108's reviews

  • Olympus 50mm f/1.8 OM F.Zuiko

    9 out of 10 points and recommended
    cheap, light,sharp, excellent color rendition, fun.
    none

    Got interested in this lens after much reading on the Internet. I waited till I found a "made in Japan" engraved on the front since those are supposed to be the best, and MC also, according to OM gurus. I wanted to try these old lenses on my "old" E520, just for fun. I equipped months before the old body with a split image focusing screen purchased from Taïwan ( 75 euros ) and an viewfinder magnifier ( x 1.36 ) for 35 euros from Hong Kong. This has proven a very good decision and makes manual focus much easier.... until f5.6. Then at smaller apertures the screen darkens and it gets complicated. In very low light just forget it. Another alternative, and easier too, is using Live view on the Dslr or back screen on EPL-2 for exemple, works best with the EVF. It just means buying another ( OM to M4/3 ) adapter, preferably from some Hong Kong dealer since Olympus's are so expensive. So I finally purchased the lens on eBay germany and just could not wait to try it on. And man I just fell on my ass when I saw what I got with this little wonder. But first the manual focus, no confirmation from the body : tricky at the beginning, then it gets better and after a day or so you develop a feel for it, it's not just the aligned split screen it's that little extra brightness that indicates you got it. Now 90 % of my shots are in focus, and by focus I mean real focus, not the so-so AF I get from my Olympus kit lenses, good as they are, or from the Digital 14-54 mm, or even from my Pana Summilux 25 mm f1.4, expensive as it is. This lens is magic and I feel like a kid in a candy store. If you pay attention to what you're doing , you can get perfectly sharp shots at 1.8 or at least sharp shots of what you want to be sharp in the picture. At f2.8 and to f5.6 it becomes wonderful, never a miss. Color rendition and depth are super, and with the E520 you don't get that cold digital nikon-like picture treatment. it's a magic lens for portraits, details of houses, details of buildings, close-ups on table items, on machinery. For lanscape not worth it. i leave the aperture ring on f2.8 now, way enough for low light, and keep my iso at reasonnable 800, except naturally by broad daylight up to 5.6 and iso 100. This little lens is a joy to use and now that I caught the Zuiko fever I'll go for the 200 mm f4 and the 28 mm f2.8 as well.

    reviewed March 24th, 2013 (purchased for $45)

  • Panasonic 14-50mm f/3.8-5.6 ASPH MEGA OIS LEICA D VARIO-ELMAR

    9 out of 10 points and recommended
    excellent sharpness at wide end, good contrast and colors in most cases
    colors a bit too warm sometimes. Size a bit big .

    I bought this lens at bargain price ( 80 euros ) second hand following the recommendation of a friend who owns one . On my E520 copy this lens behaves amazingly well and much better than the 14-54 at 14mm up to 30 mm, after that the difference is negligible, with contrast and sharpness on par, slight advantage to the 14-54 at 50 mm . Since I always had sharpness and AF issues at wide angle with the E520, this lens solves the problem for good . On the E620 all good , and excellent results on a M4/3 Pana G5 with adapter .
    Colors are on the warm side, which is good except in certain circumstances when a bit of pp is required . The lens is light yet does not feel cheap . Zoom creeping after 25 mm but nothing really annoying . The only real con I can think of is the size, bigger than the Oly 14-54 .

    reviewed May 21st, 2015 (purchased for $96)

  • Olympus 11-22mm f/2.8-3.5 Zuiko Digital

    9 out of 10 points and recommended
    sharpness, IQ, contrast, colour rendition, ease of use
    none so far

    I bought this lens for a bargain one month ago . It's my 3rd high quality 4/3 lens after the 14-54 and the Panaleica 25 f1.4 and I must say I am very very pleased with the results . I wanted to use it for achitecture and real estate shots and this lens delivers . Tack sharp, good colours and contrast and overall this lens has a "personality" of its own just like the Panaleica . Issues I read above about soft corners on the newer 16 mp sensors i don't know , I use it on old 4/3 bodies, E620 and 510 . On my E620 it just shines . First post here mentionned better quality with the 14-54, well as far as my own copy is concerned the 11-22 beats it easily until 22 mm , and is much "finer" and more "elegant" IQ wise . My copy of the 14-54 is rather soft from 14 to 25, but becomes excellent thereafter and shines from 30 to 54 , so I suppose the two lenses complement each other pretty well ;-). I am awaiting a long and sweet relationship with this lens, the day my 4/3 bodies die I will have to get a E-M1 for it since it is not CDAF compatible like the 14-54 and Leica and takes ages to focus on my M4/3 Epl-2 .

    reviewed October 22nd, 2014 (purchased for $250)