Olympus 15mm f8 Bodycap Lens Image Thread

[Ray Sachs]

Originally Posted by Fmrvette

Shots taken at 50 feet set on infinity seem to be O.K. but it will take a little experimentation for me to get this lens down. Not sure at this point when the hyper focal won't do and I need to adjust to infinity...

Well, hyperfocal should keep everything from 3 feet to infinity in focus, but the actual point of sharpest focus is about 6 feet, so if you're shooting a landscape with nothing in the foreground, setting the lens to infinity should keep the very distant stuff in sharper focus than the hyperfocal setting would. But its pretty good at hyperfocal - f8 is small enough that diffraction may have a bigger impact than the slightly less than perfect focus at longer distances. And its not the sharpest lens in the bag anyway, so it might not be the best choice for landscape shooting except of the most impressionistic sort... I'll probably keep it on hyperfocal except in the rare case of shooting something really close and I don't see doing a lot of that with this lens...

-Ray

[Ray Sachs]

Originally Posted by vtsteevo

Why not just use a basic point and shoot instead of something like this? Serious question.. not trying to start a flamewar.

Well, if you already have a decent m43 body, $50 is a lot less money than a point and shoot. And for street shooting using zone focus / hyperfocus, this is one of the three best lenses in the m43 world. This, and the 12mm and the soon to be 17mm, which both have the manual focus "clutch" ring to make setting manual focus distances easy. This does it too, its a good focal length for street, its dirt cheap, and on a small body like an EPM-X or a GF3/5 or something, its smaller than a lot of point and shoots.

It's not for everyone, but it should suit a lot of people really well. For me, it could be one of my go-to lenses in good light.

-Ray

[Fmrvette]

Originally Posted by Ray S

Well, hyperfocal should keep everything from 3 feet to infinity in focus, but the actual point of sharpest focus is about 6 feet...-Ray

Thanks Ray!

I can't remember the last time I paid $50 for a brand new lens . Maybe some time in the early 1970's...

Makes me want to order in one of those 500mm mirror lenses with the donut hole bokeh...well, maybe not.

I guess my only response to those who ask "What's it for?" has to be "Fun".

Regards,

Jim

[arentol]

Originally Posted by vtsteevo

Why not just use a basic point and shoot instead of something like this? Serious question.. not trying to start a flamewar.

I tried using a point and shoot to keep dust off my sensor, but it didn't seem to work too well.

Remember, this is a body cap first, lens second. Of course people who just got it are going to go out and shoot with it, but after the shine wears off it will mostly be used for its primary purpose. Most people will only use it as a lens in an "emergency", or for specific artistic purpose where the lower quality of the images is a benefit rather than a drawback.

[Zariell]

I think of it as I do my Holga, it's fun to play around with, and it's so cheap you won't have to worry about it. It's to have fun with, not to take the best image of the century ;)

[Fmrvette]

O.K., I dug out an el-cheapo tripod to match my el-cheapo body cap lens, put the ISO at 200, set the self timer at 2 seconds, aperture priority, hyper focal focus detente set on lens. Focus point was set about 4' off of the ground. Jpeg right out of camera, no post processing.

PC130008 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Pardon the background clutter, we have boxes and packing paper all over the Swamp while the decorating is going on.

The only ambient lighting was a dimmed chandelier about 12' to the right of the tree as viewed. Darkness falls too doggone early this time of year in Detroit. .

As Ray noted, it isn't the sharpest lens in the kit...but it is fun.

Regards,

Jim

[Ray Sachs]

Originally Posted by Zariell

I think of it as I do my Holga, it's fun to play around with, and it's so cheap you won't have to worry about it. It's to have fun with, not to take the best image of the century ;)

You very well might take the best image of the century with it. You definitely won't take the sharpest image of the century, but there's nothing that would keep you from taking Cartier-Bresson's shot of the cyclist passing the curving staircase with it, and that may well be the best image of the last century. Great images aren't about technical perfection!

-Ray

[juangrande]

Originally Posted by alessandro

The cap on a GX1

My friend Christian Buhl's father collects "hand" photographs. Today, many were up for auction at Sotheby's. That 2nd to last one of CTC"s is worthy!

[juangrande]

Originally Posted by Ray S

I just got one from B&H a couple of days ago (after waiting for a couple of months for Amazon not to get one). Took it out today for the first time for a short shakedown walk. As a cyclist, I equate it to stashing your hi-tech multi speed bike in the garage and taking a ride on your single speed / fixed gear bike. Its still a bike ride, but its not even remotely the same. Frees your mind to get back to the elements. The "performance" isn't the greatest possible, but the simplicity is its own form of performance...

No doubt not the sharpest lens in the cabinet, but a lot of fun. And for the kind of shooting I do, I think it'll be a GREAT street lens. It almost needs its own body though - its too light for the OMD, which sort of flips back on a strap for lack of a counterweight to the EVF. I may have to pick up a cheap used EPM1 or something and just leave this on it. It'll strictly be a good light street setup, but sticking this on its hyperfocal setting and just playing with the exposure compensation dial as you move in and out of the sun is a fun way to shoot. Here are a couple from today. I think I'll get a fair amount of use out of this lens - it works for what I do...





-Ray

That second one, they never knew what hit 'em!

[juangrande]

Originally Posted by vtsteevo

Why not just use a basic point and shoot instead of something like this? Serious question.. not trying to start a flamewar.

Don't be a killjoy!