Olympus OM lens options

jtlns · Feb 11, 2016

Hi, I am looking for a nice lens option for my OM1. I currently have the 50mm f1.8 but something wider would be nice. Can you recommend a nice small sharp lens? Anyone has experience with the Tokina 28mm ?

Thanks

baachitraka · Feb 11, 2016

Zuiko 28mm f/3.5, try to get one with hood.

baachitraka · Feb 11, 2016

If you have deep pocket,

Zuiko 21mm f/3.5, Zuiko 24mm f/2.8 and Zuiko 85mm f/2.0(In this case I may get 100mm f/2.8).

BertH · Feb 11, 2016

Sigma mini wide II. You will usually find it as a 28mm, but I think there was a 24 as well. I have a 28, excellent lens. Easy to come by and cheap. I thought buying it would be a good way to see if I liked the 28mm, which I did. After that I never saw reason to exchange it, qualitywise.
Edit: +1 concerning the hood.

Ricardo Miranda · Feb 11, 2016

Any of the Zuiko 28mm, be it the /3.5 or 2.8 can be found not very expensive as millions were made.
It was more difficult for me to find the Zuiko 35mm /2.8.
Excellent and light lenses they are.

Dali · Feb 11, 2016

Yes, Ricardo is right, Zuiko 28mm are good whatever the version you choose.

Regarding the Tokina 28mm, there were several versions. Which one do you have in mind?

mgb74 · Feb 11, 2016

+1 on what Ricardo said.

Also, when you're buying a used lens as old as these, you have to take build quality into account. So, as an example, a lens with better build quality may be delivering better quality 20-30 years down the road than another lens that may have been optically equivalent when new.

That said, I come across the older Vivitar and Tokina lens and am impressed by their build quality compared to new lenses.

Fixcinater · Feb 11, 2016

You could also look for a Tamron 24mm f/2.5 or 28mm f/2.5 Adaptall-2 with an inexpensive OM adapter. I bought a like new (still had box and all paperwork, not a scratch on it) OM adapter from KEH for ~$10 shipped. The 24 is more expensive generally but the 28mm can be found very inexpensively. Not the best coatings in the world but if you use a hood or don't mind a bit lower contrast, they can be excellent.

aoresteen · Feb 11, 2016

I have the 28mm 3.5 and it is a gem. Also the 21mm 3.5 but it is pricy.

MattKing · Feb 11, 2016

My most used kit is a trio: 24mm f/2.8, 35mm f/2 and 85mm f/2.

darinwc · Feb 12, 2016

You cannot go wrong with ANY Olympus wide angle lens. Even the slower lenses are very good to excellent. Also the Tamron adpatall, sigma mini-wides are good. But not the later sigmas.

nsurit · Feb 13, 2016

You might stay within the OM Zuiko lenses so you can keep the same 49 or 55mm filters. Oh, there is also the superb optics/glass.

onre · Feb 14, 2016

One more recommendation for the 28 mm 2,8. Great performer and very cheap thanks to production volume.

thuggins · Feb 15, 2016

Another vote for any of the wide Zuiko's. Don't put an off brand lens on an OM. The 28f3.5 is so common that you get a free puppy with each purchase. Personally I find 35mm much more useful than 28mm, but for the proper composition 28mm produces great results. The 35f2.8 is a tiny little lens and much more portable than the 35f2. Of course, the 40mm pancake is the ultimate pocketable package on an OM.

baachitraka · Feb 16, 2016

40mm is rather a poor performer and expensive lens. Comparing with 35mm f/2.8, 28mm f/3.5 is very good and can be cheaper. But full marks goes to 24mm f/2.8 in terms of price, performance and size.

Anon Ymous · Feb 16, 2016

onre said:
One more recommendation for the 28 mm 2,8. Great performer and very cheap thanks to production volume.

Never had the chance to compare the 3,5 vs the 2,8, but I have the 2,8 and find it very nice.

wblynch · Feb 16, 2016

The Zuiko 28/3.5 is a great street/travel shooter. It is sharp and light. Set it to f/5.6 at hyperfocal distance and you can shoot all day long without even holding it up to your face. And with an OM-1, the camera is so quiet most people don't even know you took a photo.

thuggins · Feb 19, 2016

baachitraka said:
40mm is rather a poor performer and expensive lens.

It is certainly expensive, because it is unique, fairly rare and highly sought after. And personally I prefer 35mm for general landscape type work (even though 40mm is the closest thing to a "standard" lens). But "a rather poor performer"?

It was Maitani's favorite lens. He designed and built it specifically to be his own, go-everywhere lens. From his own accounts of the gear he used and the kit he traveled with, it is very likely that the inventor of the OM system took more photos thru the 40f2 than any other lens. That doesn't strike one as a "poor performer".

baachitraka · Feb 19, 2016

It was very cheap lens.
Apart from being compact there is nothing so special about it.
I rather pay for some f/2.0 like 100 f/2.0, 21mm f/2.0 instead of 40mm pancake.

wblynch · Feb 19, 2016

Well the fact remains, very few OM Zuiko 40/2 lenses were sold. In those days it was hard to consider a 40/2 when one most likely already had a 50/1.8 or 1.4

Most would have chosen the 35mm or 28mm versions.

We were all poorer then and extra camera lenses were a measured purchase.

darinwc · Feb 21, 2016

Well the 50mm f1.8 is a stellar performer. On par with the Nikkor f1.8 in my opinion. The 35mm f2 is not the best wide open, but It is very sharp stopped down a bit. Also big compared to the other Olympus lenses. But yeah, the 40mm pancake on the Olympus seems out of place. Most of their lenses are so tiny, there is no need of a pancake.

Luminousoctaves · Jul 9, 2016

As a long time user (+ collector) of the Olympus OM-system this would be my top five Zuiko lenses:

1. Zuiko 28mm f2 (Excellent in every way! Sharp, nice bokeh, compact as hell and beautiful colors.)
2. Zuiko 50mm f1.8 MIJ (One of the best lenses 5 euro can buy).
3. Zuiko 21mm f2 (Quite expensive, but man is this sharp and compact!)
4. Zuiko 85 f2 (Yes, its soft wide open, but there's also some nice character in there)
5. Zuiko 18mm f3.5 (Superwide with practically no distortion at all, fantastic. Rare.)

Also, the 21mm f3.5 and 28mm f3.5 are very good and compact.

Olympus OM lens options

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