At 08:10 PM 7/16/99 -0400, Doug Cooper wrote:
>
>
>Hi all! Just traded an old N*kk*r 105/2.5 for a near mint Zuiko 200/4. I
>*think* I see a hint of green in the coating, but it doesn't say MC.
>(Serial number 260*** -- anyone know if this is multi-coated?)
Sounds MC to me (I've owned two of these guys at one time or another, and have
one in my collection of lenses now).
>I'm wondering what the consensus is regarding this lens, or whether there
>even is one. The tests seem all over the map. Some seem to think it's a
>great lens, even hand-held; Mr. Reese seems to have decided you have to
>nail it down to a support to really get decent results. (Although the new
>test results are pretty impressive, it seems; holds its own with the
>180, at some apertures.)
I'd be one of the ones who think "it's a great lens, even hand-held," and I
actually think its relatively low weight compared to a zoom of similar focal
length contributes to the ability to get some great hand-helds out of it (part
of camera shake has nothing to do with mirror slap or balance of the rig, but
the simple, physical tiredness of your hands and arms while you try to hold
your lens/camera combo in a relaxed manner -- the 200/4.0 Zuiko is, in my
opinion, quite good for something like this). Naturally, I still normally use
shutter speeds of 1/250th second or faster, but that's not hard to achieve
outdoors with ASA 100 film.
>And what about the 2xA converter? Someone in the archives suggested you
>could *hand-hold* it with the converter attached! That would be
>something: a 400mm lens that didn't require a tripod...
I've done this, but results varied. For one thing, you immediately go to an
effective wide-open aperture of F/8 (just gross for trying to compose and focus
properly), and shutter speeds faster than 1/500th become virtually mandatory.
That's tough to do with ASA 100 film, even outdoors, unless it's a severely
sunny day... Plus, there is some unpleasant vignetting in my opinion. YMMV.
>In short, I'm wondering what I've bought.
A damn fine moderate telephoto for the money, I'd say. ;-) When travelling
through the Rockies, I tend to keep my 200/4.0 on one of my OM bodies on the
seat beside me, ready to use at a moment's notice. I've never regretted it.
The only alternative for fast hand-helds in such a situation would be the
300/4.5, which I've also used in this regard.
Garth
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