Olympus Wide-S 35mm f2 H.Zuiko-W Samples on Kodak Gold 200
At the time of its 1957 release, the 35mm f2 H.Zuiko-W mounted on the Olympus Wide-S was a big deal. Fast aperture wide-angle lenses were a rarity in the 1950s, and Leica wouldn't release its iconic 35mm f2 Summicron lens until a year later in 1958. We were excited to shoot with this copy to see how its performance stacks up in a modern context. Overall, it's a good lens, with saturated color and decent center sharpness. Corner sharpness is not going to trouble any Leica optics, but it's important to remember that this was a much more affordable camera than a Leica M3 with a 35mm Summicron. Most of these images were taken between f8-f16, and we'd like to test the lens more thoroughly at f2 to get a better idea for the character wide open.
Due to its extreme rarity, the Olympus Wide-S and its 8-element lens enjoy a certain mystique and a reputation for fine image quality. In our test, we found the Wide-S to be a capable but not exemplary performer by current standards.
One relevant note is that the lens appears to be very prone to vignetting with any standard-thickness UV filter mounted.
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