OzRay
Mu-43 Hall of Famer
Olympus ZD lenses were some of the best lenses ever made, by any manufacturer, yet they appear to be vastly neglected because they aren't as small or light weight as m4/3 lenses. Panasonic didn't make many 4/3 lenses before they gave up on the system, but Olympus had a formidable range, where even some of the cheaper versions were often outstanding: http://www.four-thirds.org/en/fourthirds/lense.html. I only have two m4/3 lenses, a 17mm f2.8 (which is perfect on my E-P1) and the standard 14-42mm (which is for my wife's E-PM1), but a number of ZD lenses which I absolutely love. With the demise of the 4/3 system, I thought I'd be left holding a bunch of brilliant but useless lenses; however, with the advent of the E-M1, new life was breathed into these optical marvels.
That said, I fear that I'm almost a Robinson Crusoe when it comes to 4/3 lenses, as these appear to be overlooked in favour of the smallest, lightest, lenses available. Yet at the same time, many seek out older 35mm film camera lenses, which often aren't smaller, are only manual focus and frequently of much poorer image quality. So I wonder how many do use the ZD series of lenses and wonder how many have considered them and rejected them, and why. There is an outstanding trove of ZD lenses available, sometimes at a great price, and if Olympus keeps producing cameras that will take advantage of these lenses, then they may end up appreciating in value like high quality Leica lenses.
That said, I fear that I'm almost a Robinson Crusoe when it comes to 4/3 lenses, as these appear to be overlooked in favour of the smallest, lightest, lenses available. Yet at the same time, many seek out older 35mm film camera lenses, which often aren't smaller, are only manual focus and frequently of much poorer image quality. So I wonder how many do use the ZD series of lenses and wonder how many have considered them and rejected them, and why. There is an outstanding trove of ZD lenses available, sometimes at a great price, and if Olympus keeps producing cameras that will take advantage of these lenses, then they may end up appreciating in value like high quality Leica lenses.