Olympus PEN-F with Zeiss C Biogon 4.5/21mm ZM T*.
A classy compact combo for experienced photographers. It’s an all manual lens, you have to know how to focus and witch f-stop is appropriate.
Intro
The Olympus PEN-F is my favorite camera for non-commercial tasks. For commercial jobs I have other cameras.Together with the Zeiss Biogon 21mm, the result is a handy combo that fits well in the hand. But it has its weight: it’s all metal with the appropriate quality.
It’s an eye-catcher and conversation starter!
I’m often approached about this camera and get to know interesting people. That’s very helpful for my photography business.
Specs
Olympus PEN-F
CMOS sensor, 20.3 megapixels, MFT. Produced from 2016 to 2020. Unfortunately, no successor model.
Zeiss C Biogon 4.5/21mm ZM T*
Focal length 21mm, largest aperture 4.5, Leica M mount. Manual focus, manual aperture. On the Olympus PEN-F it is a 42mm full-frame equivalent.
Unfortunately, 4.5/21mm is out of production! But 2.8/21mm is still available but it’s larger.
On the PEN-F you need an M-Mount to MFT adapter, e.g. from Voigtländer or Lumix.
Why I use manual lenses
A good picture is first created by a good idea, an interesting moment and a beautiful composition. The choice of focus point and aperture then makes it clear what the picture is trying to say.
A manual lens forces the photographer to make the decisions regarding aperture and focus point / distance himself!
With modern lenses, the aperture can also be set manually, usually on the camera. Manual focusing is usually more difficult or feels strange with most modern cameras.
That’s why I recommend every ambitious photographer to also work with manual lenses.
How to work with it, my settings
My default settings for 90% of my images with the Olympus PEN-F and Zeiss Biogon 21mm are:
- Auto ISO, upper ISO limit 3200, lowest shooter speed 1/160 sec.
- Aperture set to f8.
- Distance set to 1.5m, 5 feet.
If the subject is further away or it is a landscape shot, I set the distance to 5m.
In low light situations I use a flash.
Limitations
The method described above works very well with lenses up to 25mm focal length. It does not work for longer focal lengths and telephoto lenses.
Summary
I almost never change the aperture. I work with the distances 1.5m and 5m. Working this way is much faster than with auto focus.
My recommendations
Manual lenses are for enthusiast and professional photographers looking for the real thing. You need some time to master this working approach.
For the lenses I highly recommend Leica M mount lenses. My favorite brands are Zeiss and Voigtländer.
Leica CL with Zeiss Biogon 2.8/25mm ZM T*
- Google, search for “Leica CL”.
- Google, search for “Zeiss Biogon 2.8/25mm”.
- Google, search for “Leica M adapter L”. This is the adapter required to mount the lens.
Lumix DC-LX100 II with Voigtländer Color Skopar 21mm/1:3.5
- Google, search for “Lumix DC-LX100 II”.
- Google, search for “Voigtlander Color Skopar 21mm/3.5”.
- Google, search for “Metabones Leica M Lens to Micro Four Thirds Camera Mount Adapter”. This is the adapter required to mount the lens.
Example images
The following images have been taken with the Olympus PEN-F and the Zeiss C Biogon 4.5/21mm. ISO between 200 and 3200.
For my professional work visit https://starphoto.world. This is my personal site: http://waltergilgen.net
(c) Copyright 2024 photos and text Walter Gilgen. All rights reserved.