Hi,
I'm Peter Leyssens and I just re-re-resubcribed to this Olympus mailing list.
I think I first joined in 1996 (might be earlier) with the remnants of an
interest in astrophoto, but moved on to general photography soon after that.
I've got 2 pictures on TOPE, and you'll always find me defending OM gear on
photo.net.
My equipment has stabilised on my trusty OM-3, a great OM-4Ti, and 28/2.8,
50/1.8 (sticky diaphragm), 50/1.4, 90/2.0 and 75-150/4.0 lenses. Of these,
I've recently only used the 90/2.0, though the 50/1.8 and the 28/2.8 have been
used a lot in the past. I got the 50/1.4 (MC) almost for free when I bought
some other stuff but I didn't really try it yet. I'm not a very big fan of the
75-150/4.0.
That leaves me a bit lacking in the telephoto range. I'm planning a long trip
this summer, and I think I need to solve this problem ! There's absolutely no
connection to my spasms I get everytime I think about how long it's been since
I've bought new Zuiko glass. I expect I'll be doing city and nature
photography and probably some close-up work, as well as more people shots than
I do on average. I can do most things with the 28-90mm lenses, except possibly
for some people shots and nature photography.
I've done my homework and looked at eSIF, Gary Reese's lens tests and the 2nd
hand price list. I've also taken a glance at TOPE submissions and John Lind's
portfolio (thanks) for the results of the lenses I'm considering. Finally,
I've scanned through this mailing lists' archives for answers to my questions.
The OM community keeps amazing me with the amount of information that's
available. Another very good to stick with OM !
These were some of the options I was looking at:
75-150/f4: I already have this lens, but I don't really like the results. It's
a very long time since I've used it, but I've checked with some TOPE results
and find the pictures rather flat. Having gotten used to the 3D look of the
90/f2, I may have gotten spoilt :-) The lens also overlaps with my 90/f2, and
it doesn't extend a great deal beyond it.
180/f2.8: the mailing list archives tell me that this lens suffers from coma.
Somehow, I'm not looking forward to this lens knowing that. I like doing night
photography in cities.
180/f2: Hey, I don't want to break my back, nor my bank account :-)
200/f4: The discussion still seems to be open: I've seen rave reviews as well
as hate-mail about this lens.
200/f5: seems a bit of a weird choice if I would be able to find & afford a
200/f4.
300mm lenses are quite far away from the 90mm I already have, so I also
considered this option:
135/f2.8 + 2xA teleconvertor: Gives me 2 focal lengths, going up to 270mm.
The 2xA is officially compatible with this lens. Gary Reese's lens tests tell
me the 135/2.8 MC is quite a good lens, and I liked the shots on John Lind's
homepage. I haven't seen any shot with the 2xA and this lens, but Gary's site
tells me the results will probably not be spectacular, probably about the same
as my 75-150.
So here's a string of questions:
1) Any experience with the 135/f2.8 ? Is my impression about right ?
2) Any experience with this lens and the 2xA TC ? Pictures I can take a look
at ?
3) I've found a thread about the 90/2.0 and the 2xA TC. Officially, these
don't go together, but I got the impression some people got it working. If it
involves disassembling my 90mm, I won't do it !
4) Other options I should consider ?
5) Tripod work with this setup: from the eSIF, I learn that only lenses of
300mm and up have a tripod mount. Hints ? I've got a decent Gitzo.
6) Photography from a train or a ferry. I'm planning on taking the infamous
Moscow-Beijing train, as well as a 2-day ferry from China to Japan. If I'm
lucky, I can take some pictures with the horizon and infinity being sharp, and
I don't care if there's motion blur in the foreground (it's a moving vehicle !)
How can I best achieve this ? Can a tripod work from a train, or would that
just pass through all little humps to my camera ? From a ferry, I guess a
short shutter speed is the only option ?
Film I plan to take: SensiaII 100 (maybe Provia), and Portra800 in a small
point&shoot (for fun pictures, fixed 28mm/3.5).
Thanks for all your help !
Peter.
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