Lens to go with (new) OM4?

bambam

bambam

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Hi

Just bought an Olympus OM4 on Ebay and whilst waiting for it to arrive thought I'd check out lenses were worth getting/avoiding.

Am currently thinking along the lines of 28/35mm amd maybe a 90/135mm - anything to look out for?

Whilst I'm at it - what is a good way to check out the OM4 when it arrives?

Cheers
 
You may want to check which circuit version you have.

Turn on the battery check, if it times out after 30secs you have the latest (low drain) circuit, if it stays on, buy lots of batteries, take batteries out when not using and (I've heard) switching the speed to mechanical 1/60th also helps when camera is turned off.
 
john-oh said:
You may want to check which circuit version you have.

Turn on the battery check, if it times out after 30secs you have the latest (low drain) circuit, if it stays on, buy lots of batteries, take batteries out when not using and (I've heard) switching the speed to mechanical 1/60th also helps when camera is turned off.
Click to expand...

Good advice, when I had the OM2 SP it chewed batteries
 
Yep I have a OM4 and always set the camera to the mechanical 60th speed when not using it.

Any of the OM 50mm primes are great
I use the 35mm f2 lens which I think is fantastic, they are not that common.

Zuiko 85mm is another fab lens

I think the Zuiko 90mm is a macro lens.

This site will give you loads of info the Olympus OM system

http://zuserver2.star.ucl.ac.uk/~rwesson/esif/om-sif.htm
 
john-oh said:
You may want to check which circuit version you have.

Turn on the battery check, if it times out after 30secs you have the latest (low drain) circuit, if it stays on, buy lots of batteries, take batteries out when not using and (I've heard) switching the speed to mechanical 1/60th also helps when camera is turned off.
Click to expand...

Hi - is there a way to tell which type of circuit you have by the serial number?
Cheers
 
bambam said:
Hi - is there a way to tell which type of circuit you have by the serial number?
Cheers
Click to expand...

Not that I am aware of.

The original OM4 were nearly all black and had OM4 in white stamped on the front, this is the one I have, and these are the ones that can eat batteries and best stored with the shutter speed set at 1/60 (red next to the B setting)

There was comments on the battery drain so Olympus revamped them and released the OM4Ti. This time it had a champagne coloured base and top with new electrics in it. The main thing was the ability to sync at all flash speeds with the F280 flash gun and improvement in the battery problem.

So I would go for the later OM4Ti if you are concerned about battery drain. However saying that I don't find it a problem on mine.
 
There was comments on the battery drain so Olympus revamped them and released the OM4Ti. This time it had a champagne coloured base and top with new electrics in it. The main thing was the ability to sync at all flash speeds with the F280 flash gun and improvement in the battery problem.
Click to expand...
Ironically, after the OM4Ti (titanium) was launched they released a OM4Ti Black, which (suprise:runaway:) had a black finish.

You can find that some original OM4s have a 'new' circuit installed if they have had any work done on them.

The only test I am aware of is the battery check time, as above.

Most Zuiko lens are brilliant, the only one I've got which I'm not keen on is the 100-200 f5, which is a 'trombone' type zoom. It's massive, compared to other Zuikos, and the action is so sloppy that the zoom action flops about as it's carried. I think I can get it rebuilt with thicker grease or something but as I'm not that keen anyway, I'm still thinking about it.
 
I have the ...
28 f2.8 The F2 version is better
35 f2.8 the F2 version is better
50 1.4 excellent lens
138 f2.8 excellent lens

most of these lenses are available a f3.5 versions these were intended as amateur economy versions, but are no slouches.
Some are marked MC but this was dropped again later as all of their lenses became multicoated.
 
Hey that's really useful, thanks.
I tried the battery check test and luckily it timed out before 30 secs so I think its ok on the circuit front. Have left it on red 1/60 anyway.

Just waiting to get a lens to try it out properly - quite keen on the 28mm F2.8 so will aim for one of those as they seem plentiful.

Is there anywhere to try for a proper manual? I have downloaded a pdf version already but I do like to have the proper version.

Cheers
 
I normally keep the Zuiko 35mm-105mm zoom on my OM2n. :D
 
I have the OM4Ti and my 50mm f1.4 stays on it most of the time, a lovely lens and cheapish also.
 
I already tried almost all lenses of the OM system, except the exotic long tele-photos.
The wide-angle ones are as good as they get, especially the 21mm f/2.0, 21mm f/3.5 and 24mm f/2.0. The 21mm f/2.0 is just surpassed by the Contax Distagon T* 21mm f/2.8.
What's the problem with the 21mm f/2.0? Well, it's very, very expensive.
The 24mm f/2.0 is wonderful and, if you don't need something wider, you'll love it. I just sold mine to buy a Distagon T* 28mm f/2.0, which is rarer and produces slightly more appealing images to my eyes, but it's not that better and the Zuiko is a lot cheaper.

The 28mm f/2.0 is also a gem, but I find the 24mm version to be better, at least the copies I tried. The 28mm f/3.5, for example, is so cheap and incredibly sharp! If you don't want to spend too much, go find one and you won't regret for sure. Get the MC version (no chromed front ring).

The 35mm ones are nice, but I don't find them as amazing as the others. The f/2.0 isn't sharper than the f/2.8 version and it presents a lot of chromatic aberrations wide open.
At the time I had it, I also had a Leica Summicron-R 35mm E55, which was way better!! I know, it's not a fair comparation.

The 50mm models are good, especially the f/1.4 ones. The f/1.8 is ok, but not amazing in my opinion. I tried probably 7 or 8 copies and none of them really pleased me. The better version is the second, but don't ask me why. I saw that information in another forum and I confirmed the same myself.
The f/1.4 worths the difference in price. My brother uses one (multicoated) regularly in a Canon body and the results are really nice. I love the color and the "bokeh". It's not as sharp as my Planar T* 50mm f/1.4, but the price is also in a different league.
The f/1.2 models (50mm and 55mm) are very cool, but they aren't as sharp as the f/1.4 ones, in my opinion.

About the longer lenses, at the moment I have a 135mm f/3.5 and I still can't believe how sharp it is! I check 100% crops from my 5D Mark II and the detail is incredible for such a cheap lens. I used to have a Planar T* 85mm f/1.4, but I rarely pass the 50mm barrel except for sports, so this is a very cheap way to have have a very good portrait lens. Probably I was lucky with this copy.
 
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