Olympus OM 85mm f2 lens MC second version
by nickhcliff
The Photo Net site comments about this lens;
The 85/2 was specifically designed as a portrait lens "for obtaining soft focus effect by operating it in such a mode that slight symmetrical coma will remain with resolution kept at high level " (from the US patent 4063802 relating to the later, multicoated version) whereas the 100/2 (and 100/2.8 ) were optimized as general purpose (higher contrast) lenses."
"Keep in mind with the 85 that it has a mechanism that induces "symmetrical coma" at f/2 and f/4, which you can see with most of the boring lens tests that people have performed on this lens. So, to achieve that classic portraiture feel of a sharp subject shoot it at f/2.8 or f/5.6, and f/2-f/4 to get the "glowy" look to your portrait. Theoretically, at 2 and 4 you still have all the resolution, but you've lost acutance, although shooting at anything but a face it'll probably just look soft."
Some floating elements in this lens design
Lens has 5 elements in 4 groups
Manual focus lens with a minimum depth of focus of 0.85m
Aperture F2-16
49 mm filter thread
8 aperture blades
Lens weight 260g
Apparently this lens can be used for auto exposure when using the P mode setting on the Om2S or OM40
With other Olympus OM film cameras set the aperture required manually before taking the photo.
