I have an older silver nose 200/4 which I have always been very happy
with. I've never made any prints from it other than some 4x6's but it
shot an awful lot of very nice Kodachrome II slides over the years that
look just fine when projected. If you peruse the archives you'll see
that the biggest enemy of the 200/4 is vibration, something that is
mitigated in hand held shooting or if you dampen the vibration with your
hands pressing down on the camera/tripod as Olympus suggests. The test
results you want to check for the actual performance of the lens are
those labeled "OM-4T with mirror and aperture pre-fire" and, in the case
of the 200/4, the inclusion of the Bogen telephoto support.
Vibration will never be a problem with long exposure astrophotograpy so
you can let the 200/4 off the hook on that point. The only other
question is whether the B/B- grades that Gary assigned to the 200/4 when
wide open is good enough for the the demands of star images. I don't
know the answer. You could do better, of course, with the 180/2 or
250/2 but your pocket would be much, much emptier. I'm sure someone
here will have some advice on a low cost lens that will do the job.
Probably one of the Tamrons.
I've never used anything for astrophotography except a 6" f/10 newtonian
and my Celestron C-8 (8" f/10). I have a piggyback mounting plate for
the Celestron which would certainly allow mounting an OM and the 200/4
or some other lens but where I live now (10 miles NNW of Boston) has
horrible sky conditions. I don't think I've taken the scope out more
than three times in the 10 years I've lived here. I've been
disappointed every time.
Chuck Norcutt
Jim Day wrote:
> Hi Chuck,
> I'm wondering what your opinion is of the zuiko 200/4 lens in general, and
> for astrophotography. I'm thinking about purchasing one. On the lens test
> site, it looks like it is ok but not necessarily anything to write home
> about. I would appreciate your thoughts. Jim
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