Olympus Or Canon

[dynachrome]

I hope to pick up a roll of film at my local camera store by the end of this week. It's a test roll I shot with a Yashica 230AF I just got. The store has two lenses I am interested in. One is a black front Zuiko 50/1.4 in very nice condition. My Zuiko 50/1.4 is a silver front model. The silver front model is often referred to as being single coated. I suspect it has more than one coating but that the black front model has improved coating. I do not use my Olympus equipment that much but the lens is a beauty. The second lens is a 50/2.5 Canon EF Macro, also in very nice condition. For my modest EOS collection I have a 50/2.8 Sigma EX Macro, which I like. I am intrigued by the 1:1 adapter for the 50/2.5. It has eight elements, turns the 50 into a 70 and only works in the close-up range. The 50/2.5 was made for many years but based on the prices I see for it, there is still demand for it. The 50/2.5 at the store does not come with the 1:1 adapter. I read that Canon gave the adapter 1.4X magnification to slightly improve working distance. There is no focusing motor in the Zuiko to malfunction but I think I might have more fun with Canon lens.

 

[AnselMortensen]

Obviously, you should buy them both.

 

[dynachrome]

The last time I posted about a choice between a 100/3.5 Yashica ML Macro and a Vivitar 100/2..8 Macro in Y/C mount, I did wind up buying both.

 

[miha]

I have the Canon compact macro, no 1:1 adapter, but as it is, it's "macro enough" for my needs, and I use it as a standard lens. The optics are super sharp, it's well built with metal filter threads, and while the autofocus is very fast, it's quite loud. On a good body like the EOS 3 with its excellent AF, the lens doesn’t hunt and the noise isn’t an issue because everything happens quickly. But on an older camera like the EOS 650 with its single AF point, it can be pretty annoying, hunting back and forth, especially toward macro distances.

 

[loccdor]

May I submit another option for normal+near macro lens: The Tamron 45mm f/1.8 in Canon EF mount. It can do 1:3 without extension, is tack sharp at all apertures, weather sealed, and has 3 stops of image stabilization. It's my most versatile EF mount lens.

 

[BAC1967]

I had this dilemma several years ago with too many SLR kits. It came down to a choice between my Canon AE-1 and Olympus OM-1. Both are great systems and it was a hard choice. I finally decided on keeping the Olympus kit. The Olympus OM-1 kit is more compact and just seemed better built to me. Both kits had great lenses but I felt I liked the Zuiko lenses a little better. It's been several years and I have no regrets.

 

[dynachrome]

The test roll I shot in the Yashica 230AF with the 50/1.8 looks fine. When I picked it up today I also got the 50/2.5 Canon EF lens. Weather permitting, I will try it out this weekend. All of my EOS cameras take film but if I ever get a non-film EOS camera, the 50/2.5 should work with that too. At some point I may get the 1:1 adapter for the 50/2.5.

 

[miha]

The test roll I shot in the Yashica 230AF with the 50/1.8 looks fine. When I picked it up today I also got the 50/2.5 Canon EF lens. Weather permitting, I will try it out this weekend. All of my EOS cameras take film but if I ever get a non-film EOS camera, the 50/2.5 should work with that too. At some point I may get the 1:1 adapter for the 50/2.5.

Good choice. Martin Parr made his career using the Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro lens: https://www.canon.si/pro/stories/martin-parr-style-vision/