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[OM] FS: 2 Zuiko lenses and 1 Dutch Olympus book (long)

Subject: [OM] FS: 2 Zuiko lenses and 1 Dutch Olympus book (long)
From: "Olaf Greve" <ogreve@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2000 01:14:36 PDT
Hi,

No, no, I'm not moving into AF! ;)

Much rather, the disease has stricken again, and this time I managed to obtain a mega-package (main stuff: OM-2n, bellows, slide copier, MD1 (incl. control grip 1), 50/3.5 Macro, 35-70/3.6, T20, Oly small case S, 2 Oly filters, 1 TTL AutoConnector T20, varimagnifier, Oly double cable release, several books, assorted small stuff).

Cool, eh?
Yes indeed, but now I need to raise some funds to be able to afford it all. Therefore I've decided to try to sell two of my lenses which are now more or less duplicated, being the 50/3.5 Macro, and the 35-70/4 zoom lens, also, I now have a book double, so I'll try to sell that too.

I will do my best at giving a proper rating, and will do so very conservatively so as to try to avoid any dissapointment. I rather underrate and end up finding a happy buyer, than overrate and having to take the lens back. I always find it difficult to universally define a grade for an item, but I'll do my best. Also, even when I believe something is 100 0n order, I will still not give a higher grade than a 9+, just to be sure.

So, here goes (rather lengthily, just to be as clear as possible):

50/3.5 Macro:
------------
Filter ring says: "OLYMPUS OM SYSTEM ZUIKO MC AUTO-MACRO 1:3,5 f=50mm 140xxx". So, it's an MC version for sure, also, it's the US version which has the distance indications expressed in feet. Cosmetically the lens is not perfect, it has seen some use and therefore the aperture ring has some brassing (no dents, and the brassing is not all that serious). I would say that this lens cosmetically is an 8 (to be on the conservative side). Mechanically everything is sound. The diaphragm is crisp and snappy, and the aperture ring and focusing ring all turn freely and smoothly. So mechanically the lens would be (again to be conservative) say a 9+. Optically there's one issue: the rear element has two tiny blemishes which look a bit like cleaning marks. In other words, they look like two tiny scratches (I think) that are at most 2mm in length, and very narrow in the width. Unfortunately when I bought this lens from the e-Bay seller, these blemishes were already present. I have never seen any image degradation because of it however. A few weeks ago I used this lens with a 31mm extension tube (so it was pushed well beyond 1:1), and still the results are razor sharp, without any (visible) image degradation because of the blemishes. So, even though optically there's not a whole lot wrong with it, I really want to avoid dissapointments, and will give it an IMO rather conservative grade of a 7. Conclusion: the lens works lovely, is contrasty, and is extremely sharp. If you're a lens collector stay away from it, as it's not in mint condition, but if you're a user, you will have lots of fun with this one, and I honestly so far have never seen any image degradation because of the blemishes. My only reason for selling it, is that I now have two of these lenses (the other one has the indications in meters, which I prefer a bit). Unfortunately I currently don't have any images of the lens, nor pictures taken with it (in my picture gallery) to show. But if so desired, I can take/scan some of those. This will take at least a week though before I can properly get around to doing all of this. If in the meantime you just want to take my worth for it, that would be great! I will ask a price which is below what I paid to get it over here from the US (lens + shipping + customs were some $140 I believe). This is because of the blemishes on the rear element.
Asking price: $125 + actual shipping costs.

35-70/4:
-------
Filter ring says: "OLYMPUS OM SYSTEM S ZUIKO AUTO-ZOOM 35~70mm 1:4 made in japan". The serial number is impressed in the metal lens mount (on the side of the lens) and is: 285xxx. I believe all of the 35-70/4 lenses are MC, but I'm not 100ertain about it. I can't detect any green reflections, but the yellow and purple ones (and depending on the lightfall also some blueish and redish ones at times) can be seen. You decide for yourself whether it's MC or SC, as far as I'm concerned, to stay on the conservative side, let's say it's SC. Cosmetically the lens is very nice, the only thing I notice is some small brassing on the metal part of the focussing ring, this is not very serious though. I would say that this lens cosmetically is an 8+ (to be on the _very_ conservative side). Mechanically everything seems to be sound. The diaphragm is crisp and snappy, and the aperture ring and focusing ring all turn freely and smoothly. It is possible to slightly move the focusing ring length-wise to and fro, but I think this is normal in this lens (not 100ure though), at least this doesn't affect the focussing, and it doesn't seem to be undesirable play. So taking this movement into account, let's say that mechanically the lens would be (to be very conservative!) say a 9-. Optically the lens is completely sound: no blemishes, no cleaning marks, no dust/paint specks (at least none that I have seen), so I'll pass my "conservative max. grade" of a 9+. Conclusion: the lens works lovely, is sharp and contrasty and very versatile. This is a great travel companion, and I have used it for a LOT of pictures. If it weren't for the mere fact that I now have the F3.6 version, and soon hope to have the 35-80/2.8, I would have never dreamed of letting this lens go. Actually, until I bought the 100/2 and started practising some more with primes, I tended to use the 35-70/4 for some 700f the pictures I took! Any lens user who can't afford the much more expensive faster versions will have lots of fun with this lens. To attest to this, I'd like to give a few URLs of some of my favourite pictures ever, which were taken with this very lens:
http://www.web-wizards.com/cgi-bin/show_picture.cgi?country=holl&num=7
http://www.web-wizards.com/cgi-bin/show_picture.cgi?country=holl&num=10
http://www.web-wizards.com/cgi-bin/show_picture.cgi?country=fra&num=2
http://www.web-wizards.com/cgi-bin/show_picture.cgi?country=fra&num=4
http://www.web-wizards.com/cgi-bin/show_picture.cgi?country=fra&num=5
http://www.web-wizards.com/cgi-bin/show_picture.cgi?country=peru&num=1
http://www.web-wizards.com/cgi-bin/show_picture.cgi?country=peru&num=5
http://www.web-wizards.com/cgi-bin/show_picture.cgi?country=peru&num=8
http://www.web-wizards.com/cgi-bin/show_picture.cgi?country=ven&num=3
O.k., that should be more than enough ;) For more pictures taken with this lens, check my picture gallery (sections: Netherlands, France, Peru and Venezuela). I will ask a price which is the same as what I paid over here to buy this lens.
Asking price: $125 + actual shipping costs.

Het Olympus Reflex Boek, 2nd ed. 1979:
-------------------------------------
This book will most likely only be of interest to Dutch buyers, or collectors who like to have it as an addition to their Oly library. The text in the book is pretty interesting to read, although it obviously goes back quite a while. Still, it's 136 pages about the OM system (and the history of it). Interesting detail: this is the book that has a picture of a (prototype) M-System 35/2,8 Shift lens!
Asking price:
$7.50 + actual shipping, for international buyers, or
Hfl 20,- incl. shipping, for buyers in The Netherlands.

O.k., that about rounds it up, if anyone buys the 50/3.5 Macro, and finds the blemishes to really be too much of an issue, (or if there's any unforeseen issue with the zoom) I can always take it back (we then need to work out something for the shipping costs).

Finally, please send any and all inquiries off-list to me, to: ogreve@xxxxxxxxxxx

Cheeeeerze!
Olafo

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