Jan Steinman wrote:
That said, many of us find Zuikos do have an edge -- sometimes significant, sometimes
slight. I have been disappointed in some way with nearly every off-brand lens I've
"saved money on," to the extent that I end up selling it and buying the
equivalent Zuiko.
Others will dissent, and present good arguments, mostly based on economy. If
you don't have the budget, you can still take great pictures without a Zuiko.
But if you DO have the budget, and want SUPERLATIVE images, the Zuikos are
generally worth it, IMHO.
Zuikos are generally excellent, at least as good as the lens lines of
the other majors at the time they were made. On the other hand, they
didn't go very far with zooms. I have a number of zooms of other brands
that I use regularly based primarily on function, rather than economy.
Some examples:
- 19-35/3.5-4.5 zoom. Zuiko never made anything like this. Individual
Zuikos are generally better, at least in linearity, but for travel or
'in case' WA, it can't be beat.
- 35-80/105 zooms. The 35-105/3.5-4.5 is an excellent lens, as is the
Tamron 35-105/2.8, but the speed makes a big difference in many
situations. The Zuiko wins on close focus. In addition to the huge price
premium, the 35-80/2.8 just doesn't have the reach I want.
-28/35-200 zooms. Again, a range Zuiko never got around to for the OMs.
I especially like the Tokina AT-X 35-200/3.5-4.5.
-50-250 zoom. The Tokina AT-X is a bit smaller, lighter and, most
important to me, has real macro, to 1:1.4, vs. ordianry close focus to
1:5.8 on the Zuiko. So far, the Tokina exhibits better bokeh than what
I've seen in sample images from the Zuiko.
-60-300 zoom. The 65-200, if you find one without the haze problem,
seems to be a very nice lens. The Tamron 60-300 wins on reach and,
again, real macro at 1:1.55, but is larger and heavier.
-80-200/2.8. Zuiko never made anything like this.
Moose
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