Hawaii-Geek's reviews

  • Olympus 50mm f/2 Zuiko Digital Macro

    10 out of 10 points and recommended
    Sharpness, f2 performance
    none, but might hunt for some, but not me :)

    Use as a Portrait lens (not macro) but have shot Landscape with it, and because of it's small size, use it as an everyday lens too. Nothing beats having f2 with you always. You can keep the e510 and 50m in a small LowePro Mini bag with you always.
    Only bad thing about that is no zoom and no wide so you need a little space and some shutter speed at efl 100mm ... or a e510/E3 with IS.
    Shot thousands of shots with both the e500 and e510 with it ... and imho the e510 IS with the 50mm f2 combo is noticably "Better"! and with the e510 I have NOT hunted "at all" period.
    p.s. when it starts to hunt ... get off the shutter release button, fast! and then shoot for high contrast using "only" the center Cross focus point.

    * Oh, I forgot the most important thing ... the IQ .. WOW the sharpness is the first thing you will notice ... but there is something more there, you will see it , you will notice it , and you will shoot f2 , f2.8 often lol. And you will Love it!

    reviewed December 5th, 2007 (purchased for $500)
  • Olympus 300mm f/2.8 Zuiko Digital

    10 out of 10 points and recommended
    Size for 600mm f2.8, and f2.8 performance
    none

    At f2.8 efl 600mm during the day it is Handholdable on a e510. and the Bokeh is a WOW! Fast Focusing, and sharp imho.
    Posted my test shots here: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1022&message=25484814
    Did I say wide open f2.8 is a WoW! lol
    Yes, and I did carry it around all afternoon in the sun. And it was really rare that I missed a focus.
    * Surprisingly easy to shoot with.

    reviewed December 5th, 2007
  • Olympus 14-35mm f/2 ED SWD Zuiko Digital

    10 out of 10 points and recommended
    Sharpness, f2 performance, IQ, Olympus QC great
    AF performance in Low light, inconsistant

    I agree with OhWeh reveiw ... and also bought the lens for Concert, & Events ... right now shoot it with a e510 (but, have used e3), waiting for the e30 tweener :) ... Bottom Line, I LOVE this Lens. imho, the best Lens Olympus has right now, and imho it might be the best standard zoom (24-28 to 70mm efl) out there right now ... (even better imho than the Canon 24-70 f2.8 L ... look at wide open at f2.0-f2.8 and/or f4.0-f5.6 at 70mm, where you will use it for portrait, = Equv even on a 5D) ... but all is not perfect, there is a AF Low Light/Low light contrast issue that shows up in a few shooting conditions ... and am not sure if it is a Lens SWD issue or a Body AF issue with this lens ... because, even when the lens takes 3 small fast adjustments to lock (in low contrast), when you re-focus on the same target, It does the "same" 3 small fast adjustments- like it does not know it is already in focus. And in some low contrast situations a Non-SWD OLY lens "might" end up focusing faster (with a solid lock) and with less adjustment steps ... which should not be the "case" vs an SWD 14-35 f2 lens.
    * With ALL that being said, I still LOVE the lens and plan to keep it ... and because of my "past" great experiance with the "QC" on ALL Olympus lens ... feel confident the issue will eventually be resolved.

    reviewed October 8th, 2008 (purchased for $2,000)
  • Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II AF-S Nikkor

    10 out of 10 points and recommended
    Sharpness, Bokeh, AF
    MFD at 200mm wish it was closer to 190mm vs 128mm , but is all good in exchange for sharpness

    Am sooo glad (and lucky) I changed to Nikon at "this" time. With Nikon updating there FF f2.8 lens. This 70-200mm f2.8 VR II is a dream to use , and answers most if not all the FF lens issues of the past. And in my mind shows what is ahead in the future. Sharp Wide Open shooting.
    * maybe a new and improved 24-70 f2.8 (which I also own) Nano coat VR II ??? :) ... I will be first on the list for that one. As I was for this one. And not for a second do I regreat it. One of the few times , being first did not cause regret. :)
    * literlly, from the first AF lock, wide open at 200mm on a models eye , I knew ... This was the lens for ME !

    Awesome Lens!
    Did I say , I "also" did that .. now famous test with this lens ... 200mm 1/15 , f2.8 , iso6400 low light shot with a D700 and was WOW'd by it.
    The kind of WOW, that makes you a Nikon shooter Forever ! lol
    HG

    reviewed January 12th, 2010