I've been somewhat intimidated by the prices for lenses to fit my Olympus Pen-FT, so I was surprised recently to find an ebay listing for a 100mm telephoto for just forty bucks, shipping included from Japan. It was clearly a risk on several levels, but there are no blemishes on the glass or the external surfaces and the focus is smooth. The small size of the lens is a bit shocking, particularly because the 100mm actually corresponds to 140mm on a full-frame 35mm camera
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I loaded a roll of Kodak Gold 200 in the Pen-FT and started off with some shots of familiar subjects around the house and in Old Town for the sake of comparison.
The next day I mounted the new telephoto and finished off the roll at the Zoo.
No complaints about the image quality from the 100mm; it seems to me that the contrast and resolution are up to what I expect from Olympus. However, the 3.5 maximum aperture did challenge my focusing ability with the cloudy day lighting.
You read all sorts of horror stories about buying from sellers in Japan, but I have had great experiences. I've bought several cameras and a few lenses and each has been better than advertised with reasonable shipping and prompt delivery. I think if a pile of money ever fell from the sky into my lap, I would make a trip to Tokyo and visit some of those amazing used camera shops. Nice lens and great photos Mike!
ReplyDeleteI don't offhand recall getting anything else from Japan, but I'll certainly remain open to the possibility in my search for a wide-angle for the Pen-FT.
ReplyDeleteI have bought two Canon rangefinder lenses from Japan, and both were exactly as advertised. But beware that a lot of the mid-century optical stuff from Japan has fungus.
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