Tanis has been patiently awaiting the arrival of some adapters that the People's Republic of China had mailed to us almost a month ago. They arrived today and I thought I could send her an update and at the same time count it towards some blog posts - that's multitasking.
One of the nice things about the fourthirds sensor used in our Olympus digital cameras is that it gives us the option of using any old-school 35mm lens from any manufacturer. The sensor found in our camera is only half the size of a 35mm film negative which results in two side effects; first, the image is cropped 2x, so a 50mm lens actually has the same field of view as an equivalent 100mm lens on a 35mm camera - this is like having a built in teleconverter, doubling your reach without any penalty on aperture value. Secondly, the light from the edges of the lens doesn't hit the smaller sensor - only that from the lens' center where it's image quality is best. The result? These old "legacy lenses" perform even better today than they did 30 years ago!
Disclaimer, it seems to be commonly accepted that zoom lenses of yesteryear cannot really compete with the advances and technology of modern zooms, so don't bother with them. On the other hand, many non-zooming or fixed-focal length lenses that are decades old, are just as good as today's primes, so get those.
Here are a couple of mine:
There is also a cost advantage. Many people think that these lenses can only be used on film cameras, and in our digital photography world, you can pick them up for a fraction of what they cost originally. This is garage sale heaven and many of you may even have inherited old lenses for free from your parents. If so, please keep me in mind if you decide to sell : ) I will give you an example; I snagged a mint Tamron 90mm f2.5 Macro off of Kijiji for just $40. On eBay they are going for between $180-300, and that is still probably less than they sold for originally. I wish I had a picture of that lens for this post, but it is such a pure-quality piece of craftsmanship that I sometimes take it out of its case just to hold it while I'm watching a movie.
Which brings me to the main advantage (I think) of these old lenses... they are freaking awesome. They are smaller in size than their modern equivalents, but they have a heft to them that conveys the fact that they are nothing but metal and glass, no plastic used. The fit and finish is so precise and exquisite that when I compare one of them to a new lens, I have to conclude that my parents' generation genuinely knew how to build stuff. My generation seems to have perfected building stuff "profitably".
The adapters are dirt cheap and so far, Tanis and I have collected a set that will allow us to use Olympus, Canon, Nikon, and Tamron lenses on our cameras. I have also been on a bit of a bender when it comes to acquiring lenses (it really is addictive). As a result I happen to own two Olympus 50mm primes. One is the modern Zuiko Digital 50mm f2 made for my 4/3 camera. Optically, it is superb and many test sites report that it returns some of the best results of any lens they have tested. Unfortunately, with the reputation as "the lens that every Olympus user is saving up for", you aren't going to find any bargains on it.
Contrast that with the $20 (including shipping) I spent on an old-school Zuiko 50mm f1.8 off of eBay. Even though this lens is capeable of gathering more light (ie, a "faster" lens) than my modern 50, it is wonderfully small and compact. This size is perfectly suited to street photography where you don't want to intimidate your subjects by pointing a giant bazooka at them. The reason that I like the smaller size is that I feel less conspicuous; I couldn't carry around a large lens because I feel that people would expect professional results from me, and that would be too much pressure.
Here are my two 50's:
Actually I took those photos with a 50mm f1.8 so I guess I actually own three 50's, but two of them are identical... how that happened I'd rather not get into. Lets just say, it was late at night and I was in a state of excited delirium. But in my defense, I got that lens - still attached to an original Olympus OM film camera! - for less than what a replacement lens cap would have cost.
These pictures are by no means a scientific test because they are not full size images, but it might give an idea of the performance you might expect in everyday use of these old lenses. The first photo was taken with the camera on a tripod, sporting my modern, expensive, 50mm digital Zuiko. For the second photo I just changed the lens to my 30 year-old, $20, OM Zuiko (both lens' apertures were set at f5.6):
Can you see how this might be fun?
Here is a picture of the 1980's 50mm on my camera. You can't see if very well because the photo is straight on (it was taken in the mirror). But take my word for it, this lens looks so good, it makes the rest of my camera seem like cheap plastic (which it is).
That reminds me of a point I feel very strongly about and have been trying to convince Heather of:
A person really must own at least two cameras - because until you do, you can't take a picture of your camera.
In the next post I will discuss the downsides to legacy lenses and post some sample shots I took today.
- C
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