>
> Kit lens! Kit lens! The only lens I've seen kitted with the 5D or 5D
> Mk II is the $1,059 Canon 24-105mm f/4L IS USM. Oh, dear... it's a kit
> lens. tch, tch. Who'd a thunk it?
>
When adjusted for inflation is chump change compared to the new price of the
35-80/2.8.
In one way, I'm sorry for contributing to the current run on these lenses,
but then in another way, I'm tickled pink that I can contribute to the
global recognition of the world-class nature of some things Olympus. This
lens just isn't any "zoom lens", it has an optical signature so unique that
it should be sought after for artistic reasons alone. People spend far more
than this on things which only improve in nuances, where this lens is in a
category of its own.
Like I said before, the specifications of the lens are one thing, but the
lens has the ability to deliver an image which causes people to scratch
their heads thinking "something is different about this picture, but I'm at
a loss as to what it is." I still have no clue how to describe it, but now
knowing what to look for, I can see it in other people's pictures.
Last night I was experimenting with the 300/4.5 and Tokina 100-300/4, the
35/2.8 and 35-80/2.8. From where I was standing, I focused on the
humidifier in the hall, about 25 feet away and noticed the "bokeh" of the
carpet as well as the edge of another bedroom door. Both the 300/4.5 and
35-80/2.8 had substantially wider "bokeh" that showed up in the microprism
collar of the focus screen. With the Zuiko 300/4.5, The bokeh showed up to
a tune of about 6 segments in the microprism. The Tokina 100-300/4 stopped
at 4 segments. Same with the 35-80 (at a closer distance), the bokeh
appeared wider with highly feathered edges, whereas the 35/2.8 had lovely
feathered bokeh, but not nearly as wide, nor without the sharp-edged snap of
the in-focus subject.
I've learned to judge a lens' sharpness wide-open through focusing on fabric
at a distance. With a sharp lens, the fabric will "shimmer" in the
viewfinder (on the 2-x focus screens or in the E-1). No shimmer--not
sharp. Wide-open, the 300/4.5 will shimmer, the 100-300 won't. The 100/2.8
will, the 200/4 won't. Both the 200/4 and the 100-300 will when stopped
down to F5.6. The 35-80/2.8 will shimmer wide-open at all focal-lengths.
This is actually my clue to focusing with the E-1, I just adjust till I see
a shimmer.
But according to Moose, I can have the shimmer fixed in Photoshop. :)
AG (Shimmer) Schnozz
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