OM 28/2 Distortion?

[ChrisP]

So I was thinking about picking up and M and than the OM threads here. The 3ti and 4ti seem like all the upgrades I want and remind me how silly Leica prices are. I really, really, really like the way the light meter in them works, it seems like it can tell me everything I would ever want to know and set in manual could use some really fast film with it.

I can pick up a 4ti 28/2 and 50/2 for the price of a m6 and 50mm. The only question I have is how is the distortion on the 28/2? Everything about it seems fantastic, but this isn't really mentioned. Can you safely place people at the edges of the 28? Or do they get silly? How about if you place them at about 1/3 of the image. (Use rule of thirds) how would that turn out?

Oh and I assume the 50/2 is essentially distortion free?

Thanks,
Chris

 

[dtcls100]

28/2 is a really nice lens. I take it that by "distortion" you mean the widening of people placed at the edges of the picture, even though that effect is really a perspective issue, as opposed to distortion. Anyway, the 28/2 is fine where people are placed 1/3 away from the edge of the picture. Any widening of people at the very edge of the frame is modest -- certainly noticeably less than the Zuiko 24mm (where the effect is noticeable), but not as good as the Zuiko 35mm (where it is pretty negligible).

 

[f16sunshine]

The Zuiko 2/28 is fantastic. As with any 28 perspective distortion is going to be an issue at close range. You will learn to avoid it or work with it. The lens does also show some barrel distortion. This frame is with the z2/28 and definitely you see perspective distortion at play.

 

[ChrisP]

Distortion

Distortion

So are all lenses of a focal length the same in this regard. I know about perspective distortion as far depth goes (people's noses look real big when you get up close, essentially because you're up very close, this happens regardless of focal lenght, but you only get really really close to faces with wider lenses unless you just want a nostril picture), but with really wide lenses if you place people at the very edges they get kind of bent or look too skinny etc. (Some things look strange at the edge of my pentax 28/2.8). Does this happen with all lenses? I assumed this was what barrel distortion is but I could be very wrong. How is the 28/2 in this regard?

28/2 is a really nice lens. I take it that by "distortion" you mean the widening of people placed at the edges of the picture, even though that effect is really a perspective issue, as opposed to distortion. Anyway, the 28/2 is fine where people are placed 1/3 away from the edge of the picture. Any widening of people at the very edge of the frame is modest -- certainly noticeably less than the Zuiko 24mm (where the effect is noticeable), but not as good as the Zuiko 35mm (where it is pretty negligible).

 

[Paul Luscher]

I'll go with the commentators above. OM 28mm F2 is an excellent lens. Pretty much welded to the front of my OM-2.

But, as the others have said, there will always be some distortion with a wide-angle lens, especially at the frame edges. Yup, "convergence" is a fact of life when you use wides....

 

[ferider]

You have to look separately at

1) perspective / converging lines.
2) Optical (barrel) distortion

Reg 1), this is built into every rectilinear wide angle. I find 28 to be the widest lens where this is not a big issue when taking environmental portraits. In case of doubt, try to get as close as you can.

Reg 2), the Zuiko 28/2 barrels very significantly, at least compared to similar glass on Leicas. For example the CV Ultron 28/1.9 is sharper, much more rectilinear, and typically cheaper, too.

If you check Gary's tests (http://zone-10.com/cmsm/index.php?option=com_content&task=category&sectionid=10&id=45&Itemid=97), you will see that the 50/2 OM is comparable in performance to the late 50/1.4. If you don't need macro (or can use an extension ring in case you do), I recommend the latter (ser > 1.1Mio), it's faster and cheaper.

BTW, my late Zuiko 35/2 is an excellent lens. If you are worried about 1), 35mm is much easier on people.

Roland.

 

[Liquid-Sky]

hi, i had this 28/2 lens in the past and found it very good at close focus, and very good at mid range, but in general was showing quite a lot of barrel distortion in architecture, also not so good for people at the edge of the frame.
Anyway om4ti+28/2 still a killer kit 😉