p.14 #3 · The official Olympus Om Zuiko 18/3.5 thread
The 21/2 is the one to compare with the 18/3.5, really. (Assuming you want one or the other). The 21/3.5 apparently has better contrast @ 30 lp/mm than the 21/2, but suffers elsewhere. (at least according to the tests).
p.14 #9 · The official Olympus Om Zuiko 18/3.5 thread
I did not know how much fun it was to shoot WA until I got the 21 and then upgraded to the 18. Now I use mine all the time. I try to find use for it and I usually find use.
p.14 #13 · The official Olympus Om Zuiko 18/3.5 thread
I am sorry to dissapoint you guys. The flare is from the polfilter... I have not been able to reproduce the red ring with the lens naked... The small spots of flare can be done but not the ring.
p.14 #16 · The official Olympus Om Zuiko 18/3.5 thread
I also think that all Zuiko's 18/3.5 are MC. Those labeled ZUIKO MC are the earlier lenses produced up to around 1983, those marked ZUIKO only the later ones. Though I can't prove it, the post-1983 (ZUIKO only) lenses might have some improvements over the older, as the available parts diagram calls the ZUIKO MC lenses as of "Type-1", but I haven't seen any later information on a "Type-2" version.
p.14 #17 · The official Olympus Om Zuiko 18/3.5 thread
There may be some early Zuiko 18/3.5's that are not MC, or as good optically. I looked into this years ago, and there were (film) users who had first hand experience with both. I seems that information is no longer available.
p.14 #18 · The official Olympus Om Zuiko 18/3.5 thread
ad pdmphoto:
The 18/3.5 has gone through a long prototyping phase, and indeed some early promotional literature showed this lens marked as "L. ZUIKO" (= indicating single coating). If such lenses enter the market, they should be very collectable: they might have been given out to Olympus affiliated people (like Franz Pangerl, author of several OM books which show such a lens) for field testing. My collected serial numbers for the ZUIKO MC variant starts at 100,066, i.e. less than 66 such "L.ZUIKO" marked lenses might have been circulated.
p.14 #19 · The official Olympus Om Zuiko 18/3.5 thread
AFAIK, all Oly 18/3.5s are MC. I had 3 at once (see archived posts), and they were all MC. One (S/N 5500ish) had the later labelling on the lens ring (Zuiko 18mm/3.5 instead of f=18mm or something like that.)
The MC did change a bit over time, the reflections color and intensity varied slightly among the 3 copies I had.