nixland wrote:
I received my Zuiko 85/2 MC weeks ago and just had time to test it for couple of shots.
I was interested to this lens due to a lot of praise it gets from the review, especially for smooth bokeh, and above all, my extreme curiousity for all famous portrait lens out there (currently I had a private project of exploring the character of all portrait lens out there).
Besides, I already had experience with my cheap $50 Zuiko 135/3.5 which is very very good in all aspects (sharpness, color, contrast, bokeh, etc.).
Well, I was a bit skeptical about the smooth bokeh of this lens in the first place because I already had experience with a lot of creamy bokeh kings such as Samyang 85, Canon 85LII, Nikon 85 AF-D, Zeiss 85, Lux 85, Rokkor MC 85, etc. Besides, this lens is very very small ! Can small lens give a good performance? I doubt it
Until I took a couple of shots few days ago, and .... WOW!! ... speechless!
The bokeh is really really creamy. Unbelievable.
Not just the bokeh, but at a glance the other performance seems very very good (sharpness, color, contrast). Instantly became my favorite lens.
It joins my other "love at first shot" lenses such as Jupiter-9 85 silver, Contax Zeiss 85, Helios 40-2 85, Summilux 85, Rokkor MC 85, etc. ...Show more →
interesting, i quite like the lens mostly for it's sharpness and small size, but i don't care much for the bokeh except extremely closeup. i find it to be a bit jittery.
I like the sharpness and the small size too! The smallest portrait lens I ever had Smaller than the small Takumar SMC 85 and Pancolar 80.
I will try the same shot as you did, especially with more busy twigs in the background.
Sorry to ask about your 85/2, is it the MC or non-MC?
Nice shots dbehrens with the 21/3.5, I agree it can handle flair fairly well, but it seems to have trouble with night shots, I need to do more testing to find out what's happening.
Excellent shots!
I think its time for me to get into the lower range (18-24). I was in Central Park on Saturday, and even with my 28mm, I was not able to capture the scene because it was too close.
Although I've heard that both the 21 and the 18 are very expensive.
nixland wrote:
I like the sharpness and the small size too! The smallest portrait lens I ever had Smaller than the small Takumar SMC 85 and Pancolar 80.
I will try the same shot as you did, especially with more busy twigs in the background.
Sorry to ask about your 85/2, is it the MC or non-MC?
according to the serial number my copy is the last version made after they stopped bothering to mark them as MC because multicoating was nothing special.
i've heard about other zuiko lenses that later versions tend to be sharper but with worse bokeh, not sure how accurate it is or whether that applies to this particular lens. perhaps i would like it's bokeh better if i wasn't always comparing it to the rokinon, which always has gentler bokeh.
sebboh wrote
according to the serial number my copy is the last version made after they stopped bothering to mark them as MC because multicoating was nothing special.
i've heard about other zuiko lenses that later versions tend to be sharper but with worse bokeh, not sure how accurate it is or whether that applies to this particular lens. perhaps i would like it's bokeh better if i wasn't always comparing it to the rokinon, which always has gentler bokeh.
I see.
About Rokinon (I have the Samyang brand), yes it's a bokeh king right now Has the creamiest bokeh among other 85mm lenses out there. (from my test, it's even a little bit creamier than Nikon 85/1.4 AF-D and Canon 85LII &f/1.4).
But this little Zuiko is still amazed me ..
blackbird3216 wrote:
Excellent shots!
I think its time for me to get into the lower range (18-24). I was in Central Park on Saturday, and even with my 28mm, I was not able to capture the scene because it was too close.
Although I've heard that both the 21 and the 18 are very expensive.
The 21/3.5 isn't too bad on price (~$350-$400 so far as I recall), though the 18/3.5 is usually a lot more expensive. Fortunately, the 24/2.8 is quite affordable, and a spectacular lens (though not as wide as a 21mm or 18mm option). Another option is to learn about panorama stitching (which can get you as wide as you want, with wonderful resolution, using the lenses you already have), or maybe search for some of the other threads on this forum about the Tamron and Tokina 17mm/f3.5 lenses (which also have a good reputation and are a lot cheaper).
I just bought OM 24/2.8 MC and noticed that the smaller the aperture the more the light meter overexposes on my 5D II. At f/2.8 everything looks good, by f/8, I need to compensate by -1.5 stops. This is in Aperture priority mode. Do any of you have similar experience?
blackbird3216 wrote:
Excellent shots!
I think its time for me to get into the lower range (18-24). I was in Central Park on Saturday, and even with my 28mm, I was not able to capture the scene because it was too close.
Although I've heard that both the 21 and the 18 are very expensive.
At KEH, 21/3.5 start at $200, and 24/2.8 start at $65 for lenses in ugly condition.
I bought a UG condition 28mm Hexanon for $16 and it had a very slight dent in the filter ring
No difference That I know of, my 1DIII has metering errors too at small Fstops.
Best to check your histogram after shooting, I some times have it pop up automatically after the shot, then all I need to do is glance down and I know how my exposure will turn out.
I suppose you could meter WO and calculate what settings to use, but I find that the histogram + EC is faster.
LightShow wrote:
Keep in mind that the 21 on your 20D will feel like a 33.6mm lens on a FF body, and $200 towards a $1000 5D(2 in the B&S on the first page).
Hmm, I don't really understand this. Are you saying that instead of buying lenses, I should invest my money into a 5d? Our maybe that this will be an investment for now and also for later? Sorry but I just didn't understand that.
I'm just saying that if you need wider than 28 on APS-C(which is like 44.8 on FF), that there are other options than just buying wider lenses, that at some point you will be upgrading your body, to what, I don't know, the 5D is good, not as small as the mirrorless cameras, but you will be able to see what this legacy glass was meant to look like, lenses such as your OM 28 & 50, will look very different on FF.
Ah, ok. Maybe I'll buy a 5d late next year (June/July).
What I'm starting to find is that while 28mm (44.8 on APS-C) is too wide for street, it is not wide enough for architecture/landscapes. Although even for street, it is often decent if cropped.
