OLYMPUS 35-100 Issue

M

Mark Smith

Veteran
I use my Olympus 35-100 Frequently and had an issue lately with soft focus on a particular shot. Afterwards I started poking around with the lens and the camera to pinpoint the issue.

First what I discovered was lens check in the AF was "off" . Even with Lens check off the lens was powered and seemed functional. HOWEVER when I activated lens check and restarted the camera with the 35 -100 lens mounted, the camera powered up and the lens went through some little routine where it made some noises, the focus scale swept through near focus to far focus and settled back to the starting position.

I had looked at a Star chart with focus assist enabled prior to switching on lens check and I looked at the same star chart after switching on lens check and the ability of this lens to focus was significantly better, almost a night and day difference.

For folks using this lens I recommend that you pay attention when the camera powers up with this lens mounted. If the lens does not go through a routine where it sweeps through the focus range before returning to its initial focus setting, you might want to restart the camera and make sure the lens does its thing before you start shooting.

I alos have the 14-35 lens which does seems to function the same with lens check on or off.
 
You have confirmed one of the reasons why I will never use an electronic lens on a cine camera.

I was asked my reason on this forum and you have validated at least one of my answers.

Mechanical lenses are reliable and dependable.
 
I had the 35-100 but sold it because I don't like it despite the fast and great optics. It's just to heavy and focus by wire is not what I like to use.
 
I have never understood why anybody uses a lens with AF in the first place. AF more often than is acceptable ( at least to me) will ruin a shot because either it's searching frantically for the right subject to focus to and/or is not really controllable with both moving or non-moving objects. The only acceptable AF is an "A-class Focuspuller".
 
As a clarification I Do NOT use the AF function on the lens. Its too slow and I don't trust it. I am describing the way the lens functions or some times does not function in this case. The olympus lenses are a compromise in may ways, but they are also fast & sharp for a reasonable price and give a little bit of help with the zoom range. Apparently the 35-100 needs to go through some self calibration on start up in order to focus properly. Once the lens does this its really good, but if it doesn't do this calibration then watch out...

If I could find some decent manual equivalents of these lenses I would jump on them in a heart beat.
 
I'll say this: having played with a Birger Mount at NAB, I would feel very comfortable using one of those with some fine canon glass mounted. The birger mount really makes the Canon lenses totally controllable in a very nice way.
 
Yes, the 35-100 is a "funny" lens, but I use it almost 100% for interviews, as it's the only lens (that I know of.... at least in a price that is not EXTREME) that covers that zoom at that aperture (or similar). The trade-off is the weird focusing, but since I largely use it for interviews (and b-roll too) my focus shifts are minor and it is not an issue. I would not recommend this for shooting scripted, narrative type work, although I have done it.

If Duclos could mod this lens that'd be killer, but I imagine it's impossible.
 
I will note that the 14-35 Olympus does not display the same focus issues if lens check is off as the 35-100 lens does. I've done some further testing with both lenses and there are definite operational differences between the two. The 35-100 needs to have lens check on for best results and the 14-35 doesn't seem to care if lens check is on or off.
 
Hi Mark,

I heard you were doing some sort of tests on the 14-35/35-100 and zeiss distagons?........Are you posting results anywhere?.......if not could you be convinced to?......lmao, either way would love to hear your thoughts on at least the 14-35, have you used it extensively? Am considering this lens but my main conern is if it would resolve on the big screen as well as the zeiss distagons for example.
 
I shot some stills to compare resolution between the Olympus 14-35 and 35-100 and my very old zeiss distagons. Resolution wise both lens types exceed the resolution of the camera but the Olympus have better contrast by a bit. I use the old zeiss frequently however as I really like the look, though you have to be more careful with situations that can produce flares.

Last december I shot a commercial for Nivea that ran on New Years eve. We used 2 AF's and my Zeiss Distagons. In the case of this shoot the occasional flare was welcome and used int he finished spot.

I'll post some stills and possibly some video when I have a chance to do so.
 
Thanks mark, that would be great!.....just curious, you say you like the zeiss's "look" better.....the zeiss have a cooler color tone correct?.......how does the olympus differ from that?

anyways thanks for the info, would love to see the pics/vid when u have time.
 
I have found the olympus to be slightly more magenta than the Zeiss, though its usually a small amount. The overall color of the zeiss just seems more neutral and pleasing to me. I shot still and then used the color picker tool in mac utilities to check out the RGB composition of squares on the color chart.
 
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