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Small, compact,lightweight and superb performance. One of the only Olympus lenses made to use ED glass.

When I was still using the Nex 7 I bought from China a simple tilt adapter. It is nowhere as refined as a proper tilt lens (for one it lacks a lock for the rotation) but it did the job quite nicely for a fraction of the price (I paid for mine 25$, now they sell for 50$). Supposedly it shouldn't work on full frame, but out of curiosity I tried it anyway on the A7r. Surprise: it works flawlessly (and zero light leaks, BTW)! For now I shot a few frames with the 24/2.8, the 35/2.8 shift, the 50/1.8 and the 135/3.5. No vignetting or corner problems with any of them so far. To see the adapter I'm talking about, and another alternative one, you can check one old post of mine: http://www.addicted2light.com/2014/10/17/adapters-for-a-cheap-pro-tilt-shift-lens/ In a couple of months I'll write a more comprehensive report of how well (or not) these solution works in landscape photography, so stay tuned (or subscribe via RSS or Facebook). For the moment I'll leave you with a couple one crop (I don't seem to be able to upload the other one for some motive), just to wet your appetite. A good weekend to everyone! All images shot with the 24mm f/2.8 Unsharpened if not for the standard amount applied by Photoshop. Please keep in mind that there was an extremely strong wind, so much so that in more than one occasion I had troubles standing up, so the sharpness may have suffered a bit (it topped my heavy tripod a couple times as well, even with the legs dipped into the snow!).

Olympus lenses offer remarkable value for money on the A7/A7R. Plus, they are compact and light. One example, with the excellent 28mm f:2.0, from Iceland

Owning most of the beautiful Contax C/Y lenses, I could never really decide to spend the massive $$$$ for the 21mm Distagon. I might have gone for it if it wasn't so heavy and bulky too and it seems it's distortion is even more than the 18mm. I think nobody denies that it took the crown in 21mm in it's time, and most others in that range didn't even get near. Nevertheless, there are a few other mothers with beautiful daughters. So, what about alternatives in vintage glass? Recently, I tested two other famed ones side-by-side on my Sony A7R, the Minolta MC W. Rokkor 21mm f2.8 and the tiny Olympus Zuiko 21mm f3.5 (the later multicoated version). They can both be bought for a fraction of the C/Y Distagon. Both are floating element designs, the Rokkor is focusing down to 25cm and the Olympus to 20cm, and both have a front thread that doesn't rotate. My Rokkor is in good, used condition and the Zuiko is a limited edition version and like new, a true collector's item. Observations: stopped down the Rokkor has the lead in corner sharpness, both are sharp from the start in the center. Remember, this is pixel peeping on A7R FF with 36 mpx, you may have difficulties to see a difference anything less. Distortion is complex mustache for both, but a bit less with the Zuiko. CA is visible in the corners on both, but manageable. WO, the Rokkor has more vignetting, at f8 both are excellent. The colors are warmer with the Rokkor. Conclusion: You can't go wrong with these, they are head-to-head, choosing one is more about personal preferences. I like the colors of the Rokkor better, but it's heavier, built like a tank. The Zuiko ist tiny for it's performance. I checked a Rolleinar 21mm too. While many Rollei lenses were built by Zeiss and just had a different coating, Zeiss never gave their 21mm design away. The 21mm Rollei is identical (apart from the mount) to the Mamiya Sekor, so let's see: Not too bad either, but a bit weaker than the Olympus 21mm f3.5 in most categories: A tad softer in the corners, more vignetting, a bit more distortion and a tiny bit less wide. Worst point though: T stop seems to be much weaker (or they are lying about f-stop): wide open @3.5 the Olympus is a full stop faster than the Rollei/Mamiya at f4! So, if you are looking for a cheaper, much smaller and lighter vintage alternative to the Zeiss Contax Distagon in 21mm, the Olympus is it! It's only fault is the red ring that can show up on rare occasions with heavy backlight. Check this site: http://www.stefanrohloff.de/20_olyspecial.php?en=1 The Zeiss (Jena) 20mm Flektogon is another interesting alternative, but I didn’t test it here – sample variation of these lenses from former East Germany is massive and a test of a single one wouldn’t give you really useful info.

I just discovered that Olympus OM rear lens caps fits perfectly and snugly not only onto Zuiko lenses, but onto E mount lenses as well. That's good news because they are often cheaper, but mostly because if you go around with just one adapter and a bunch of Olympus legacy glass you will be able to standardize the lens caps you carry, making less of a mess into your bag! BTW, the Contax-Yashica's as well fit, but they are less tight so tend to unscrew easily.