Differences between the Nikkor 35 shift vs. Olympus 35 shift? Anybody have thoughts on these 2 lenses for use with the 5D in terms of sharpness, chromatic aberration, barrel distortion? TIA

the olympus is in every aspect better. the onliest comparable 35mm shift is the contax. forget schneider/ nikon/ canon shift lenses for 35mm systems. olympus are the onliest ones which remain sharp if shifted and which only show moderate distortion. CA is its onliest issue, but on the 35 its moderate also. not so with the 24.

I have not tested the Nikons because of the reports of the Olympus' being superior to both Canon and Nikon.

I own both 24TS and a 45TS Canons and needed a 35 to fill in the gap. I bought and tested 4 (and returned 3) excellent(1)/mint(3) condition Olympus 35PCs. Not a one of them were quite as good as the Canons though they were all quite serviceable for magazine work. The problem on all shift lenses is with full range shifts or anything at a larger aperture than f/11 or f/16 (depends on the lens). We are asking allot of this glass. You have to know the characteristics and limits of your particular lens to utilize it for professional level work.

I will test a couple more of the Olympus before I caulk their "superiority" over the Canons up to myth (or anti-Canon lens bigotry?).

It's not quite the right lens, but I have a 24 Olympus shift that SK Grimes modified for a Nikon mount and it does a great job, very nice lens. It covers an Imacon 132c nicely and is sharp to the corners. A touch of CA, not bad.

aj

http://www.alexrjones.com

I've converted a couple of Canon FD 2.8/35 TS lenses to an EOS mount.
They are exceptional and I wish now I didn't sell them.
The main reason why I sold mine was that I was using the Pentax 645 35 FA with a Zoerk PSA.
To many lenses.
Regards,
Willem.

maybee there is a lot of sample variation. i have also a mint 24pc olympus for the canon and its very sharp, but with much CA. same about the 35pc ( with less CA but very sharp,- in contrary to the nikon and courtagon 35pc lenses i had owned ), the 35 i sold in favour of the pentax645 35fa lense with zoerk shift adapter- which is a great shift lense for 35mm with 70mm image circle.

Thanks again for the input, I picked up an Olympus 35 shift (just ran across it - it was very reasonable and it had the EOS adapter with it) so I'll test it later this week. I was hoping to get the Pentax 35FA with the Zoerk, but I have not found one yet, but I'll keep my eyes open.

I hear that the Pentax 33-55 FA zoom is also very good, sharp, with a large image circle, have you guys put this though it's paces?