Quote:
Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom Gentlemen, especially if you happen to live and photograph in/around Channai. Lens restore/repair...
It's a question related to a "vintage" Olympus lens from an OM2 which has been sadly neglected in the back of a cupboard for over a decade. Interestingly, the camera seems to be in working order (and it has a film in it, though I guess that's just throw-away by now) but, much as I loved it way back then, it is the lens that interests me now.
It is just the standard lens of the day, 50mm f/1.8, but I'd love to give it a try on my Sony a6000. Cheap adapters are... cheap. And the setup would be full manual anyway.
Again, stuff seems to work, but there is a small amount of fungus/mould inside the lens.
What should I do first: get the adapter and see if U can make the lens work for me, or try to get the lens cleaned/serviced?
I'm not sure that I can get it to work for me. The OM2 would stop down the lens when taking the photo. I wonder if the adapter pushes that lever. Otherwise there is no way for the camera to know the aperture set or the amount of light reaching the sensor so that it may set the shutter speed. Whilst my dad managed, I have never owned a camera without some sort of metering built in.
OK. The basic question here is about the lens cleaning. From that, matters arising re using a legacy manual lens on a modern camera. All comments received gratefully! |
Fun With A Mouldy Old Lens (...and a cheap adapter)
Mould?
What mould?
Buying a camera, back then, especially an SLR, would have been a major event, but I can't even remember it. Wait... I think I recall the shop, in London, but the date? Well, I know I had it in late 70s. This Olympus OM 50mm f/1.8 lens is over thirty years old! It has been unused for most of the past fifteen years at least. There are a very few light mould or mildew spots on the inside of the front and rear elements. It doesn't seems to show.
Using it is not that different to how it was on the OM2: basic metering, line up the needle, that's it. "A" mode on the a6000, set the aperture and let the camera do the shutter speed and ISO. Hey, ok... you guys were doing this stuff on DSLRs before I even thought about it!
General Image Quality -- Probably lacks contrast and colour compared to modern Sony lens. Can get washed out completely by flare if the light is wrong. Otherwise, I find it quite pleasing.
f1.8 --- Note to self, when next time travelling, buy the f1.4! I would not say that this is actually a great low-light lens on this camera. The image quality in low light is nothing great on this camera, but with full sunlight and a bunch of flowers, it's nice! Actually, I think this pic is stopped down, or all the bougainvillea "flowers" would not be in focus.
Would I like the Sony modern equivalent? -- Oh, absolutely. Optical stabilisation, full electronic control, better colours, and I'm sure it would handle the flares better. But it is not the first, or the second, lens on my shopping list.
50mm is actually equivalent to 50*1.5 on the APS-C. I have got a Neeweer 35mm (almost 50mm equiv) lens on the way from China. Should come without mould (I certainly didn't order that option) but still all fully manual.
Impulse Buy...
Sirui T-025X Carbon-fibre travel tripod. Why? Because I found it from a shop (online) in Mumbai almost as cheap as AliExpress! Is that a good reason to buy stuff? My bank account is evidence that it is not.
OK... so it is no lump of granite, but
I will pick it up and carry it, or throw it in the suitcase when I'd leave something heavier at home. I'm a wimp. I hate carrying weight.
The small ball head will drive me nuts, though. I've never used a ball head before. Ball head that moves smoothly and stays
exactly where it is tightened? Is that a thing? I'm sure it must be. I can't imagine you people saying, "Well, the lens was supposed to be a mm or so higher."
But I think I'm a pan-and-tilt-head man. But then my travel combo will get less compact and heavier. On the list... Vanguard Alto Pro 2, because I like that multiple-angle centre column, and I'm likely to get more into macro.