OM Zuiko 100mm f/2.8 vs Pentax-M @ 100mm f/2.8 @ infinity

[caspert79]

comparison by devoscasper, on Flickr

Comparable lenses in a way: very lightweight, small yet well build.

The Zuiko, I've noticed this before in previous comparisons with several 100&105mm lenses, is extremely sharp centrally, and this starts from wide open. It shows the same characteristics when focusing closely.
It seems also more contrasty, although this could partially be an illusion because of its warmer rendering.

It takes the Pentax stopping down to f/5.6 to have near perfect resolution in the corners (on 42+ mp sensor). The Zuiko never quite reaches that level of corner sharpness when stopping down.
In real life landscape photography, I would be perfectly ok with the corner-to-corner performance of the Zuiko, when stopped down to f/8, but I would probably grab the Pentax.
The extremely sharp central rendering of the Zuiko however, can also be an advantage in certain situations (think sharp object against soft background --> 3D pop).

[Doc Sharptail]

The Zuiko definitely has the lead in contrast, especially on the windmill/turbine blades~ at least on this monitor.

Corners aside, locally, there are a few Zuiko fans. Most often seen is the O/M, and to a lesser extent, the O/M-2.
The usual lens availability/selection kept me away from the mark.
For the way some people use these lenses, both the pentax and zuiko look capable to me.

-D.S.

[jamaeolus]

I am an Oly fan. My first real camera, purchased from a college friend for 250 dollars in 1976 was an OM-1 with a 50mm 1.4 lens. I still have it. It still works. I added a zoom the 35-70 f4 after a few years and shot thousands of images with one or the other lens. For the record I am an amateur. I always got compliments on my photographs. I blame the camera. With needle matching for exposure and the delightful focus screen it was generally pretty easy to get acceptable images. After college I increased my kit with the 135mm the 100mm and the 28mm. My mother and brother had Canon FTb's, which are nice, but much larger and heavier. I switched to digital in the late 1990's but kept my old camera gear (much to my wife's dismay!) When I got back into vintage gear in about 2014 I dug my old camera out and started using it, and after switching to E mount have added a whole host of oly lenses and gear. Fast primes, macro, rails. I still think they were very competitive on IQ despite generally being much more compact than rival companies.

[caspert79]

The OM-2 was my first SLR. I've used the OM-1, the OM-2 Spot Program, and the OM-4 as well. The manual multiple spot-metering system om the OM-4 was nice. Loved the OM-1 for its simplicity and for it being completely mechanical. Tried lots of other camera's after that. Can't say I'm a fan of one particular system.

[jamaeolus]

Well...I am certainly not exclusive to Oly gear. I have cameras and lenses and ancillaries from a host of manufacturers. Agfa, AKA, Braun, Balda, Canon, etc etc to Voigtander, Welta. Hundreds of cameras and over a thousand lenses. My wife thinks I am obsessed. She is usually right....

[caspert79]

I feel you. I’ve had quite an extensive collection of Japanese rangefinder cameras. Sold them after I went mostly digital. You could call me a fan of vintage Japanese photo gear in general. And I have my favorite lenses within each brand.

[stevemark]

[jamaeolus]

Well...I am certainly not exclusive to Oly gear. I have cameras and lenses and ancillaries from a host of manufacturers. Agfa, AKA, Braun, Balda, Canon, etc etc to Voigtander, Welta. Hundreds of cameras and over a thousand lenses. My wife thinks I am obsessed. She is usually right....

[Doc Sharptail]

I've had a lot stuff pass through my hands over the years, with a lot of it arriving in "package deals" ~ like the Zuiko O/M mount 50mm that was incredibly well put together. I even went as far as using it on reversed on one of the digital Nikons for a few close-up "macro" shots.

I liked the handling and user interface of the K-1000, which at first glance seems a pretty pedestrian affair. Back when it came out, the bright view-finder generated a lot of discussion. I've even had a couple of spotmatics pass through here. There was also the Canon stuff- an FT-b and a couple of AE-1's. Some of the rendering from the f/d (and to a lesser extent the N-f/d) glass was quite interesting. Heck, even a few minolta cameras came through here.

There was even a Voightlander here with the film advance reminder shutter rod, that made some beautiful b&w imagery courtesy of the old 5063 Tx.

Then there were the Kowa 6 X 6's, and god knows what else.

The biggest regret for me was letting the SQ-A go. That one, I really should have kept with it's lens stable, but economics absolutely demanded other-wise.

Today, it's the Nikon stuff that stays. Were I able to find a non-optical adapter system, I'd likely go with a lot more, but that's life as it is for me.

There's still some of the 3rd party stuff that can be very good like Viv series 1, and the plain vivitar marked close focusing primes to get and re-evaluate yet.

-D.S.