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Joseph,
How do you like the Spiratone 20/2.8?
I like the Zuiko 21/2
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I'm sure the 21/2 Zuiko is better, though I haven't used it myself.
In fact, the 21/3.5 Zuiko is an amazingly sharp lens by f/5.6 or so.
I used to own it and was pleased with it except for two things: price,
and difficulty focusing on account of the DOF at f/3.5 of a 21mm lens.
I also wanted something that was at least f/2.8 to shoot night scenes
handheld. A professional photographer I know had used the Spiratone 20/2.8
with Nikon mount and recommended it to me, so I gave it a try. It wasn't
easy to find in OM mount, but cost was $150, about half of what I got from
selling the 21/3.5 I once had.
My take on it is that it is comparable to the 28/2.8 Zuiko in quality,
probably no less sharp, but a little bit more distortion. It vignettes
a little bit wide open (most 20mm lenses do) but has excellent sharpness
and contrast stopped down, and is usable at every aperture. Overall, a
lens worth using at the price. I'd rate the Spiratone 20mm slightly better
than the 24/2.8 Zuiko, but not in the same class as the 21/3.5 (or
presumably, the 21/2). Although Spiratone didn't make the lenses they sold,
they were well known for their fisheyes and ultra wides, all of which were
made to high standards of optical quality. I've never seen
their 24-40/3.5 zoom, but it is supposed to be a worthy lens also.
I prefer the 24mm focal length, as I'm not a "wide-angle junkie". I was
never fully satisfied with the 24/2.8 (contrast not as snappy as I'd want
for shooting slides) and I once tried the 24/2, and felt it had more distortion
than I'd consider acceptable for such an expensive lens.
I eventually came to find out that the Sigma 24/2.8 might be an excellent
lens, based on its photodo ranking. At only $169 new, I figured I'd just
buy one and see how it was, and I've been pleased with it. It is at least
as sharp as the 24/2.8 Zuiko, focuses more closely (to 1:4 in fact) and
is noticeably more contrasty than the 24/2.8 Zuiko when comparing slides side
by side on a light table. (I shoot a Macbeth color checker on slide film
at night with a flash to have reproducibility in my tests for color and
contrast). Moreover, I discovered that Sigma has a 2-tier product line even
though they don't necessarily advertise as such, and the top tier lenses are
more rugged in build quality. I had a bad impression of sigma from
a 75-300 APO Sigma zoom I once bought and found unacceptable in both build
quality and optical quality.
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However, mildly curious, is that the latest new Zuiko's lenses have many
more green colored layers in the total compliment of multicoated glass
surfaces. Said another way, losing a little green in the transmitted light
(since its all that's reflected), leaves the overall color bias of the
light getting to the film very slightly magenta.
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Multicoating is very complex and involves taking advantage of the
interference between layers. Modern multicoatings are designed
with the aid of computers and are very accurate in color balance of
transmitted light. Zuikos have a very uniform color rendition across
the product line, so this isn't somethign I'd worry about.
Joseph
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