Before you send it back to KEH, any chance you could send it to Gary Reese for
testing? Be interesting to know if it really is that bad.
Gary Edwards
Ron Crabtree wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> Pardon the length of this listing. I am wondering about recent experience
> with the Zuiko 350mm f2.8. I recently purchased one from KEH for the
> seemingly reasonable price of $3100. It was black, not white, but was in
> quite good condition it seemed. I had heard about the legendary sharpness
> and quality of this lens and before even receiving it I had sold my Sigma
> 500mm APO f4.5 on ebay to a local buyer, but things did not work out. So,
> when my 350mm arrived I had both the 350mm and the 500mm to compare. I also
> had a Tokina 300mm f2.8 ATX that I had also tried to sell to KEH to help pay
> for the 350mm, but that too did not work out. My plan was to have one
> phenomenal lens(350mm/490mm/700mm with the use of the 1.4xA and the 2xA) to
> take the place of the 300mm and 500mm. But whoa!! That 350mm is REALLLLLY
> HEAVY!!! The lens hood was a little skimpy too. But what really surprised
> me was the fact that my lowly Tokina 300mm 2.8 ATX and the 500mm APO Sigma
> resulted in much brighter and contrasty viewfinder images and sharper
> transparencies. Granted, the Tokina is 50mm shorter than the Zuiko and the
> Sigma is a prime 500mm as compared to the 350mm and a matched 1.4xA at
> 490mm, but hey...this is the legendary Zuiko 350mm f2.8. Needless to say,
> the Zuiko is on its way back to KEH and I am VERY glad to still have my
> Tokina and Sigma lenses. Maybe I got a dud lens from KEH, but has anyone
> besides myself ever compared the Zuiko at 490mm to a Sigma 500mm APO? As
> far as I know, the Sigma is the only available long FAST lens made for OM
> anymore. And I had to special order it from Sigma to boot. It is amazingly
> lightweight for its focal length, although it does not seem anywhere near as
> sturdy as the Zuiko. You might say that I am setting everyone up to buy the
> Sigma from me when I list it again, but nope. This is a lens I will keep
> and recommend to anyone needing a fairly light, fast supertelephoto. I
> wonder if the fact that the Sigma is APO makes the difference? One big
> problem with the Sigma lens, though, is the fact that it is not compatible
> with the 1.4xA since the extending front element of the 1.4xA protrudes too
> far. Does anyone know of a way to fix this? What would happen if I put a
> small extension tube between the 1.4xA and the Sigma lens? I really want a
> 700mm f5.6 lens, and the 350mm with the 2xA just did not make the grade. I
> have no experience with the Zuiko 600mm, but feel it is really a bit too
> slow for my work. This novel is concluded. Thanks for reading....snore!!
>
> Ron Crabtree
> Santa Fe, NM
>
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