Olympus Zuiko 50mm f1.4
Olympus Zuiko 50mm f1.4 on my Sony a
Vintage lens’ paired to modern digital cameras is one of my favorite ways to keep photography exciting. When I am looking into a lens from another era, I am desiring a lens with character, heritage, legacy, and quality. The Olympus Zuiko 50mm f1.4 fits the bill.
The following is not a review or a “how to” vintage lens (although if interested that could be in the future. Let me know in the comments!). This post is more of an ode to a lens that I love.
My Set-up
The Zuiko 50mm f1.4 is mounted to my Sony a6000 with a Fotasy OM-FE adapter. The Fotasy adapter adds considerable weight and length to the lens and camera. The adapter is all metal, sturdy, dependable, and seems bomb proof during bikepacking forays. Being that the Sony a6000 is a crop sensor, the effective focal length is around 75mm which is a focal length I have grown to enjoy. Despite the extra girth of the adapter, I can still fit the camera and lens into my coat pocket when walking around cold days, causing this set-up to be one of my go-tos for around town jaunts. Overall it is an inexpensive combination of gear that lends itself to exceptional photos.
Build Quality
The look and feel of camera gear is important. If you like handling, manipulating, and using gear, then you will use it more. As far as I can tell, it is an all metal build on the lens giving it enough weight such that it feels quality without feeling burdensome. The focus ring has an aggressive texture, ensuring confident grip, and glides pleasantly when actuated. All indicators of focal distance and aperture are well printed and easily visible. The build of this lens is quite nice and I have a hard time issuing any complaints in this department.
Photo Quality
Okay, on to the part that is most important; how the photos look. Let's start with the bad. The chromatic aberrations are pretty wild with this lens giving the outline of subjects an orangey/purple hue. This is easy to fix post processing, or can be kept and just lean into the vintage effects.
The Zuiko 50mm f1.4 is a sharp lens at its center, but definitely drifts off into softness around the edges of a photograph when shooting at large apertures. I am no pixel peeper, but it is noticeable if one looks close. Of course, stopping down can mostly alleviate this issue and it won’t be a problem for 99% of photographs.
(left) Zuiko 50mm f1.4 vs (right) Sigma 18-50mm f2.8 . Art by Michl Joseph Art (https://paintbender.com/). Both lens’ shot at f2.8 and all other settings are the same.Lens flare is pronounced with this lens. This can be a pro or a con. Personally, I love the way the lens flare looks on this lens and I would rather incorporate the flares into the photo than try to eliminate it with a lens hood. However, that is the photographer's preference.
Now on to the good. An aperture of 1.4 allows for great low light opportunities. I love to shoot photos past dark and with no image stabilization in camera on the Sony a6000 and with no lens image stabilization, a large aperture is necessary. Plus the ability to dramatically separate the subject from background/foreground is a fun effect. The bokeh and blur of the out of focus areas is endlessly pleasing.
The colors are rich and vibrant, but tasteful and not oversaturated.
The minimal focal distance is around 1ft. With an effective focal length of 75mm, this lens can function nearly as a macro lens. For me, this is a mega plus as I like the option to get close to my subjects.
The lens provides super sharp photos at the center of an image (sharper than my modern Sigma 18-50mm f2.8!)
You can’t beat the price for most of these vintage primes. This lens can easily be had for around $70 USD. You could get it cheaper with patience, however, I might venture to pay more and ensure a quality lens as these things are old and can have issues. At any rate, the price to quality is unmatchable. You will have to shoot in manual mode, but I do not see that as a negative.
Photo Gallery
All photos shot on the Olympus Zuiko 50mm f1.4. Very light editing on these photos; just added some fade and grain via post production to give a more vintage look.
I have to give a big thanks to Zenography over on Youtube which has been a great resource for vintage lens’ and he does a bang up job discussing the Zuiko 50mm f1.4 if you are interested in more information.
Also, big thanks to Dearmond Lopez for initially introducing me to the possibilities of vintage lenses on a bikepacking trip.