>
> Dear friends........
> Whats the score on the 21/2 vs the 21/3.5..... ? Is the f2 really good and
> worth splurging on or is the f3.5 good enough ?
>
> There is one 21/2 exc + costing US$675.......... is it worth it ?
>
> Peace
> TMLee
I would call this a must-have lens. One of the treasures of the OM
line. 21s have a lot of depth-of-field -- a lot more than you want,
sometimes. The f/2 aperture helps isolate close-up objects. Once you
get past 2m or so, though, everything out to infinity will be in
pretty well focus, even at f/2. Try this (you can do it in the store
if you can't take the lens home): Focus on an object at 1m, with the
background at 10m. Do it at f/2, and at f/3.5 (2/3 of the way from 2.8
to 4). Examine the background. The DOF will not change much, but the
degree of out-of-focusness of objects well out of the DOF range will
change by a larger amount. If you don't take pictures, just push the
DOF button. Set the lens at f/3.5; you will be focusing at f/2; push
the DOF button to pop back and forth between the two while looking at
the background.
Look at Eugene Richards's pictures. This is his favorite lens, I hear.
Watch your C*n*n- and N*k*n-owning friends' faces when they say, "New
lens?", and you say, "Yeah a 21mm ... f/2." That will be an experience
beyond price!
You can get them for around $600 in the US (21s, not friends), but you
may have to wait for that price. The extra $75 may be a good price for
getting one 6mo-1yr sooner. It's not a common lens, but you can buy
one just about any time.
BTW, this lens, after about 20years, is about to be dethroned as the
fast-superwide champ. Sigma is coming out with a 20mm f/1.8. It's not
much less than a used 21/2, weighs more than twice as much, is much
larger, and takes 82mm filters. The 21 takes 55mm, and doesn't need
special super-thin models. (I would check before using a particular
thickness.) And (to non-photographer spouses/girlfriends), it looks
just like a 50mm!
Paul
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