Zuiko 200mm f4 OM fit

Hello everyone

Has anyone used this lens? I'm looking to buy one but I would like some info on what I'm buying. I know that all the Zuikos made for the OM-system were all pretty good, but is this one as good as the rest?

I'm looking to use it for photographing cats, as they are one of my favourite subjects and this would presumably let me get closer to the more timid ones.

What else are lenses in this focal range typically used for?

All help and info much appreciated

Alex

It's a perfectly good lens. A true Zuiko.

Lenses are used for whatever you want them to be used for.
This one will do what you want it to do, no worries! The shorter 135 mm and 100 mm lenses should be good for cats too, i think.

The only Zuiko lenses I feel are cheap are the plastic bodies for auto-focus OM-77's (yes, I gave one to my wife). All the Zuiko's for the rest of the OM's are good quality. I can understand you wanting to keep some distance from the cats , but you may be trading off some hand-hold ability for the distance, unless you are outside in the sun(or using super fast film). IMHO you would do better with a 135mm or a 100mm. Maybe by "timid one" you are referring to rather large cats in their own domain? I would then recommend something with a much longer focal length.(lol)

Good Morning, Alex,

I have the 200mm Zuiko. I haven't done any resolution tests, but I'm very satisfied with the results it produces. It may not be quite as sharp as my absolutely superb 100mm f2 Zuiko, but then almost nothing is.
I recently used the 200 for some stand-off head and shoulders shots of speakers at a podium and got excellent results.

Konical

I had a 4/200 Zuiko OM lens for a decade and never been impressed by the results. At the opposite, my 2.8/100 Zuiko OM lens was stellar even at full aperture.

This lens is built to the usual high OM Zuiko quality. It's very handleable. Optically, it OK in terms of resolution but you do need the keep the shutter speed high (1/250 or faster), even on a tripod, even with aperture and mirror prefire, otherwise camera-lens vibration limits the resolution. In common with all longer focal length lenses (except APO's) once you have removed the effect of camera vibration, the abrerration you notice is colour fringing (blue or red fringes at abrupt bright/dark transitions). In this respect the lens is better than most. So in summary it's a good lens but it has to be used carefully to get the very best out of it. You won't be disappointed in normal use.