Playing With Lenses: November 2017

Friday 24 November 2017

Prime Killer: Olympus Zuiko MC Auto-Zoom 35-70mm 1:3.6

Cost: $24.99 (average market price $40, but often up to $200 or more in perfect condition)

I'm actually very excited to do my first review of an Olympus Zuiko lens. If I wasn't such a sucker for Pentax lenses, I'm convinced that Olympus would be my first choice to collect (I only have so much space). The Olympus Zuiko brand stands for high quality, with some of the Zuiko lenses being amongst the best in the world.

The 35-70mm is one of the most common standards for high quality zoom lenses, in so much that it is regarded as a "standard" zoom and replaces 3 of the most common primes (35mm, 50mm, 70mm). The Zuiko MC Auto-Zoom 35-70 1:3.6 was the first 35-70 lens designed for the OM-System, and regarded as the best in the range due to a sharpness that was equal to most primes of that period. Later designs (branded under S-Zuiko), in order to be more price competitive, had a simplified optical design and although still pretty good, never reached the same level of quality as the original. This also explains that the Zuiko 35-70mm 1:3.6 typically go for twice the price of it's successors. And this specific copy is in an amazing shape. No scratches or any other visible sign of usage.

This lens is a two-touch design (separate ring for focus and zoom), and handles very smoothly (yes, almost Pentax smooth). Easy to focus, achieving a fixed focus across the whole zoom and aperture range, making it very suitable for video. The lens is solidly build and therefore a bit heavy. But size remains reasonable, so the weight just adds to the stability while holding.

Nice to know that this is probably the only lens ever made with a maximum aperture of 3.6, instead of the more common 3.5.

This lens is suitable for both professional as hobby environments.

Not the fastest 35-70 zoom lens out there, but due to the excellent sharpness and image quality, can truly regarded as a Prime-killer.

Lens Specification:

Focal Length: 35-70mm
Maximum Aperture: F3.6
Minimum Aperture: F22
Image Format: 35mm
Lens Mount: OM
Optics: 10 elements in 8 groups
Blades: 8
Focussing: Manual
Minimum Focus: 80cm
Filter Size: 55mm
Weight: 400g
Length: 74mm
Production: late 1970's
Serial Number: 202127
Made in: Japan