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Re: [OM] lenses

Subject: Re: [OM] lenses
From: Frank Ernens <fgernens@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 01 Oct 1999 23:05:28 +1000
Joel Richards wrote:

> I have been happily snapping away with my 50mm/1.4 zuiko for a few
> months now and I think I'd like to pick up a wide angle lens to
> play around with.  I'm thinking of either 24mm or 28mm f/2.8 zuikos.

For landscape, the traditional "training wheels" wide and the one
I started with is 28mm (not, unfortunately, a Zuiko). For people, 35mm
may be more useful and is a lens you will still use once you're expert,
providing it's the f/2.

> I've heard that below about 28mm, significant distortion tends to occur
> around image edges.

It happens when you tilt the lens. You can hide it by avoiding lines
which don't go through the  centre of the frame, but a little doesn't
bother most people. View cameras don't have this problem (see "The Camera",
by Ansel Adams).

Some of the distortion is an artefact of the lens. The 24/2 supposedly
has less than the 24/2.8. 28mm primes don't exhibit it. Most zooms are
pretty bad, even at 35mm. I don't know how Zuikos compare to, say,
Nikons or Canons.

> Is this something that is really a problem?  I'd
> like to get as wide as possible, but I don't want to end up limiting
> myself because everything looks funny through the 24mm lens...

If it looks funny *to you* don't get this lens. If you want
to get as wide as possible, lots of people use 20mm (21mm in Zuiko).

> Anyway, any thoughts anyone has about how to choose between these
> would be appreciated...

After using the Sigma 28 for a couple of years I acquired a 
24mm/2.8. This is a wonderful lens, perhaps though not wide 
enough for my taste. The 28 remained unused for ten years until 
recently when I traded it for a spotless Zuiko 28/2.8. This lens 
is vastly better than the Sigma, but I still don't like it much. 
It has bad fall-off wide open (which the 24 doesn't) and is 
susceptible to flare. Admittedly, I am not expert with it since I 
still prefer 35mm or 24mm. The 28mm comes out sometimes when 
shooting flat wheat fields and silos etc.

Neither lens was particularly easy to find here MC and in usable 
condition. The 24/2.8's weren't that common, and most of the 28's 
are shot (having been owned by tyros). Nonetheless, I would 
advise against settling for a third-party 28 because you would be 
tempted to use it for real shots. It would be better to buy the 
first good 24 or 28 you see and learn to use that.


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