>Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2000 13:05:28 +0300
>From: "Samu Mielonen" <ex@xxxxxxx>
>Subject: [OM] Non-Olympus teleobjectives (availability, adapters, etc)?
>
>I'm looking for used teleobjectives (perhaps even zooms)
>in the 80-200mm range.
Samu, I don't know if this will be of help to you in Finland, but I
recently got a Kiron 80-200 F4.5 lens that is worthy as a possibility for
your considerations. It's of the push/pull variety and features a zoom lock
and is multi-coated. Originally, I'd not even considered any non-Zuiko
lenses, but after being less than awed by the performance of (2) Zuiko
75-150's I started really reading some lens tests and considering other
alternatives. The Vivitar Series I's get mentioned a lot, and the Kirons of
various configurations also get some positive nods from those who've
experienced them. Anyway, I found this Kiron 80-200 in a local shop for
$75US in Ex++ cond. and thought I'd got a fair deal. More recently I've
seen the same lens at www.keh.com for $41US. At that price it may well be
worth it even if you have to pay shipping to Scandinavia and whatever taxes
apply.
At first I thought this lens wasn't sharp, and was kind of disappointed.
But when I really analyzed the pics from the first roll through it, I
realized that the ones that seemed a bit out were all at 200 setting. For
me, handheld, subjects not being in crystal clarity focus above about
135-150 is no real surprise. So I've put a couple more rolls through it,
paying more attention to tripod/support usage and guess what? The photos
have improved with each roll so far. It's my personal theory that a lot of
the non-OeM lenses get a bad rap precisely because too many folks try to
handhold them beyond their abilities.
Today I printed out some B&W 8x10's of some geese shot at 200 with the
Kiron and they are crisp and clean as anything I've seen out of the Zuiko
75-150's. This Kiron lens has become my 'car camera' mainstay lens. That
and a Zuiko 28mm and I feel pretty well covered for most spontaneos, spur
of the moment shots.
Note: The Kiron zoom says it has a "macro" setting. It would better be
described as a closer focus. with approximately a 1 meter close focus at
midrange. Also, the focusing is very critical and not particularly
forgiving. It's probably not a good lens for those who wear
glasses/contacts, (although that's an unsupported guesstimation). Finally,
it's heavier, longer and bulkier than the Zuiko 75-150's. It takes 55mm
filters.
Hope that's of some use to somebody.
Mike Swaim
Oh yeah. Aperature goes from f4.5-f32 with best results in the middle range
of f8-f16 (hardly surprising)
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