Hi,
No, no, I'm not moving into AF! ;)
Much rather, the disease has stricken again, and this time I managed to
obtain a mega-package (main stuff: OM-2n, bellows, slide copier, MD1 (incl.
control grip 1), 50/3.5 Macro, 35-70/3.6, T20, Oly small case S, 2 Oly
filters, 1 TTL AutoConnector T20, varimagnifier, Oly double cable release,
several books, assorted small stuff).
Cool, eh?
Yes indeed, but now I need to raise some funds to be able to afford it all.
Therefore I've decided to try to sell two of my lenses which are now more or
less duplicated, being the 50/3.5 Macro, and the 35-70/4 zoom lens, also, I
now have a book double, so I'll try to sell that too.
I will do my best at giving a proper rating, and will do so very
conservatively so as to try to avoid any dissapointment. I rather underrate
and end up finding a happy buyer, than overrate and having to take the lens
back. I always find it difficult to universally define a grade for an item,
but I'll do my best. Also, even when I believe something is 100 0n order, I
will still not give a higher grade than a 9+, just to be sure.
So, here goes (rather lengthily, just to be as clear as possible):
50/3.5 Macro:
------------
Filter ring says: "OLYMPUS OM SYSTEM ZUIKO MC AUTO-MACRO 1:3,5 f=50mm
140xxx".
So, it's an MC version for sure, also, it's the US version which has the
distance indications expressed in feet.
Cosmetically the lens is not perfect, it has seen some use and therefore the
aperture ring has some brassing (no dents, and the brassing is not all that
serious). I would say that this lens cosmetically is an 8 (to be on the
conservative side).
Mechanically everything is sound. The diaphragm is crisp and snappy, and the
aperture ring and focusing ring all turn freely and smoothly. So
mechanically the lens would be (again to be conservative) say a 9+.
Optically there's one issue: the rear element has two tiny blemishes which
look a bit like cleaning marks. In other words, they look like two tiny
scratches (I think) that are at most 2mm in length, and very narrow in the
width. Unfortunately when I bought this lens from the e-Bay seller, these
blemishes were already present. I have never seen any image degradation
because of it however. A few weeks ago I used this lens with a 31mm
extension tube (so it was pushed well beyond 1:1), and still the results are
razor sharp, without any (visible) image degradation because of the
blemishes. So, even though optically there's not a whole lot wrong with it,
I really want to avoid dissapointments, and will give it an IMO rather
conservative grade of a 7.
Conclusion: the lens works lovely, is contrasty, and is extremely sharp. If
you're a lens collector stay away from it, as it's not in mint condition,
but if you're a user, you will have lots of fun with this one, and I
honestly so far have never seen any image degradation because of the
blemishes. My only reason for selling it, is that I now have two of these
lenses (the other one has the indications in meters, which I prefer a bit).
Unfortunately I currently don't have any images of the lens, nor pictures
taken with it (in my picture gallery) to show. But if so desired, I can
take/scan some of those. This will take at least a week though before I can
properly get around to doing all of this.
If in the meantime you just want to take my worth for it, that would be
great!
I will ask a price which is below what I paid to get it over here from the
US (lens + shipping + customs were some $140 I believe). This is because of
the blemishes on the rear element.
Asking price: $125 + actual shipping costs.
35-70/4:
-------
Filter ring says: "OLYMPUS OM SYSTEM S ZUIKO AUTO-ZOOM 35~70mm 1:4 made in
japan". The serial number is impressed in the metal lens mount (on the side
of the lens) and is: 285xxx.
I believe all of the 35-70/4 lenses are MC, but I'm not 100 ertain about
it. I can't detect any green reflections, but the yellow and purple ones
(and depending on the lightfall also some blueish and redish ones at times)
can be seen. You decide for yourself whether it's MC or SC, as far as I'm
concerned, to stay on the conservative side, let's say it's SC.
Cosmetically the lens is very nice, the only thing I notice is some small
brassing on the metal part of the focussing ring, this is not very serious
though. I would say that this lens cosmetically is an 8+ (to be on the
_very_ conservative side).
Mechanically everything seems to be sound. The diaphragm is crisp and
snappy, and the aperture ring and focusing ring all turn freely and
smoothly. It is possible to slightly move the focusing ring length-wise to
and fro, but I think this is normal in this lens (not 100ure though), at
least this doesn't affect the focussing, and it doesn't seem to be
undesirable play. So taking this movement into account, let's say that
mechanically the lens would be (to be very conservative!) say a 9-.
Optically the lens is completely sound: no blemishes, no cleaning marks, no
dust/paint specks (at least none that I have seen), so I'll pass my
"conservative max. grade" of a 9+.
Conclusion: the lens works lovely, is sharp and contrasty and very
versatile. This is a great travel companion, and I have used it for a LOT of
pictures. If it weren't for the mere fact that I now have the F3.6 version,
and soon hope to have the 35-80/2.8, I would have never dreamed of letting
this lens go. Actually, until I bought the 100/2 and started practising some
more with primes, I tended to use the 35-70/4 for some 700f the pictures I
took! Any lens user who can't afford the much more expensive faster versions
will have lots of fun with this lens.
To attest to this, I'd like to give a few URLs of some of my favourite
pictures ever, which were taken with this very lens:
http://www.web-wizards.com/cgi-bin/show_picture.cgi?country=holl&num=7
http://www.web-wizards.com/cgi-bin/show_picture.cgi?country=holl&num=10
http://www.web-wizards.com/cgi-bin/show_picture.cgi?country=fra&num=2
http://www.web-wizards.com/cgi-bin/show_picture.cgi?country=fra&num=4
http://www.web-wizards.com/cgi-bin/show_picture.cgi?country=fra&num=5
http://www.web-wizards.com/cgi-bin/show_picture.cgi?country=peru&num=1
http://www.web-wizards.com/cgi-bin/show_picture.cgi?country=peru&num=5
http://www.web-wizards.com/cgi-bin/show_picture.cgi?country=peru&num=8
http://www.web-wizards.com/cgi-bin/show_picture.cgi?country=ven&num=3
O.k., that should be more than enough ;) For more pictures taken with this
lens, check my picture gallery (sections: Netherlands, France, Peru and
Venezuela).
I will ask a price which is the same as what I paid over here to buy this
lens.
Asking price: $125 + actual shipping costs.
Het Olympus Reflex Boek, 2nd ed. 1979:
-------------------------------------
This book will most likely only be of interest to Dutch buyers, or
collectors who like to have it as an addition to their Oly library. The text
in the book is pretty interesting to read, although it obviously goes back
quite a while. Still, it's 136 pages about the OM system (and the history of
it). Interesting detail: this is the book that has a picture of a
(prototype) M-System 35/2,8 Shift lens!
Asking price:
$7.50 + actual shipping, for international buyers, or
Hfl 20,- incl. shipping, for buyers in The Netherlands.
O.k., that about rounds it up, if anyone buys the 50/3.5 Macro, and finds
the blemishes to really be too much of an issue, (or if there's any
unforeseen issue with the zoom) I can always take it back (we then need to
work out something for the shipping costs).
Finally, please send any and all inquiries off-list to me, to:
ogreve@xxxxxxxxxxx
Cheeeeerze!
Olafo
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