M.Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6 EZ, Quiet On The Beach

Digital Moments: Image making with an Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 14-42mm F3.5~5.6 EZ, in the heat of the day.

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While I currently use the E-P5 more often for capturing digital moments with legacy manual focus lenses which I buy off auction sites with the idea of putting them up for sale on my camera gear shopping page, there were also occasions when I had the E-P5 mounted with the M.Zuiko Digital 14-42mm f/3.5~5.6 EZ, for outings of sorts. The EZ is a slimline kit lens; it is only 23mm thick and weighs just about 91 grams, a perfect fit for the camera.

This session is from 2015, when I was on an outstation trip. I took the opportunity to stop for a breather at this beach. It was high noon, the sun was directly overhead, the sky was cloudless, there was little or no wind, and the heat was getting rather uncomfortable. Images were shot in monochrome and post-processed on Olympus Viewer 3 (OV3), and print sharpening was done on Google NIK Sharpener Pro 3.

Olympus E-P5, M.Zuiko Digital 14-42mm f/3.5~5.6 EZ

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Sony DT 18-70mm 1:3.5-5.6 Zoom, Wide-Angle Vignettes

Analog Diary: Film photography favorites, image making with an APS-C Sony DT 18-70mm F3.5 - 5.6 mounted on a full-frame 35mm SLR film camera.

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This was way back in 2009 when I experimented with mounting an ASP-C-designed lens, the Sony DT 18-70mm (3.9x) 1:3.5-5.6 Zoom, on a full-frame A-mount Minolta Maxxum AF body. The lens was from a Sony A-200 DSLR kit, and the film camera was a Maxxum 70. I still have the lens, but not the body, so the image shown here, with the Sony DT mounted on a later Minolta Maxxum 70, was just for illustration.

Minolta Maxxum 70, Sony DT 18-70mm 1:3.5-5.6 Zoom

Retro-fitting DSLR lenses on AF SLR film camera bodies, if the mount matches, is a low-cost way to get into film photography, and you are in for a lot of fun here. Lenses, like the Sony DT as shown here, due to their design that comes with smaller diameter lens components, will give you the vignette or porthole effect at their widest or short end. The vignette effect will dissipate as you zoom in towards the telephoto end of the lens.

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SMC Pentax-M 40mm 1:2.8, Street Squares

Analog Diary: Film photography favorites, image making with an SMC Pentax-M 40mm 1:2.8 mounted on a Pentax MX, square-cropped images.

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Had the Pentax MX mounted with an SMC Pentax-M 40mm 1:2.8, and spent about an hour scouting this downtown area, with a limit set to half a roll of a 36-shot film canister. I already had my mind set on using the other half-roll of film on another camera.

The SMC Pentax-M 40mm 1:2.8 is a marvel of a lens, actually, a full-frame lens that comes in an incredibly compact form factor with a depth of only 18mm. At 110 grams body weight, the lens is much lighter than other primes of that era. It is well made, with metal and glass throughout, with a well-damped focus throw, snappy aperture stops, with a very smooth focus ring.

Pentax MX, SMC Pentax-M 40mm 1:2.8

With a 40mm focal length, the lens is a wider than a standard 50mm prime, and a little bit narrower than the wide-angle 35mm, and to me, is just about right for general-purpose photography and is equally suited for street photography where spaces are sometimes slightly tight and where your surrounding is rather confined.

Pentax MX, SMC Pentax-M 40mm 1:2.8

Reportedly, the lens is not as sharp when shot wide open, with the tendency to show light fall-off and color-fringing toward the corners of the image. For my shoot, however, I was not bothered by the effects as I was on an aperture range between f/5.6 to f/11 on a beautiful, bright, and sunny day. Converting the images to black-and-white and the crop to a 1:1 image aspect ratio adds to the finesse of the images.

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Minolta MD 28mm 1:2.8, Scary Cat

Digital Moments: Image making with the legacy Minolta MD 28mm F2.8 lens, a scared cat on the roof ledge.

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I was out and about on the front porch looking for the opportunity to grab a few test shots of the glorious sunset with the Minolta MD 28mm F2.8 attached to the E-P5 when I glanced back over my shoulder and caught the sight of one of our neighbor's cat perched on the edge of the mansard.

Looking rather stiff and scared, almost immobile, with ears pointed, the cat was actually fixated on the unfolding scene of the sunset, which was happening on the rooftop of the houses across the street. I took the opportunity of grabbing these few shots as well, with images that may be at the expense of the excellence of the lens in terms of its sharpness, but not in contrast.

An MD 28mm F2.8, the Rokkor version, is generally said to be one of the best from Minolta, close to the excellence of the MC W.Rokkor-SI 28mm F2.5 and the MD Rokkor 28mm F2.

Minolta MD 28mm 1:2.8

Built of plastic and glass, with a metal mount, and weighing in at about 190 grams, the MD 28mm F2.8 is a lightweight and compact beauty. It fits well with the ergonomics of the E-P5, does not make the camera any heavier, and handling is effortless.

Olympus E-P5, Minolta MD 28mm 1:2.8

The focal length equivalent of the MD 28mm on the E-P5 is 56mm, almost equivalent to a standard nifty-fifty on a full-frame SLR.

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