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Fun With Legacy OM Zuiko Lenses!

ThePhotoSoup

New member
Hello everyone!

I've searched and did not find a thread for legacy OM Zuiko lenses. So, here it is. As you all should know, it is very easy to adapt most other lenses to our micro four thirds cameras with a simple adapter. This thread is dedicated to the OM Zuiko on m4/3 cams. I've been doing a lot of research into these old Zuikos and they seem to be made very well and are worth a lot of money.

Per Olympus OM lenses - Camerapedia,
Compared to many other manufacturers, Olympus took a slightly different approach to lens grading. Where many companies released consumer-class kit lenses made out of inferior products or designs, all Olympus OM lenses were made to the same high standard. The differentiation of the lenses was done simply by their maximum aperture.
Let's post our images and experience with these lenses here.

OM Zuiko 50mm f1.8 @ f1.8
 

ThePhotoSoup

New member
Showing some bokeh:

GH3 & OM 50mm f1.8 @ 1.8



This is strait out of the camera.



Not the sharpest lens in the world but bokeh is creamy!
 

sarunas

New member
Here are two 24mm OM Zuikos accompanied by two PEN-F ones and then-just-received EM-5:



Both OM and PEN-F lenses are pleasure to handle. Turning a focus or
aperture ring reminds of that old optical equipment in spectroscopy lab
(decades ago by now) --- the feeling of mechanical fidelity.

Here is from the last summer.
Day lilly with OM 24mm f/2 @ max. aperture:


Dahlia, OM 24mm f/2.8, fully open:


And for something more recent. OM 24mm f/2.8 @ 1:16 -- stars from the fully closed six-blade aperture:
 

ThePhotoSoup

New member
Wow guys, great photos! I just picked up a silver nose 135mm f2.8. I took it completely apart to clean the glass elements. Once I got it back together I shot a few with my GH3.

I wrote a blog post about this with many more photos here: ThePhotoSoup-OMZuiko135mm

Showing some bokeh:


It's hard to manually focus on small moving subjects like these. This was the best of 5 shots:
 
Some great images here complemented by beautiful optics. I now have a new appreciation for Olympus lenses! Glenn, great skill on your part in getting a plane in flight with such tight composition.
 

sarunas

New member
For me, what's great about these lenses, is that no digital corrections were assumed by their designers...
 

Glenn

New member
Some great images here complemented by beautiful optics. I now have a new appreciation for Olympus lenses! Glenn, great skill on your part in getting a plane in flight with such tight composition.
Thanks! I love these OM Zuikos. I have the 50mm f1.4 and f1.8, the 100mm f2.8, the 135mm f2.8, the 200mm f4, the 300mm f4.5 and a x2 teleconverter matched for the 100, 135 and 200. The whole lot cost me less than the Olympus 12-50 kit lens! Glass heaven! :D
 

ThePhotoSoup

New member
I just got a new copy of the OM Zuiko 135mm f/2.8. This lens is a must have for m43 in my opinion. Check out my blog post here for more photos with it.





 

sarunas

New member
Here are two 24mm OM Zuikos accompanied by two PEN-F ones and then-just-received EM-5:



The 24/2.8 went "missing" after a carry-on bag had to be checked-in in MEX. It was a late, multicoated version and had an Olympus adapter on in too. Darn... To alleviate the pain I treated myself to a barely used OM 135mm f/2.8. Here are a few from the past spring in New England (E-M5 and OM 135/2.8):
 
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