The Olympus Zuiko 24mm f/2.8

That said, half the fun of using some of these old lenses is having to learn, or for some of us, return to using the lens distance and depth of field scales.

I used liveview on my 1Ds Mk3 to check for best focus for the tests below.

The Canon EF mount is a very flexible design - you can see how much bigger it is than the OM mount below.

Note that there is no mechanical activation of the aperture stop-down for the lens. You will have to manually adjust the aperture ring of the lens.

There is a list of some of the kit we found, when having an office clearout, on our 'assorted old lenses test page' Some or all of these will be looked at over the next few months...

The Zuiko 24mm f/2.8

This is one of the lenses I used to use regularly on my Olympus OM2

Specifications:

Older Version: H Zuiko AUTO-W 24mm f/2.8
This Version: Zuiko 24mm f/2.8
Focal length: 24mm
Lens construction: 7 groups, 8 elements
Angles of view: Diagonal: 84°
Distance scale: (m) 0.25m to infinity
Focusing: Helicoid
Aperture: f/16 - f/2.8
Minimum photographic range: 24cm x 16cm
Diaphragm: Automatic
Filter size: 49mm
Length: 31mm
Weight: 185g (6.5 oz) - Older version weighs 180g (6.3oz)

Sample images

This image is taken using the 24/2.8 on Tri-X film

I have it as a 78"x43" print, so I know it's not bad...

But it was taken over 20 years ago.

Here's the lens when I first 'went digital' with the Canon 1Ds

The lens on the 1Ds is the EF16-35 2.8L (original Mk1 version)

How I'd love to get a -35mm full frame- DSLR the size of that OM2n (four thirds - no thanks ;-)

This article tries to give a bit of a feel for using the old lens rather than any detailed optical analysis - and when it comes down to it (IMHO) photography is about actually taking photos.
I'd suggest doing some quick tests like this for any new lens you try out, just to get a feel for what differences it might offer.

Since I use my EF24-70 2.8L lens quite a bit, I chose it to compare with the Zuiko 24mm.

I've used liveview to focus on the brickwork next to the red door over the road.

First the whole frame - Zuiko.

Note the vignetting and lower contrast at f/2.8

Next, whole frame Canon 24-70.

I've used the camera white balance in Adobe Camera Raw, to convert the RAW files.

Next, the centre of the frame - Zuiko.

and Canon 24-70

The corners.

Zuiko.

Canon

Other factors

When is 24mm not 24mm?

It's important to remember that the focal length and field of view of similar lenses is only the same when focused at infinity. At closer distances there may be differences.

Look at this close shot of a flower in the conservatory (all at f/2.8).

This first one is the 24-70 at it's closest focusing distance

This next one is taken with nothing moved, just swapping lenses to the 24/2.8

The Zuiko focuses closer, so this is as close as it goes.

With a subject like this, the vignetting is no problem at all.

The two lenses tested. Notice how far ahead the front of the 24-70 at 24mm is compared to the Zuiko.

At f/2.8 in the centre of the frame, I'd say the Zuiko just edges out the 24-70.

100% crops both taken at minimum focal distance.

First the 24-70

then the Olympus 24mm

Conclusions

Just a few quick tests, but I believe that for shots where I just need 24mm and no autofocus, then the 24/2.8 is a very good lens. The vignetting at wider apertures would be something to factor in to your composition, but like chromatic aberration is easily correctable in many RAW file converters.

An excellent lens to use when first got it in the 1980's and unlike many others I used then, still worth keeping in the bag.

At f/8 it's probably my best quality option for 24mm, until the Mk2 version of the TS-E24/3.5 comes out later this year.

Summary

A good lens design that give very good all round performance.

More Info

Our 'junk box lens' test index page
24mm test on 16-9.net from a real real lens anorak test site ;-)
Canon view camera adapter
The 1Ds digital pinhole SLR camera
Using your film scanner as a microscope
Tilt shift lenses - the Canon 24mm TS-E
M42 lens compatibility for 5D - lots of old lenses on a 5D
Alternative lenses - Forum on the Fred Miranda site with lots of info on using different lenses.

You can search all the hundreds of articles on the site for more information

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