Lex Jenkins wrote:
Having enjoyed the opportunity to borrow Dave Bulger's Zuiko 50/3.5
macro for a while, I can vouch for it as an excellent all-around lens.
I found the bokeh quite lovely, even in the notoriously difficult
situations of out-of-focus foliage backgrounds. The key may be using
it wide open, or nearly so, for anything other than macro work.
Regarding popularity, cost must certainly be a factor. With the
average price of the 50/3.5 under $200 for an excellent used specimen,
many of us would be hard pressed to justify the cost of a 50/2.
======================================================================
I'm very happy to read this, Lex! The reason is, I bought one from the
"Camera Exchange" in Jakarta on Saturday. They still had an OM-1(n?)
chrome that I had seen previously, with a badly scratched viewfinder
lens, plus, this time, an OM-2 chrome in good condition and four Zuiko
lenses, namely, two 50/1.8, one 50/1.4 SC and the 50/3.5 macro. The
macro lens was in excellent condition and, when I asked the price, was
told 500,000 Rupiah. With the Rp running at around 9000 to the US$,
that's about US$56.00! I could have tried bargaining for a lower price
but I didn't bother, just forked out the price asked. Haven't had a
chance to try it yet but I'm very encouraged by your comments, Lex.
I'll keep searching for more bargains but Olympus is very rare in
Indonesia; you hust have to see what turns up.
BTW, I didn't ask the prices of the other Oly items because I didn't
want to get into a bargaining session for soething I didn't want.
However, I did notice a Leica R7 body plus a large set of R series
lenses and, when I asked the price, out of curiosity, I was told the R7
body was going for Rp2.5 million, which is about US$280. I'm sure I
could get it for less if I bargained! If I was so inclined, I could
probably pick up the R7 body plus 3 or 4 lenses for less than US$2,000
... food for thought!
I think the explanation for low prices in the used market here is that,
owing to the decline of the local currency, many people have been
forced to part with their cameras because they need money desparately,
especially those with foreign debts. There isn't much demand, for the
same reason, so dealers are keen to sell to anyone able to buy, just to
keep up their cash-flow. Heaven knows what the dealers are paying to
the previous owners but it can't be much if they're able to make a
profit at prices around 1/3 of those in the rest of the world!
Regards,
=====
Ray
"The trouble with resisting temptation is
you never know when you'll get another chance!"
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Photos - 35mm Quality Prints, Now Get 15 Free!
http://photos.yahoo.com/
< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >
|