXCEPT that 75mm - 150mm... it would NOT focus -at all. I returned it, they sent it out, and it was re-built. Now, this is the finest, sharpest, most contrasty, distortion free lens I own, bar none!
I use it almost exclusively in copying art, producing transparencies submission to Art Schools. I don't think anyone can be more technically fussy than artists judging transparencies of their own work.

The only way that lens is going anywhere is when they pry it from my cold, dead fingers!

nsurit · Aug 23, 2009

I used an OM 1 today with a 50mm f1.8 and the Vivitar Macro focusing teleconverter. What a nice combination! A nice addition to anly kit. Bill Barber

VaryaV · Aug 23, 2009

Ed Sukach said:
My favorite (more or less) is a 75mm-150mm f/4 Zuiko.... Has a history behind it ...

I originally bought this used. It had a problem in losing its focus when "zooming" from one end of the range to the other. I lived with it.

A few years ago we had the "Mother's Day Flood" ... 12" of rain in about 12 hours. My Olympus and all the accessories were caught underwater as a result. Everything was borought to a respected repair shop - one of those shops dedicated to repairing professional equipment only (knock three times and tell them "Scott" sent you). Everything was dried out, cleaned, lubricated ... an excellent job - EXCEPT that 75mm - 150mm... it would NOT focus -at all. I returned it, they sent it out, and it was re-built. Now, this is the finest, sharpest, most contrasty, distortion free lens I own, bar none!
I use it almost exclusively in copying art, producing transparencies submission to Art Schools. I don't think anyone can be more technically fussy than artists judging transparencies of their own work.

The only way that lens is going anywhere is when they pry it from my cold, dead fingers!

That's an incredible story and so tragic. I had no idea anyone could repair a drowned camera and the lens too, that's pretty amazing. I did get a good chuckle from your last comment. After all that I wouldn't let it go either...

philosomatographer · Aug 25, 2009

VaryaV said:
Have any of you folks ever used one or the 20mm f3.5 macro? They both look incredible.

VaryaV, I have recently started using the 20mm f/3.5 ultra-high magnification Macro lens. It's quite simply an amazing lens, and opens your eyes to an unseen world. It is, however, very difficult to use (especially the way I've been using it mostly, hand-held with flash) it's like hand-holding a 1000mm tele lens.

Another difficulty is the paradox of needing to stop down all the way (f/16) for *some* depth of field, but that this lens is sharpest wide open, and suffers serious loss of resolution at f/16. Still, I've been taking more than half my images at this aperture. Here is an example (image field is about 2.5mm across) of a tiny seedling just sprouted from the ground, taken at f/16. Natural light, long exposure. (There is no light at f/16 at these magnifications!!)
(Ilfor FP4+, 5x7in split-grade darkroom print)

This particular one was with the bellows, but this lens is great on the 65-116 auto tube with flash. (Beware: The ring flashes are not suitable for the short lens-to-subjkect distance, you have to mount the macro twin flash on a separate bracket, or a nowmal - i.e. T32 - flash into a soft box)

Back to the topic of the thread. My favouite OM lens? The Zuiko 90mm f/2.0 Macro. This lens draws in a manner which is quite unlike any other I've seen - the way it captures light. Character very similar to some images of Leica M lenses that 've seen. And it has the most beautiful soft "ideal" gaussian-blurred out-of-focus areas.

Anyway, I love it, it lives on my OM-1n.

sangetsu · Aug 25, 2009

Here's a shot from my 55mm 1.2, I love the effect I get when shooting this lens wide open:

VaryaV · Aug 25, 2009

cmo said:
That is also my favourite, a stellar lens, even compared to the 3.5/50 Macro and the 3.5/38 bellows lens. The 80mm had been recommended to me when I asked in this forum "which is the best lens ever made for macro photography around 1:1 size?"

CMO - It is really the most beautiful lens I have ever worked with. You say you like it better then the 38mm macro? I am dying to have one to play with.

philosomatographer said:
VaryaV, I have recently started using the 20mm f/3.5 ultra-high magnification Macro lens. It's quite simply an amazing lens, and opens your eyes to an unseen world. It is, however, very difficult to use (especially the way I've been using it mostly, hand-held with flash) it's like hand-holding a 1000mm tele lens.

Another difficulty is the paradox of needing to stop down all the way (f/16) for *some* depth of field, but that this lens is sharpest wide open, and suffers serious loss of resolution at f/16. Still, I've been taking more than half my images at this aperture. Here is an example (image field is about 2.5mm across) of a tiny seedling just sprouted from the ground, taken at f/16. Natural light, long exposure. (There is no light at f/16 at these magnifications!!)
(Ilfor FP4+, 5x7in split-grade darkroom print)

This particular one was with the bellows, but this lens is great on the 65-116 auto tube with flash. (Beware: The ring flashes are not suitable for the short lens-to-subjkect distance, you have to mount the macro twin flash on a separate bracket, or a nowmal - i.e. T32 - flash into a soft box)

Back to the topic of the thread. My favouite OM lens? The Zuiko 90mm f/2.0 Macro. This lens draws in a manner which is quite unlike any other I've seen - the way it captures light. Character very similar to some images of Leica M lenses that 've seen. And it has the most beautiful soft "ideal" gaussian-blurred out-of-focus areas.

Anyway, I love it, it lives on my OM-1n.

WOW - this is absolutely breathtaking, stunning image. I like your tips here and it would give me the opportunity to pull the T32 out.

I am still looking everyday, hoping, KEH will have the 38mm macro for sale.

sangetsu said:
Here's a shot from my 55mm 1.2, I love the effect I get when shooting this lens wide open:

Gosh, it is so soft and subtle. The bg is translucent. I love the look of B&W macro.

I would love to see more Macro stuff shot with these beautiful Zuiko lenses........

naugastyle · Sep 16, 2009

I have five Zuiko lenses (only one was particularly pricey--85mm/2). Favorite used to be 24mm/2.8 by far, but in the last couple years I started using the 28mm/2.8 more and more until I suddenly realized I had a new favorite. It's just a perfect focal length for me. Wide enough to capture the scene, wide enough for most landscapes (which are rare for me to shoot), but not so wide that I freak people out when I move in for a portrait.

philosomatographer · Sep 16, 2009

VaryaV said:
I would love to see more Macro stuff shot with these beautiful Zuiko lenses........

VaryaV, some of these may have been posted elsewhere, but here are a couple of close-up and macro images (I only have a few prints made, still many negatives to process) made with the Zuiko 90mm f/2.0 Macro:

And the 20mm f/3.5 Macro (each of these has a field size of less than 5mm):

Thee are not great yet - not only am I still getting into doing Macro with the OM system (only about a week's experience with the 20/3.5) I am still getting the hang of doing decent split-grade prints (these are all scanned 5x7 wet prints) and messing around (literally?) with toning. But one can definitely not fault the Zuiko lenses, that's for sure. Unlike my current skill level in the darkroom

goodfood · Sep 16, 2009

My 50mm f/3.5 macro. Can't affort to buy a f/2 one, and sure it will better.

Favourite OM Lens

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