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[OM] Oly lenses for wide-field astrophotography

Subject: [OM] Oly lenses for wide-field astrophotography
From: Chuck Norcutt <norcutt@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 31 Dec 2000 16:11:56 -0500
One of my Christmas presents is "Wide Field Astrophotography" by Robert
Reeves (Willmann Bell, Inc, 2000).  In chapter 4, Lenses for Wide-field
Astrophotography, Reeves discusses various makers lenses' suitability
for astrophotography.  On page 139 he discusses Olympus as follows:

"Like their Nikon counterparts, the Olympus 50-mm f/1.2 and f/1.4 Zuiko
lenses need to be closed down two f-stops for acceptable
astrophotographic performance.  When used wide open, these lenses
produce terrible blobs for stars at the edge of the field.  The 50-mm
f/1.8 Zuiko also needs to be stopped to f/2.8 but is the best performer
of the three.

In the short telephoto range, the Zuiko 100-mm f/2.8, 135-mm f/2.8 and
135-mm f/3.5 are very lightweight and produce sharp star images even at
full aperture.  The Olympus 180-mm f/2.8 also is highly recommended by
those who have used it for astrophotograhpy.  It tends to record slight
blue halos around stars, but these can be removed with a minus-violet
filter.

Large sports telephoto lenses like the 350mm f/2.8 and the Nikon 300-mm
f/2.8 are attractive for astronomical photography, but at wide aperture
may display a somewhat soft focus.  However, if used with a deep red or
hydrogen-alpha filter, they have a remarkably good focus.  The resulting
star images on fine-grain film often equal those achieved with a
specialized Schmidt camera of equal focal length..."

Hmmm.  Don't know how the Nikon 300-mm f/2.8 got into the Olympus
section except maybe that he forgot to mention it in the Nikon section
immdediately preceding.

Anyhow, I thought it was interesting that he cites the 100mm f/2.8 and
the two 135mm Zuikos as giving good star images wide open.  This despite
the fact that Gary's lens tests of these lenses don't seem to indicate
stellar performance (pun intended) wide open.

I do own a 135-mm f/3.5.  If I can ever find a dark sky I'll have to
strap the 135 to the OM-1 and attach both piggyback on the Celestron 8
and give it a try.

ps:  He doesn't rate his own Nikkor's very highly when used wide open
with the exception of the 180-mm f/2.8 ED.  To be fair though, he says
most of his Nikkors are 30 years old and of older design.

pps:  This is a good book.  There's far more stuff in it than I would
have imagined.  Well over 500 pages of text.  Lots of great star field
photos and plenty of build it/ do it yourself stuff.

Chuck Norcutt
Woburn, Massachusetts, USA

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