Mystery 38/3.5 Olympus lens

I recently bought

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2949136955 in the

hope it would be either a remounted 38/3.5 Pen F macro lens or a

38/3.5 macro lens in RMS mount.

 

The lens I received matches the pictures in the eBay listing, and is

nothing like the Pen F or RMS mount lenses shown on various

Olympus-related sites. I can't find a serial number or model

designation on it. I haven't yet got it out of the M42x1 barrel it is

in; the barrel almost certainly wasn't made by Olympus.

 

When the lens arrived the front section was loose. Tightening up

three phillips-head screws in the rear fixed that, so I think that to

get it out of the barrel I'll have to split it and then perhaps

unscrew what's left. Since I can use it as is, I'm not going to try

to get it out of its barrel until curiousity gets the better of me.

 

It stops down only to f/8, and yes, the aperture scale is marked in

1/3 stop steps. The diaphragm isn't click stopped. The rear cell is

roughly 26 mm in diameter, so it can't be the RMS mount lens.

 

Counting reflections finds three elements, each a single lens, in

front of the diaphragm and (I may be wrong here) a single element and

a pair of elements cemented together behind it. That's 6 elements in

5 groups or perhaps 5/4.

 

Can anyone suggest what I have? My best guess, now that its in hand,

is that it is a photolithographic lens used in making semiconductor

chips. But I didn't know that Olympus made such lenses.

 

Cheers,

 

Dan

No idea. Certainly a trade specific lens of some kind. The limited apertures are curious.

Definitely a special purpose lens. My first thought was enlarging lens. My second thought was microscope lens, tho' I didn't know any maker put aperture rings on microscope lenses.

 

Interesting that there is no apparent "Zuiko" marking, which is usually seen on any Olympus lens intended for any camera, including those not made by Olympus.

I am only guessing. I think that Olympus had its own halfframe enlarger for the Pen series, and a 38/3.5 lens just looks as right parameters for this purpose (you might want to email Skip Williams who seems an expert in everything Pen related). As Lex pointed out that all _camera_ lenses are marked as Zuiko (at least before the digital era), this could also hints to an enlarger lens. I doubt that it is for photolithography as such lenses usally have an aperture as high as possible (and 1/3.5 seems quite low for this). The capital letters in "OLYMPUS" indicate that the lens was produced in 1969 or later. Earlier lenses usually were marked "Olympus".

Folks, thanks for the responses. Konrad, I take your point about stepper lenses' maximum apertures. Following up on your suggestion, I went looking for references to half frame enlarging lenses.

 

Per the Sub Club's site, "The Olympus F. Zuiko E f 2.8 38mm enlarging lens is in standard Leica mount and has a preset diaphragm system with stops from 2.8 - 16." Of course they could be mistaken about the aperture.

 

The mystery lens has the wrong range of apertures to be the enlarging lens, but will fit inside an M39x1 barrel if removed from its M42x1 barrel. If I wasn't clear about that barrel, it is not of a piece with the lens and seems not to be an Olympus product.

 

In short, I'm still stumped.

 

Cheers,

 

Dan

I used to own a 38mm/3.5 Zuiko which was a macro intended to be put onto a bellows... Your one, mounted in M42 mount must also have been used on a bellows. But you say the other ring comes off to turn into a 39mm mount? Great, might work as an enlarging lens. Stops down to F8-wierd. Sorry more questions than answers. Best Nicholas

Just to correct my above rumor: I have looked a little bit around and could not find any evidence for a specific Pen halfframe enlarger, but only for an enlarger lens. This was labeled: "Olympus F.Zuiko E 1:2,8 f=38mm". I have noticed that Olympus lenses for their movie cameras were not marked "Zuiko" although I doubt that the lens in question is a movie camera lens.