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Olympus F.Zuiko Auto-S 50mm f1.8
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 1:11 am    Post subject: Olympus F.Zuiko Auto-S 50mm f1.8 Reply with quote
Picked this up today-any feedback and experience on quality/ performance would be super.






PostPosted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 4:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I think I lucked out with a beautiful lens- my first Zuiko. Mounted on Sony Alpha 700.





PostPosted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 4:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
An M42 Zuiko? There's something you don't see every day...


PostPosted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 6:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Well I have two (bayonet) and the lens with "made in Japan" engraved on the front is supposed to be the better lens....it's a top nifty fifty lens and I can't think of anything bad to say about it.


PostPosted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 7:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Excalibur wrote:
Well I have two (bayonet) and the lens with "made in Japan" engraved on the front is supposed to be the better lens....it's a top nifty fifty lens and I can't think of anything bad to say about it.


Yep, the "made in Japan" is the latest and sharpest of the bunch, and reportedly the better one optically. In my experience, in the class of f/1.8-1.7 fiftiy-something lenses it's only inferior to Zeiss Planar 50/1.7; everything else that I tried (and I tried a log of cheap fifties) was quite a bit inferior to this Zuiko.

(I had to clean mine, and I can say that inside it's built cheaper than older Zuiko's, with few cost-saving measures here and there such as attaching the front lens group with screws instead of using threaded screw mount, etc.)

I think five or six optical designs existed for Zuiko 50/1.8, but Olympus never advertised the changes.


PostPosted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 7:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
***Yep, the "made in Japan" is the latest and sharpest of the bunch, and reportedly the better one optically.***

Well I have one with and without the "made in Japan" and was using both not knowing at the time that one is supposed to be superior... ignorance is bliss as I couldn't see the difference in my shots Smile


PostPosted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 8:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Excalibur wrote:
***Yep, the "made in Japan" is the latest and sharpest of the bunch, and reportedly the better one optically.***

Well I have one with and without the "made in Japan" and was using both not knowing at the time that one is supposed to be superior... ignorance is bliss as I couldn't see the difference in my shots Smile


The differences were pretty minor, if any. Olympus tweaked the optical construction of its 50/1.8 more than once, but general idea remained the same. I could see the differences between images produced with an old single-coated Zuiko and the latest "made in Japan" specimen, but I guess it would be hard or impossible to detect any meaningful differences between its versions that were not as drastically apart.


PostPosted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 4:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Mike Deep wrote:
An M42 Zuiko? There's something you don't see every day...


These lenses were made for the Olympus ftl ; 1st olympus 24x36 reflex with m42 modified mount for auto exposure

Manufactured by ricoh in ~1970 for Olympus who wanted to sell a 24x36 reflex after the pen/f success and while they were developing the om1

This is NOT sure the lenses were manufactured by Olympus

Last edited by PBFACTS on Wed Jun 16, 2010 5:23 pm; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 4:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thank you all for your insights. I can always count on the great experience of people here. I have learnt a few new things about Zuiko lenses that I previously did not know.

I love this lens, its sharpness and color- from the few shots I have taken.

Mike Deep:
Quote:

An M42 Zuiko? There's something you don't see every day...
Amazing portfolio/ weppage Mike and great pictures .

I had never seen one and now I am glad I own one and the glass , aperture blades and focusing are in excellent shape. Its small , light, and easy to adapt- all I had to do was take the position pin out from this mount.


PostPosted: Wed Jun 16, 2010 5:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
It's a great little lens for sure, and these are some beautiful sample images - I too have one in M42 mount which I came close to selling recently, but am glad I didn't Wink


PostPosted: Thu Jun 17, 2010 2:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thanks Mal1905.


PostPosted: Thu Jun 17, 2010 4:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
As far as I know, there are 5 different 50mm F1.8 Zuiko with the OM mount.

There are two with F.Zuiko, the earliest is a silvernose(all the others have a black nose). These two have a different internal construction to the lattr three.

Then there are the "Japan" MC ones

Then I think it's the "Japan" with no MC on it.

Then the "Made in Japan" ones.


I have a silvernose F.Zuiko with serial number 482,000

Then a few "Japan" MC ones serial number from 1,973,000 - 2,760,000

My "Made in Japan" is 3,855,000

One trick with these lenses, is that quite a few have sticky aperture blades, so check that before buying.


PostPosted: Thu Jun 17, 2010 4:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
dnas wrote:
As far as I know, there are 5 different 50mm F1.8 Zuiko with the OM mount.

...

I have a silvernose F.Zuiko with serial number 482,000

Then a few "Japan" MC ones serial number from 1,973,000 - 2,760,000

My "Made in Japan" is 3,855,000


Is there a good internet reference for these lenses?

I have a Japan MC with serial number 3,045,xxx, if that helps you any.


PostPosted: Thu Jun 17, 2010 5:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I took this lens out this evening again- and I am more impressed today- Having no experience with Zuiko lenses previously, I now will definitely keep my eyes open to these lenses.

I'd like to share 2 from this evening.




PostPosted: Thu Jun 17, 2010 6:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Scheimpflug wrote:

Is there a good internet reference for these lenses?

I have a Japan MC with serial number 3,045,xxx, if that helps you any.


Not quite, see http://photo.net/olympus-camera-forum/00KbGJ

Apparently, Olympus followed no particular scheme in assigning serial numbers. A later lens could at times start with a lower s/n than the older version.


PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 6:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
aoleg wrote:
Scheimpflug wrote:
Is there a good internet reference for these lenses?

I have a Japan MC with serial number 3,045,xxx, if that helps you any.
Not quite, see http://photo.net/olympus-camera-forum/00KbGJ

Apparently, Olympus followed no particular scheme in assigning serial numbers. A later lens could at times start with a lower s/n than the older version.

Thanks for the link. It is unfortunate that Olympus didn't do things more logically. Sad
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