Olympus 28-48 mint condition $350 NZ (US $220) second hand

[guyvickers]

Hi all

 

I was in Wellington city yesterday, New Zealand. The camera

store "Wellington Photographic Supplies" has a VERY RARE 28-48mm f4

Zuiko for sale price $350 NZ. Condition is As New. I cannot afford

it, but if you can and want to contact them by fax/phone or e.mail

http://wps.net.nz/second_hand_equipment.asp

 

Many of the lenses on this page are from the same kit and all were

mint (the 65-200), 24 2.8, auto tube. I would not hesitate to buy

the 28-48 zoom if I had the money, every function on the lens was

perfect.

 

Regards

Guy

[george_shihanian]

I never bought the thought that the 28-48 was "very rare". Here in the U.S. they're available. The price of $220 (US) isn't that great either, it's more like average. One in "excellent" condition just sold on ebay a week ago for only $90.

 

I don't know if its a lack of interest in Olympus OM, or the continuing digital revolution, but prices don't seem to be as high as a year or two ago. Indeed, I just scored a couple of desirable OM pieces at what I'd call bargain prices.

[frederick_lau2]

I wonder why this 28-48 zoom lens interests you. It is designated as S-series by Olympus, together with Zuiko 35-70 f4 and 100-200 f5.

The S-series is Olympus's counterpart to Nikon's Series E : exceptional value lenses (decoded meaning : for amateurs).

The 28-48 is the only wide angle zoom in the OM range (by the way, zoom lenses are not OM system's prime focus, at least in the OM-1/OM-2 era. There are, however, many excellent prime lenses.

My other obsevation is that there are many excellent optics coming out from the mid-late 70s (around Nikon's AI era in 1977, or thereabout) in Japan. Many 50 f/1.2, Noct-Nikkor, sharper zooms, AIS 28 f/2.8, AIS 50 f1.8 ....

This is reflected in the OM Zuikos too. One tiny lens which should deserved more attention and praise is the humble Zuiko 28 f/2.8.

This lens is marketed in early 80s to replace the dated SC Zuiko 28 f/3.5. Unlike other f/2.8's or smaller aperture lenses, this lens is designed to be MC outright. The others merely added MC to the original SC design.

Personally, I pay more attention to post late 70s designs in used lenses.

This lens is excellent, even compared with the famed AIS Nikkor 28 f/2.8. And the price is sweet. I got mine for only US$88 !!

On the other hand the 28-48 is much lower in contrast and less vibrant in colours. Futhermore, the zoom range isn't that impressive and you can do better with a 50mm + 28mm.

[george_shihanian]

If you're really a fan of zooms and you already have something either Zuiko or 3rd party in the 35-70, or 35-105 range, you might consider a Tokina 24-40 as your true wide angle. Very well made and a good performer. They show up in OM mount, but you kind of have to look hard.

[konrad_beck1]

Regarding whether if it is VERY RARE: about 20,000 of these lenses were produced from the end of 1981 to around mid 1983. Within the 57 ZUIKO OM-SYSTEM lenses, it is placed on rank 28 regarding the number of lenses produced.

[douglas_green1]

It's true that OM prices on ebay are dropping like stones. I just picked up a perfectly working OM-4T in Shutterbug Excellent condition (misrepresented as Mint, of course, but I fully understood that when I bought it) for $399.99

 

In my opinion, the ones that are really timeless: OM-1, OM-1n, OM-3, and OM-4T are worth buying now.

[guyvickers]

Hi, Thanks for your info, I have lived in Canada, Australia and New Zealand and have been looking for OM equipment for about 12 yrs and have only seen 2 of these 28-48 lenses, but I have only just discovered E.Bay!

 

F.Lau, you raise an ineresting point about which optics were best. the 28, 2.8 may be optimally multi-coated, but I select on focal length as experience in my kind of work has resulted in preference of 18mm, 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, 100mm, 200mm, 300mm +1.4 times TC. (wildlife, landscapes, weddings, stock, nature, portraits etc)

 

I have tried my hardest to get the best secondhand optics and last night discovered that the 35 2.8, 50 1.4 and 100 2.8 that I have are all single coated. None of them have MC on front, none have silver noses and these three mentioned Do Not reflect green colour in front element (is it safe to say that they are single coated?). I am learning very quickly that all is not what it seems with Zuiko!

 

So I have just purchased an MC 35 f2 from Henrys, Toronto off e.bay. I hope to upgrade the 100mm 2.8 to either 90mm f2 macro or 100 f2 as these two optics are always multi-coated and both have ED glass. Am I going to win the race? Or am I better to go to Nikon now and know that the AF24 f2.8, AF35 f2, AF85 f1.4, 300 AFS f4 are going to be sharp, contrasty, flare resistant and most of all have that warm nice-to-look-at Nikon character?

 

Any advice about which optic is best performer out of 100mm f2 Zuiko and 90mm f2 Zuiko for general photography (not macro) is much appreciated!

 

Thankyou

 

Guy

[andrew_tierney]

<p>My first OM lens was the 28-48mm, and it is a lens that I really like. I prefer normal to wideangle, and if I don't have the space to carry my 55mm f1.2 and 24/28mm f2.8 then I'll go for this one. f4 is pretty slow, but still workable. However, I bought it as new with a CLA'd OM 10 for less than £130 from a shop with a 6 month guarantee. $220 seems a bit steep.

<p>Konrad - you say that it is 28/57 on OM production - do you have an entire list you can post? It would be quite interesting to see.

<p>Andrew