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New SLR or new lens?

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  #1  
Old 13-09-09, 20:56
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Alex1994 Alex1994 is offline
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Default New SLR or new lens?

Hi everyone

I am currently wanting to expand my 35mm film SLR's potential. I have roughly £160 pounds to blow right now and possibly more in the future. There are two options:

1. A new lens for my Leica R3. The only lens I can afford for the moment is a 35-70mm, which is an excellent lens like all Leica lenses but no huge magnification or very wideangle.

2. Buying an Olympus OM-1 for about 50-80 pounds with lens and spending the rest on a nice new telephoto or wideangle. Does anyone know about the durability and optical quality of the Zuiko lenses? Are Leica lenses significantly better-considering the price as well?

Maybe I should be looking at an entirely different camera?

All feedback appreciated

Alex
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  #2  
Old 13-09-09, 22:26
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Alex, you haven't given us any idea of why you are looking to add/change. What do you find you can't do with your current equipment? If you're using Leica stuff, then I don't think it's the technical quality of the kit that's holding back your results.
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Old 14-09-09, 14:36
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Alex I have used Zuiko lenses for about 25 years now and the quality and durability in my opinion is excellent, all I would say is do not buy too cheap as some lenses out there have not been looked after and can suffer from fungal growth in them , but as the previous poster points out if you are using Leica kit its going to be hard to beat.
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Old 14-09-09, 16:14
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Yes, I certainly have no complaints with the quality of the kit, just the versatility; all I have on my R3 is a 50mm lens, and at a stretch the only other lens I can consider is a 35-70. The reason I am tempted by the OM-system is that there are a huge variety of lenses available for decent prices e.g. 28mm, 35-105, 100-200, 180...
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Old 14-09-09, 16:25
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My parents had Olympus cameras, OM1 and OM10. and a couple of lenses although I cannot remember what focal lengths. The quality was excellent.
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Old 15-09-09, 14:48
j8kkb j8kkb is offline  
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I have the 28mm f2.8.....standard 50mm f1.8...a very beautiful 85mm f2...and the 135mm f3.5.....great thing about them as well is they all take the same filter 49mm.
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Old 15-09-09, 22:43
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Thanks for the input guys. I snapped up a 35-135mm Carl Zeiss Jenazoom for Olympus OM on eBay for 90 pounds delivered. Obviously that means I'm committing to buying an OM-1 body in the future (ffordes have one for 80 pounds in excellent condition). In the longer run I want a 28mm and 2x converter to make the Zeiss into a 70-270mm.

You say the 85mm f2 Zuiko is good? I may buy that too =)
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Old 15-09-09, 22:47
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make sure the OM1 has been converted from the old mercury batteries or else you will need to use a light meter...also I believe the OM1 is totally manual no aperture priority unlike the OM2
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Old 15-09-09, 23:01
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I believe the correct substitute for the old mercury batteries is the Wein cell 1.35v zinc-air battery, which fills in exactly for the old ones but doesn't last as long.
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Old 16-09-09, 10:14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alex1994 View Post
In the longer run I want a 28mm and 2x converter to make the Zeiss into a 70-270mm.
I'd say forget the t/con. If you're looking at these kind of lenses (non-digital) that go for not a lot of money, you'll be better off buying a lens that has the kind of range you're looking for without need for a t/con. There used to be plenty of lenses in the 70-210 range for film cameras, though I've never looked at Olympus stuff. A 2x t/con will lose you two stops of light and significantly degrade image quality, especially on an old zoom.
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