Additional information on Olympus Zuiko Lenses
Zuiko Telephoto lenses at 135mm - 135mm f/2.8, 135mm f/3.5 - Part I

 
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As you step up focal length of your lenses to 135mm, you will notice an increase in compression of perspective, narrowing angle of view, an increase magnification of image size and a decrease in depth of field. Effect of distortion begins to decrease and perspective is more natural makes them in particular handy for portraiture at closer range, for an example, head and shoulder types of photography. Besides, the extra working range ensure the model you are shooting can be more relax and comfortable otherwise may result in tensed facial expression. Naturally, you can find plenty of other good applications for this lense and they are not solely confined only for portraiture. These lenses are often used in candid, sports, scenic, nature and photojournalism. The tighter angular field of view at 18° is good for isolating and/or emphasizing an interesting area especially in scenic or in travel photography. When you combine this with compression of perspective, another optical characteristic found in telephoto lenses, you can create many interesting, attractive and powerful visual.

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<<< -- Credit: Image courtesy of Mr David Irissari <div@airtel.net>. Davis has a website on his own. The original image can be accessed by CLICKING here. Image Copyright © 2003. All rights reserved. Please respect the visual property of the contributing photographer.

However, lenses at 135mm can be considered as a medium range tele-lense within the telephoto group and they will project these unique optical effects in a middle-of-the-road way while not overpowering them. These lenses are designed to be easy to use and handle and usually they are equipped with a good usable lense speed to make them an all round optic for available light photography. The Zuiko lense family does not provides a fast speed 135mm f/2.0 version but there are two alternatives with a moderately fast lens speed, E-Zuiko AUTO-T 135mm f/2.8 and a slower E-Zuiko AUTO-T 135mm f/3.5 lense for consideration. Actually, there is also a special application close-focus Zuiko AUTO MACRO 135mm f/4.5 lense, which requires either using an AUTO Bellow Unit and/or the OM Telescopic Auto Tube's focusing mechanism to adjust focus (it can only provide fine focusing on its own). The two normal ZUIKO telephoto lenses are designed and made extremely compact and portable. Optically, both have remained unchanged in their optical formulas since the days of introduction except in the case of lense coating process and/or minor cosmetic changes that may have been improved over the years. The last of version for the Zuiko AUTO-T 135mm f/2.8 carries a "MC" designation in the lens data which began shipping back in 1977/8 while the Zuiko AUTO-T 135mm f/3.5 has such update started probably between 1983/1984.

Telephoto Lenses - Angle of View Comparison Chart

85mm

28° 30'

18°

24°

100mm

24°

14°

20°

135mm

18°

10°

15°

200mm

12°

10°

300mm

8° 15'

4° 35'

8° 50'

500mm

2° 45'

880mm

3° 06'

1° 40'

2° 35'

* MORE info..... It is such a sad state to notice Olympus has taken off these two lenses from their product catalogue as early as '90. Naturally, that was a commercial decision with shrinking sales of SLR cameras and in particular, fixed focal length lenses and by year 2002/3 the Company finally discontinuation of the GREAT film based 35mm SLR OM system.
In terms of angle of view, 85mm is about 10° greater in angle of view than the 135mm lense, while lenses at 135mm has 10° more angle of view than the 300mm. As we noted earlier, the subject area of the 135mm is about 25 percent of the area covered by the 85mm lense and about four times that of the 300mm.

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E-Zuiko AUTO-T 135mm f/2.8 & Zuiko AUTO-T 135mm f/2.8

This focal length is often considered the first true telephoto. It achieves very noticeable depth of field effects. Olympus has two 135mm telephoto lenses ever since the very early OM system was introduced. Although it shares many common features with the slower Zuiko counterpart of E-Zuiko 135mm f/3.5, the E-Zuiko 135mm f/2.8 which has a faster lense speed, a fine performance and easy handling has made it a favorite first telephoto lense among the many OM photographers all these years.

<< -- Credit: Image of this early version of the E-Zuiko 135mm f/2.8 lense with a plain colour reflectance of lens coating and the silver-chrome filter rim may suggest it could be an older version, Image courtesy of Mr "AR" <aradoia1@san.rr.com> Image Copyright © 2003. All rights reserved.

Other than cosmetic differences it may has, the older version and newer ones share a similar optical formula with their 5 elements in 5 groups design. To cater for a more demanding light gathering power at f/2.8, this Zuiko lense has a considerably larger filter attachment size at 55mm instead of the OM standard 49mm filter thread. The minimum f-stop fro this lense is f/22 which is useful for maximum depth of field control, inparticularly when you intend to maximize its unique compression of perspective control. With a telephoto ratio of 0.88 - its body length measures at 80mm, focuses down to minimum distance of 1.5m (4.9 ft) and weighs 360g (12.7oz). Designed for maximum handling ease with a good compromise ratio between practical speed and affordability which has make this lense a highly desirable telephoto lense. An added advantage is, it was equipped with a built-in retractable telescopic-type of lense hood which eliminates the need of carrying an extra filter accessory. With a compatibleTele-converter such as 2X-A , this lense may be able to extend as a 270mm f/5.6 lense.

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<<< -- Credit: Image courtesy of Mr Rick Oleson® <rick_oleson@yahoo.com> who also co-maintaining the popular OM Message Board in PIM site. Image Copyright © 2003. All rights reserved.

Specifications:

Older version: E-Zuiko AUTO-T 135mm f/2.8
Current version:
Zuiko AUTO-T 135mm f/2.8
Lens construction
: 5 groups, 5 elements
Angles of view: Diagonal: 18°
Distance scale: (m) 1.5m to infinity (
OO)
Focusing: Straight Helicoid

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Minimum and Maximum aperture: f/22 ~ f/2.8
Minimum photographic range: 32cm x 21cm

<<<--- Credit: Images courtesy of Mr. Robert <Smithrjcmo@aol.com>, Image Copyright © 2003. All rights reserved. Robert also operating a EBAY store under a codename "Clicklovely®@ Ebay"

Diaphragm: Automatic
Filter size: 55mm
Lens Hood: Built-in
Maximum Length: 80mm
Maximum diameter: 61mm
Weight: 360g (12.7 oz)
Usable Teleconverter:
2X-A

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Recommended Focusing Screens: 1:1*, 1:2*, 1:3*, 1:4*, 1:5#, 1:6#, 1:10*, 1:13*, 1:14*
*Compatible. Focusing and exposure accuracy remains but at smaller aperture with the use of high shutter speed, microprism, corners of the screen and split image may darken. # Compatible, they provide accurate focusing but exposure error may occur in manual mode for OM-1 and OM-2 series models. On AUTO, exposure accuracy remains, but the meter needle may not indicate correct shutter speeds. ## More info on "Picture Angle" or make use of the Glossary section in PIM site..

<< -- Credit: Image courtesy of Mr "AR" <aradoia1@san.rr.com> Image Copyright © 2003. All rights reserved . Image at far left shown a newer version of this lense.

| Previous | NEXT | 1/2 If you are strapped by budget but still wishes to own a Zuiko 135mm telephoto lense for your photography, there is an affordable Zuiko alternative...

ZUIKO Telephoto lenses | 85mm | 100mm | 135mm | 180mm | 200mm | 250mm | 300mm | 350mm | 400mm | 500mm REFLEX | 600mm | 1000mm

A Brief overview on Zuiko Optics
Zuiko Fisheye Lenses
8mm f/2.8 Circular Fisheye | 16mm f/3.5 Full Frame Fisheye
Zuiko Ultra-Wideangle Lenses
18mm f/3.5 | 21mm f/2.0 | 21mm f/3.5 | 24mm f/2.0 | 24mm f/2.8
Zuiko Wideangle Lenses
28mm f/2.0 | 28mm f/2.8 | 28mm f/3.5 | 35mm f/2 | 35mm f/2.8 |
Zuiko Standard Lenses
40mm f/2.0 | 55mm f/1.2 | 50mm f/1.2 | 50mm f/1.4 | 50mm f/1.8 | Zuiko 50mm f/2.0 PF
Zuiko Medium-Telephoto Lenses
85mm f/2.0 | 100mm f/2.0 | 100mm f/2.8 | 135mm f/2.8 | 135mm f/3.5
Zuiko Telephoto Lenses
180mm f/2.0 EDIF | 180mm f/2.8 | 200mm f/4.0 | 200mm f/5.0 Auto-T (brief)
Zuiko Super-Telephoto Lenses
250mm f/2.0 EDIF | 300mm f/4.5 | 350mm f/2.8 EDIF | 400mm f/6.3 | 500mm | 600mm f/6.5 |1000mm f/11.0
Special application Zuiko optics:
24mm f/3.5 Shift | 35mm f/2.8 Shift | 500mm f/8 Reflex | AF Zoom 35-70mm f/4.0 | Zuiko 50mm f/2.0 PF

Tele-Converters: 1.4X-A / 2X-A

Zuiko Macro/Close focus lenses: Zuiko AUTO MACRO 20mm f/3.5 | Zuiko AUTO MACRO 20mm f/2.0 | Zuiko AUTO MACRO 38mm f/3.5 | Zuiko AUTO MACRO 38mm f/2.8 | Zuiko AUTO MACRO 50mm f/3.5 | Zuiko AUTO MACRO 50mm f/2.0 | Zuiko AUTO MACRO 1:1 80mm f/4.0 | Zuiko AUTO MACRO 90mm f/2.0 | Zuiko AUTO MACRO 135mm f/4.5

Zuiko AUTO-Zoom Lenses - Main Index page
| S-Zuiko AUTO Zoom 28-48mm f/4.0 | Zuiko AUTO Zoom 35-70mm f/3.6 | S-Zuiko AUTO Zoom 35-70mm f/4.0 | Zuiko AF AUTO Zoom 35-70mm f/4.0 | S-Zuiko AUTO Zoom 35-70mm f/3.5 ~ f/4.5 | S-Zuiko AUTO Zoom 35-70mm f/3.5 ~ f/4.8 | Zuiko AUTO Zoom 35-80mm f/2.8 ED | Zuiko AUTO Zoom 35-105mm f/3.5 ~ f/4.5 | Zuiko AUTO zoom 50-250mm f/5.0 | Zuiko AUTO zoom 65-200mm f/4.0 | S-Zuiko AUTO zoom 70-210mm f/4.5 ~ f/5.6 | Zuiko AUTO Zoom 75-150mm f/4.0 | Zuiko AUTO Zoom 85-200mm f/4.0 | Zuiko AUTO Zoom 85-250mm f/5.0 | S-Zuiko AUTO Zoom 100-200mm f/5.0 |

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About this photographic site.

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Copyright © 2000. leofoo ®. MIR Web Development Team.

Maintainers for OM Zuiko Site & Message Board: Rick Oleson (Email: rick_oleson@yahoo.com Website: http://rick_oleson.tripod.com), Bruce Hamm (bhamm@magma.ca), John Orrell (john@orrellj.freeserve.co.uk), Simon Evans, (http://www.mawddwy.freeserve.co.uk); Shaun (shaun@noemail.com), Andy Radcliffe (AndyJRadcliffe@manx.net)

Special thanks to: Gregory P. Logiodice, Bob Gries, Erwin Voogt, Joel Wilcox, Rick Oleson, Simon Evan and many others for granting permissions to use their images of either lenses, cameras and own pictures appeared in this Zuiko website.

Credit: My old time buddy, Ahmad Ikram, Dr of Rubber Research Institute (RRI), Malaysia who shares the same passion with me and also lending his OM-1n, OM-4 and the Motor Drive 1 to me for preparing some images in this site; Mark Dapoz <md@dementia.org>for reminding some broken links; Mr Poon of Foto Poon, Ipoh, Mr Richard, Ampang Park, Mr Lim and Miss Jenny of Foto Edar for their generosity for their OM1(n), OM2n camera and some Zuiko lenses. Mr Hans van Veluwen for mistakenly using some content earlier from his OM website; J Sorensen for providing some useful images to rectify some technical "flaws"; Mr Gen Holst for helping during the early stages of development of this OM site; Mr KKLow for some of his earlier images on the OM-1appeared in this website; Miss Wati and Mirza for helping me to convert this Operation Manual into a HTML format. Mr MCLau for rectifying some mistakes made on the earlier preview sites. A personal tribute to the creator of the OM system and also a site dedicated to all the fans of Olympuses and Zuiko Optics worldwide. Some of the content and images appeared in this site were scanned from OM official marketing leaflets, brochures and instruction manual(s) for educational purposes. Olympus is a registered trade name of Olympus Optical Inc., Japan. Site created 'unfortunately again with an IMac.