The Balloon game begins - Pentax K Mount vs Olympus OM Zuiko

[John Bragg]

Gentle hint - I'd prefer to keep on topic about the camera systems than get into a Covid discussion please.

I think I'll treat the Olympus 35mm f2.8 to some Delta and like developing to eliminate that variable. But the Zeiss Distagon is up there.

Hi Charles, nice shot. Sutton Harbour? I have never found my Zuicko 35mm particularly soft, but I don't use it very often. Good use of Delta by the way. I settled on HP5+, but I like Delta too. I have some shots inside the old fish market taken on XP1 that I should revisit some day, taken in 1986 I think..

 

[CharlesDAMorgan]

Yes, Sutton Harbour in the sunshine. I must go into the new Fish market at some point, but I don't do early starts and the last few months have been a locked in.

Annoyingly, 35mmc did a review of a Contax RTS, and the one in Soperfect Images that Russell had had for months flew off the shelf within an hour.

To be honest, I think the Contax system is winner at present.

 

[Larry Cloetta]

Yes, Sutton Harbour in the sunshine. I must go into the new Fish market at some point, but I don't do early starts and the last few months have been a locked in.

Annoyingly, 35mmc did a review of a Contax RTS, and the one in Soperfect Images that Russell had had for months flew off the shelf within an hour.

To be honest, I think the Contax system is winner at present.

I’d certainly get an RTS iii as opposed to the original RTS. A very competent camera, I actually preferred it to my F6 for some reason, but they are heavy, so might be far away from the original purpose of a small, light kit.

 

[CharlesDAMorgan]

I might go for a mini version in the form of the 167MT. It's half the weight of the RTSiii , has the motor drive and spot metering which is really all I want at present.

Just got to find one with a Planar 50mm to complete the set!

 

[Larry Cloetta]

I might go for a mini version in the form of the 167MT. It's half the weight of the RTSiii , has the motor drive and spot metering which is really all I want at present.

Just got to find one with a Planar 50mm to complete the set!

Well, yeah, but then you have to decide which Planar 50. People are divided. 🙂

 

[valdas]

Well, yeah, but then you have to decide which Planar 50. People are divided. 🙂

Why limit yourself with one Planar? 🙂

 

[CharlesDAMorgan]

You lot are beyond incorrigible! Two 50mm f1.7 planars indeed!

I will be using it for landscape. Do they do a 50mm f2 one?

The occasional pony portrait needs a bit more depth of field than an f1.4.

 

[Larry Cloetta]

You lot are beyond incorrigible! Two 50mm f1.7 planars indeed!

I will be using it for landscape. Do they do a 50mm f2 one?

The occasional pony portrait needs a bit more depth of field than an f1.4.

They didn’t make an f/2 50mm. There was a 55mm f/1.2, rare and expensive, a 45mm Tessar, and these two, but that’s it. (That’s it at around this focal length, I should say. There are gobs of other lenses.)

https://www.zeiss.com/content/dam/c...ax-yashica/datasheet-zeiss-planar-1750-en.pdf

https://www.zeiss.com/content/dam/c...ax-yashica/datasheet-zeiss-planar-1450-en.pdf

Some people prefer the 1.8, some people prefer the 1.4, enough to argue about it. I had the 1.8 have the 1.4 now, but they are both pretty nice. The 1.4 is built a bit nicer, the 1.7 is a bit sharper wide open (though it’s not as wide open, wide open), and has a little bit, I never noticed, of astigmatism that the 1.4 doesn’t have.
I prefer the results from the 1.4, but it could be my imagination.

The 45mm Tessar is really sharp, and contrasty, and tiny, lots of people love it, I found it kind of boring, but if you like Tessars it’s a good one.

Incorrigible, no doubt.

 

[CharlesDAMorgan]

I was only joking about the f2. Although my favourite lenses are the 35 and 50mm Summicrons and the only 1.4 I've ever focussed successfully when wide open is the 80mm Summilux R - thanks to the superb Leicaflex SL2 screen.

I suspect the 1.7 is the way ahead for me.

 

[valdas]

I was only joking about the f2. Although my favourite lenses are the 35 and 50mm Summicrons and the only 1.4 I've ever focussed successfully when wide open is the 80mm Summilux R - thanks to the superb Leicaflex SL2 screen.

I suspect the 1.7 is the way ahead for me.

It is also a bokeh decision. Ninja version surely deserves RTS III, 1.7, as a “light” one will do nicely on 167MT 🙂

 

[Jeremy Z]

Charles, after reading most of this thread, here are my thoughts on de-GASing:

1) Don't do Pentax, since you already have Olympus and Minolta and Nikon. Penatx co-developed their coatings withe Zeiss, back in the day. Zeiss T* = Pentax SMC.

2) For a lightweight, sharp kit, the slower Zuikos are very good. My kit is 28/3.5, 50/1.8, 135/3.5 and 300/4.5. All are sharp. One thing to remember with the Zuikos is that the early ones were not multi-coated, so they are more susceptible to flare, and minor flare is just lost contrast. Lost contrast is often mistaken for lack of sharpness. The key with them is to almost always use hoods. I have an RMC Tokina 75-150/3.8 (fixed) that is very good too, and that could replace 85, 100, 135 mm lenses in your bag.

3) Maybe it's time to take your Minolta MD kit out for a spin? I always liked them, back in the day, and the lenses are great. IF it doesn't satisfy, now's a good time to move them on, as they're going up in value with the film renaissance.

4) You mentioned your old eyes having a hard time nailing focus. I found that while the tactile experience isn't as good, my results are better with my Nikon AF stuff. The Nikon N80 body is about the size of an OM1 but with the bigger grip. It's very light and quiet; wonderful shutter. (and as an OM owner, that's saying a lot) I have a small set of lenses for Nikon AF that are good for walk-around duty: 50/1.8D, 28-105/3.5-4.5D, 75-300/4.5-5.6 (pre-D) and a Tokina AT-X Pro 17/3.5. When you want to go light, just bring the 28-105 on the body and the 75-300 in a small bag.

5) Get rid of those European cameras and lenses while they're still worth something. (repairmen who will work on them are a dying breed) If you really want to keep the (heavy) Zeiss lenses, a Yashica body is a good option. I had an FX-3 Super back in the day, and it was fine. Not as satisfying as a Contax, no doubt, but it will mount the Zeiss lenses. To me, this is silly though, if you're trying to de-GAS. Sell those couple lenses and re-invest in the one system you will stay with.

 

[CharlesDAMorgan]

Thank you Jeremy for the logical thoughts!

I suspect the ultimate balloon game is going to be between my Contax or Leica R system. But I'll leave that for another time.

I love the Minolta glass colour rendering - I think it wonderful. If I did colour all the time I'd keep it but a recent test led me to the conclusion I much prefer Zeiss or Leica glass for black and white and that's that. That will be going at some point soon.

I do have both Canon and Nikon autofocus bodies, including the F80. I've only ever invested in a tiny number of lenses for both so when my eyesight finally diminishes, I'll have to chose, at present the bodies are insanely cheap, so not worth the effort selling. I'll ask for pre-approval from the UN before starting a thread on that.

I don't think Zeiss or Leica R glass has any chance of dying as a class in short order - they are fully repairable by many, and are used mostly by digitalists (if the Leica Forum is anything to go by - I have only come across one other film user there) but the bodies will die. I'll live with the risk - as you say, plenty of Yashica bodies out there.

A slight correction - the Leica glass is reassuringly heavy, but the Zeiss lenses for CY are not greatly hefty and no problem for the purpose I have in mind.

I think I will sell the LX when it returns, or ask for my money back from the retailer. I love the OM system too much to sell it but I will get rid of the 35mm - it doesn't inspire me at all.

Of course, I now have to work my returning Exakta system in to my equation, but sometimes I'm not very logical!