And what a fine reply it was too : )!
Best Wishes,
Gareth.
Moose wrote:
danrich wrote:
What dose a silver nose Zuiko lens signify?
Here is a repost of what I said in reply to Gareth's question on the
same subject 7 days ago.
Moose
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are 2 only slightly parallel things going on here.
1. Oly updated their lens formulations over time. Some changes
involved changes as radical as in the number of elements/groups. Some
were mechanical changes. The vast majority were coating changes,
mostly from single to multi-coating, but some changes to the coating
details. The standard 50mm lenses had the most changes, with at least
5 different versions of the f1.8 and 4 of the f1.4. Very early f1.4 &
1.8s are noticeably softer than late versions. The changes from one
version to the next are generally not earthshaking. In many cases, the
only discernable difference between SC and MC versions of the same
lens is in increased resistance to flare, although some listees
believe SCs have more desireable color balance. My guess is that some
SC lenses are so loved by their owners exactly because they are
slightly softer wide open and have slightly less contrast, thus making
them more pleasing lenses for pictures of people. Others will
disagree. Gary Reese's lens tests often cover both SC and MC versions
of the same lens. My personal conclusion from Gary's tests, other
published info and list posts is that it is probable that individual
performance variations due to manufacturing tolerances may be as big
or bigger than the average differences in measureable performance
between SC and MC versions of some lenses in non flare situations.
2. Early Zuiko lenses were styled with polished chrome accents on the
front of the aperture rings, filter rings and built-in lens hoods. A
later styling change to all black except for matte chrome (2 tone
shiny/matte on last 50mm versions) on the outside of the mounting ring
roughly coincided in time with the switch from SC to MC. Thus it is
true to say that most "silver-nose" lenses are SC and most black nose
lenses are MC. However, there a significant number of silver-nose MC
lenses and vice versa. For more info on Zuiko lens terminology see
<http://olympus.dementia.org/eSIF/om-sif/lensgroup/lensterms.htm>.
There is generally no mechanical problem characteristic of any
particular early or late version of any Zuiko that I am aware of
except for some later versions of the standard 50mm lenses. It appears
from my experience and list postings that the fourth major version of
the 50/1.8 (black nose with "MC" marking) is prone to getting oil in
the aperture mechanism which slows or even stops aperture reopening
after exposure. This is hardly ever true of earlier versions and
apparently less common with the last version ("made in Japan" text on
front ring instead of "MADE IN JAPAN" on side of mounting ring).
To get an idea of the overall improvement over time, check Gary's
tests of the 50/1.8 SC against his tests of the 35-70/3.6 and /3.5-4.5
lenses at 50mm and the latest 50mm versions. They agree with my
experience that the 35-70/3.6 is a better performer (at the same
stops) at 50mm than my original, very early SC 50/1.8 and the latest
50mm versions are better than both.
.
Moose
Gareth.J.Martin wrote:
Is there any difference in mechanical or optical quality from the
normal Zuiko lenses?
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Gareth.J.Martin
Research Postgraduate
School of Geographical Sciences
University of Bristol
University Road
Bristol
BS8 1SS
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