This is the second of a series of tests using my old Olympus OM fit manual focus lenses on a full frame Canon 5d Mk 2. This time it’s the rather nice Zuiko 85mm f2, which was quite good on an APS-C sensor 60D, albeit with a 135mm equivalent focal length and a cold colour cast.
Narrow depth of field, smooth gradation of tones and easy to focus – an excellent initial impression!
All shots taken with a ‘Neutral’ colour profile and post processed in DXO Optics Pro 9 (which has absolutely no idea what lens is attached via the simple OM to EF adaptor, so can’t do it’s usual sharpness, distortion and vignetting corrections).
The slight telephoto compression and subtle vignetting impart a real ‘atmosphere’ to some shots.
The lens is described in the 60D test here so I won’t repeat myself. Suffice to say it’s a beautiful ‘old school’ all metal built lens, and very easy to focus at f2, the focus ring being fluid and responsive. It’s quite well-balanced on the 5d but seems rather small by comparison with the great lump of the body – especially when compared to a large AF zoom lens – not necessarily a bad thing.
Changing aperture and focussing are of course both manual – not really a problem when you get used to it. As always, shoot in RAW to correct any exposure problems. Oddly, on 5D the ‘evaluative metering’ mode works best, on the 60D ‘centre weighted’ metering was needed.
Colours are bright and the contrast is pretty good too – no need for auto levels as was the case with the low contrast Helios 85m lens tested earlier. The red of the poppy looks natural, even with Canon’s tendency to over saturate reds.
The bokeh is still a little busy at medium distances – as it was on the 60D so no surprises here.
At closer distances though – it’s superb!
On the 60D I much preferred the soft, swirling bokeh of the Helios 85mm f2, even though it was much harder to focus, especially in cold weather. On full frame however, the Zuiko is a clear winner. It’s easier to focus, produces much less clinical colours than it’s results on the 60D and produces images with real impact. At around £100 it’s cheaper than the Canon AF equivalent, and is so easy to focus AF seems irrelevant. If you can find one – snap it up!
If you’re interested in using other MF lenses on your DSLR have a look at the other reviews on the film, camera and lens review index tab.
Hope you find this useful, thanks for looking!
28mmf2 
I really enjoy seeing the results of your experimentation. Cheers 🙂
Thanks PostcardCafe!