I prowl about here and have made a couple posts over the few years, but nothing serious. I have always admired the passion this forum's members has for these alternative lenses.
So I've been dragging a bit in my photography lately. Haven't been going on many outings, haven't been shooting or thinking about shooting much.
Spending money will not get me out of a rut, but I thought buying a cheap lens in the "alternative" category and going back to full manual will allow me to put more consideration and "vision" into my shots.
I was looking to buying something sub $200, preferably sub $100 if possible. I made my way around several searches in this forum and came across the old Zuikos which seem to be in all of your favor.
I'm beginning to consider picking up an Olympus Zuiko 24mm f/2.8 for OM, and I wanted to ask what you all felt about this lens. I wanted to stay in the wide prime category as Canon has a pretty crappy lineup here if you're trying to spend less than $1,000 (except the 35 f/2 which I own). I also could fill a gap in my 50mm area, but I don't really like lenses up to and after 50mm on a 1.6x crop for what I like to shoot.
Any other lens suggestions would be appreciated. I know you all have seen a lot of these threads and I have read them, so you can ignore or tell me to search again if you want. It's just a bit different when you ask and get answers to your own questions.
My current gear:
Canon 40D
Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8
Canon EF 35mm f/2
Canon EF 85mm f/1.8
The Oly 24mm f2.8 is a great lens. There's two versions, the older one which says 'H-Zuiko' (H being the 8th letter of the alphabet therefore it has 8 elements) and a newer 'MC' one which stands for multicoating.
Don't stress if you find an older H version, the single coated versions are only a little worse flare wise if you're shooting into the sun / bright lights, otherwise performance is quite similar. I have an older one and love it.
The Zuiko 28mm f3.5 is a legend in performance/value.
I'm a 50mm freak, so for that budget would go for the Pentax Super Takumar 50mm f1.4 (it's like a 'baby Rokkor' 58mm f1.2) sharp stopped down, beautifully dreamy wide open... or the Pentax SMC Takumar 50mm f1.4 - super sharp and contrasty. I know you like the wider stuff, just thought i'd share that as you half called it out. Both of those are sub $100.. maybe the SMC is getting close to $100 now.
The Zuiko wides are pretty hard to beat bang for the buck wise. The 24mm and 28mm mentioned can be found under/around $100, but prices are going up as more people (mostly the video kids) wise up to the alt game.
If you want to go wider, there's the Zuiko 21mm and the Nikon 20mm f4 which are popular. There's a recent thread going over this FOV in detail.
The Olympus 24/2.8 is a fine little lens. You can find multi-coated versions that pre-date the ones with the "MC" notation, according to serial number, as shown below. I haven't posted this S/N list for some time, so I'd welcome any corrections and additions that readers can provide.
24/2.8 is a great lens. I may have an extra to sell soon. It's probably the best performance/value combination in the zuiko line - usually $200ish give or take.
I also loved the OM 24/2.8 on my 20D -- It was a perfect small, lightweight walk-around lens. Stopped down to f/5.6, I rarely even had to worry about precise focusing, as depth of field was often sufficient for street and candid shots. Can't post pics from my work computer, but I highly recommend the lens!
