The Olympus OM cult

[Ken N]

If you look at the Gary Reese Lens Tests at http://zone-10.com/cmsm/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=253&Itemid=97 you'll see that it is somewhat a pedestrian performer. However, in this specific test, he used the OM-1 which induces vibration even though the mirror is locked up, so I would improve his ratings across the boards by 1/2 to a full grade.

There are many people who really really like the 75-150 and it is a good lens. Personally, I prefer the additional stop and bokeh that the F2.8 primes give me (especially the legendary 100/2.8), but zooms do offer convenience and options for landscape photography.

 

[Prest_400]

It's said that this zoom is sharp, but not very contrasty. I'd prefer the 100mm.
By the way, what are the differences between the 85mm 2.0 and the 100mm 2.8?
I feel the 85 would be a better focal for me (and do indoor portraits), since I've got the 135mm, perfect for the outdoor tele shooting I do.
Has anyone here got the 85? If someone has it, I would be interested in read his/her opinion.

 

[Allan Swindles]

Sorry Ken N, my mistake. Does this help?

http://zuserver2.star.ucl.ac.uk/~rwesson/esif/om-sif/motordrivegroup/manuals/control_pack.pdf

 

[Ken N]

The 85/2.0 and the 100/2.8 are as close to identical as you can come. Main difference is price. Sharpness wise, the 85 is generally considered the sharper lens and slightly more "corrected", but based on my experience with the 100, any differences are minimal at best.

The biggest consideration is in focal length. 15mm doesn't seem like much, but the 100 seems so much longer than 85, in fact it's almost 20% longer. (similar to the difference between a 24mm and 28mm or 28mm and 35mm). Some people get used to 85-90mm and 100 seems like a super-telephoto in comparison. For field macro work, I much prefer the longer focal length, but for general use involving people or events, the 85mm focal length seems a little more usable. I now have a 35-80 and the difference between 80mm and 100mm is substantial.

 

[Prest_400]

Before I bought the 135, I just thought it would go short for my tele photography. Wrong, I had a surprise when I first looked at the VF with it, way more long that I thought.

The 35-80, that's a nice toy Ken . If I had it, I would not be able to take that jewel out, too scared to break one. If It was a 24mm shift (scary front element), It would be in a cabinet, safe of anything touching it.
Also, I've read your OM3Ti review at zone-10 you mention some pages ago. Uhm, god. Would like to have one... But at the price of 12 OM1 bodies... 12 bodies= no more OM camera problems. If the OM3Ti is a car without air conditioning, the OM1 is a Land rover defender .

If I was 15 years old at the year of the release of the OM3Ti, I could had enough time to save for one. But I'm born the same year as the OM3Ti (oh yes, there is an OM nut that young ). At 8-9 years old I was when Oly stopped manufacturing the OMs, could not have saved enough money to buy one! I've arrived to late!

 

[Ken N]

Here is the current "Family Portrait" of the "Olympus Living History Farm"

http://zone-10.com/cmsm/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=389&Itemid=1

Absolutely nothing in this collection is afraid of seeing the outdoors. It really doesn't do anybody any good to have lenses or cameras that you're concerned with taking out and using. Why, exactly, did you buy it? An Inland-Marine Insurance Policy takes care of most of those fears anyway.

There is other equipment and accessories in the camera bags (five of them) and plenty of accessories, but I wanted to exclusively show the Olympus branded equipment.

 

[Prest_400]

Wow, nice equipment you got.
I would never buy these kind of expensive lenses (24mm PC, 35-80 2.8) and bodies (OM3Ti). For the money that the OM3 and the 35-80 cost, I would buy other kind of excellent Zuiko lenses and OM1s Instead.
At all, the photographer is the only thing that matters, a good one will make the same good photographs with a disposable than a 8000$ SLR

Ken, as a fan of the 100mm, you may like this: http://cgi.ebay.es/OLYMPUS-OM-1-CAMERA-ZUIKO-100MM-LENS-4-VIVITAR-LENSES_W0QQitemZ400025624861QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item400025624861&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A895|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318

 

[Prest_400]

I was reading about the 50mm 1.2 and found a post in photo.net about the 50 1.4 bokeh.

"I think that there are many differences between the 50/1.4 and the 50/1.2. I had a >1.1M SN 50/1.4 (reputed to be the "best") that certainly had better resolution numbers, and indeed was sharper, but suffered from the anstigmatic (sp?) type bokeh. The 50/1.2 is much better in terms of bokeh, and the sharp/soft images that it produces are stunning."

I have a later model SC 50mm 1.8 "made in japan" front ring, claimed to be the sharpest of the series. I've Taken various photos where bokeh appeared; However I seen that the defocusing was mostly the hard edge "bad type bokeh".
I think, when Oly modified the lenses for have an increase of sharpness, this reduced the wonderful defocusing, so what do you think about?
Newer, is not better then. I know that my next 50 f1.4 will be a silvernosed If I can.

 

[Ken N]

That 100/2.8, according to the serial number, is probably one of the good ones, but all the lenses and the camera look like they lived in a smoker environment. Pretty dirty.

The 35-80 is definitely a pricey lens, but when you compare it to the prices of new lenses, it's actually pretty much in line. The lens is extremely sharp and the bokeh is beautiful. Strange thing, although I agree with you about going out and buying the 3Ti or the 35-80, now that I have them I wouldn't be without them. If anything happened to this 35-80, I'd go right out and purchase another. However, my usage is different than most OM users these days--I'm using this system for professional wedding/portrait/event photography and the days of prime lenses have waned.

The OM-3Ti is an interesting beast. It has one HUGE advantage for me in that it's the only OM body that does TTL flash-control while allowing shutter speeds slower than 1/60. (The original OM-2md may have too, but I can't confirm). Other than this one specific thing, it is hard to justify the 3Ti over the 4Ti in any meaningful way unless you are into extreme low-temperature shooting.

The going prices of these higher-end OM items is a little misleading. We think nothing of going out and spending $900 on a new plastic digital wonderbrick which will give us 18 months of use before we're tired of it, but won't spend $900 on a lens or camera body that is truely "best of breed".

 

[ellism]

hi ALL.

I've just found this 'support group' and thought that i should join as I too am a zuikoholic.

like Ken N, I'm a strong advocate of the 35-80mm f2.8 ED and was fortunate enough to purchase one (in the freshest mintiest condition) for about the equivalent of two days' take home wages back in 2005. it spent about year just sitting there unused in my camera bag as I was too scared of lugging this hulking piece of glass around in case I damaged it and thus affected the resale value (it's also pretty big and an antithesis to the compactness of the OM system) but a trip to Asia firmly moved this lens from the collector - look, don't touch! - to the user status and it's now one of my favourite OM lenses. i've not had the opportunity to shoot any of the 35-70mm flavours (f3.5-4.5, f3.6, f4) so can't give a firsthand user comparison; and, of course, "it's the photographer that takes a great photo not the kit" but if you happen to find one of these along your way...

anyway, that's it for now.

 

[Uncle Bill]

Wow I disappear for a few months and this group as grown, I just want to welcome everyone who has joined recently.

 

[Ken N]

Bill, way to go. You start this group then disappear on us. Thought you went *hack hack* digital *hack hack* on us.

 

[Prest_400]

Bill, don't ever think of leave us and go to the "noisy side"...

 

[nsurit]

Just picked up a nice little OM 1 kit including the 200mm f4, 85mm f2 & 28mm f2 and a T32. The nice kits are still out there. Bill Barber

 

[RH Designs]

Hi all,

Just looked in here, for the first time in a few months I'm afraid because new posts here don't feature in the main forums' "new posts" listings, and I'm forgetful!

Ken N, you are right about the Analyser's resemblance to the OM-4's metering system. My colleague Chris Woodhouse who invented and patented the original Analyser was inspired to do so precisely because he was using an OM-4 at the time. Mr Maitani's influence spreads wider than he imagines I expect .

My OM-4 has never suffered from the battery-eating problem, maybe it's recent enough to have the later circuits. I did have a couple of 2SPs though that ate them.

Regards
Richard

 

[Prest_400]

I'll forgive and forget those auctions, the thoriated 50 goes too expensive with a week left, and the 85 is impossible to win (may end expensive and End time is too late.

 

[Ken N]

I don't know what happened to the way this group chat displays, but I hope things go back. This is tough to find the latest post now.

 

[Prest_400]

Yep, It's been few days like this. Maybe APUG decided to change the distribution. I prefer the older, because I feel it more disconfortable now with the text appearing all the wide; Liked the "showing 10 members" thing. And it's a bit annoying that now the nweer messages are in the farthest pages.

Ah, got a question today. I had an sunset scene and didn't really know what to meter. You know that the OM1 has the classic needle meter, when I click apertures and move speeds, the meter needle moves. However, If I press the DoF preview, the meter will mark as under exposed. I should meter with the DoF preview, right? And ignore the normal movement when setting speed & aperture.

 

[Allan Swindles]

The OM1 meters at full aperture so you don't need to use the DoF button to take a meter reading. It is purely used to assess the DoF at your chosen aperture. Exposures can be tricky and it depends very much on the effect you require. I shoot reversal film and tend to expose for the sky but not directly from the actual sun. Probably best to bracket your exposures.
BTW, if you click on last post it will take you to guess where - the most recent post! It's taken me a while to figure the new configuration. Duurr!

 

[Vincent Brady]

I have scanned 3 pages of reviews of Zuiko lenses dating back to the early 90's at 96 dpi. How do I upload them for members to read.

Cheers
TEX

 

[Prest_400]

If you want to put them in a post it should be

You should look for a image hosting page, I use photobucket. Imageshack is another option, with no need for register.

 

[Jim Baker]

I've been looking at Gary Reece's lens tests (thank you Ken N for pointing me to the www.zone-10.com website). What is striking is the effect of the camera on the image quality. The effect of 'mirror slap' if well known. What is also apparent is the effect of the aperture being 'shut down' just before the shutter is fired. The effect is only noticeable at high apertures; it's insignificant by about f8! It suppose the linkage between the camera and the lens produces the vibration that effects the image. It has nothing to work against if the lens is fully open; if the lens is stopped down, the linkage has to work against the lens (i.e. actually moving the aperture blades) and this appears to have a damping effect. At least that's the only explanation I can think of. What is apparent from Gary's data is that to get the best from a lens, mirror and aperture prefire are needed, or maybe mirror lock up only if the aperture is f8 or smaller. Comments, anyone?

 

[Prest_400]

Wow, that's new for me. Never heard about Auto aperture vibration causing serious slap.
By the way, my OM1 doesn't pass the coin vibration test (posted on med. format forum; the end of mirror slap myth).

 

[Jim Baker]

Following the advice in your message of 30 Jan, I've opened a Photobucket account and uploaded a histogram of performance of a 35mm f2.8 OM Zuiko lens, as measured by Gary (

). I hope this works! Gary measured the lens performances under standardised conditions so the data from the various tests can be compared. I've assigned to his A+,A,A-... ratings the values 100,95,90...and so on. This data is for the same 35mm lens, the only difference is the cameras and the only difference in the mode of operations is mirror lock up (OM 1) vs. mirror and aperture prefire (OM 4).

 

[Vincent Brady]

FOR PREST 400 & JIM BAKER
I too have joined Photobucket and placed my 3 scans of the Olympus lenses Review on it. But due to my lack of computer know how I can't figer out how to transfer the images from there to here. Could you explain step by step?

Cheers
TEX