Glass Bodies a variant-level encyclopedia of vintage lenses and cameras by iwillpat

Zuiko 24mm f/2

Olympus · Olympus OM · 1974 · Retrofocus with a floating group, 10 elements in 8 groups

single source, unconfirmed via machine translation — corrections welcome

Also known as: Zuiko MC Auto-W 24mm F2 · Zuiko Auto-W 24mm F2 · ZUIKO AUTO-W 24mm F2 · Olympus OM-System Zuiko MC Auto-W 1:2 f=24mm · Olympus OM-System Zuiko Auto-W 1:2 f=24mm · Zuiko 24mm 1:2 · OM 24mm f/2 · Olympus 24mm f2 · Sinaron digital 24mm f/2 · ズイコー 24mm F2 · オリンパス OM 24mm F2

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Zuiko MC Auto-W 1:2 f=24mm, silver nose Olympus OM 1974 1026xx and 1027xx: chrome-nose multicoated lenses in Paul Schings' coating survey; the 1027xx lens engraved Olympus OM-System Zuiko Auto-W 1:2 f=24mm, reflections green and purple
10256x: Foto Atom's silver-nose example, measured at about 1.1 μSv/h at the front and higher at the rear 		—
Zuiko MC Auto-W 1:2 f=24mm, black nose Olympus OM — 1011xx, 1012xx and 1101xx: black-nose multicoated lenses in Schings' survey; the 1012xx lens engraved Olympus OM-System Zuiko MC Auto-W 1:2 f=24mm 1012xx Japan, reflections green, blue and yellow —
Zuiko Auto-W 1:2 f=24mm Olympus OM — 1134xx: a multicoated lens whose engraving Schings records as Zuiko —
Sinaron digital Zuiko MC Auto-W 1:2/24 mm Olympus OM (sold by Sinar for the SinarCam 1, with adapter plates for other mounts) — — —
  1. Launch. No announcement date has been found. Rick Oleson's listing, cited by mike-lee.org and repeated on Olypedia, places the lens in a 1974 OM sales catalogue, so it belongs to the first wave of Zuikos, before the OM-2; Nikolaus Burgard gives 1974; fotosaurier.de says 1973; Franz Pangerl's 1975 book describes it. OM Mania's statement that it was announced in the early 1980s with the OM-4, and the 1984 date that circulates in dealer copy, are contradicted by the catalogue and are not carried.
  2. Thorium. Foto Atom alone reports that early silver-nose lenses contain thorium, with a reading from one lens of serial 10256x. Olypedia, OM Mania, Burgard and Pomeroy do not mention radioactivity, and the lens does not appear on camera-wiki's list of radioactive lenses. Single source; the badge applies.
  3. The Sinaron version and the J.Zuiko prototype both rest on Olypedia. The J.Zuiko Auto-W 1:2/24 mm is known only from period press and from a cross-section in Pangerl's 1975 book, with no photograph of a lens; Pangerl says it was multicoated, Günther Kadlubek that it had no floating elements, and Olypedia that its optical layout differs slightly from the production lens. It is probably a pre-production lens lent to journalists and is not carried as a variant.
  4. Price. OM Mania gives a Japanese list price of ¥102,000 with no year; Olypedia gives DM 844 from the 1992/93 German catalogue. No launch price has been found.
  5. Weight and blades. Olympus gives 280g; Burgard and Braddon-Mitchell give 275g. The eight blades are Burgard's count; Olympus's table does not give one.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • 55mm filter and 280g on a 24mm: the 24mm f/2.8 beside it takes 49mm and weighs 180g
  • Focuses to 0.25m with a floating group; the front does not rotate
  • Silver nose or black nose, MC or no MC: four engravings, one optical design, all multicoated
  • A Sinaron badge means the same lens sold by Sinar

Zuiko MC Auto-W 1:2 f=24mm, silver nose:

  • Chrome filter ring together with MC on the name ring, a pairing Olypedia calls a departure from the usual pattern: the first known production version
  • Foto Atom reports thorium in the early silver-nose lenses; no other source consulted repeats it²

Zuiko MC Auto-W 1:2 f=24mm, black nose:

  • Black filter ring, MC engraved; otherwise identical to the silver-nose lens (Olypedia)

Zuiko Auto-W 1:2 f=24mm:

  • No MC on the name ring; multicoated all the same, per Olympus (Olypedia). The last production version
  • Ashley Pomeroy's lens of this type was made in August 1981

Sinaron digital Zuiko MC Auto-W 1:2/24 mm:

  • Sinaron on the barrel; the same Zuiko, selected for optical performance according to the trade press of the time (Olypedia)³

Serial-range notes

1011xx – 1134xx
Six lenses in Paul Schings' 2001 coating survey, all multicoated: black MC at 1011xx and 1012xx, chrome MC at 1026xx and 1027xx, black MC at 1101xx, and a lens recorded only as Zuiko at 1134xx. Foto Atom's silver-nose lens is 10256x. Owner reports, not a factory list; they show the silver nose sitting between black-nose numbers, so the finish cannot be predicted from the serial.

Specifications

Formula
Retrofocus with a floating group, 10 elements in 8 groups
Construction
10 elements / 8 groups
Aperture range
f/2–f/16
Diaphragm blades
8
Min. focus
0.25 m
Dimensions
60 × 48 mm
Weight
280 g
Filter
55 mm
Years manufactured
1974
Country
Japan
Coating
Multicoated on every production version, engraved MC or not (Olypedia)
Original price
¥102,000 Japanese list (OM Mania, year not stated); DM 844 in the 1992/93 German catalogue (Olypedia)

What reviewers say

Optical Ratings

Aggregated from the reviews above — follow the links for the full picture.

Vignetting
heavy at f/2
Flare & ghosting
flares into sun
Coma
visible wide open
Distortion
moustache, mild
Optical formula — Retrofocus with a floating group, 10 elements in 8 groups

History

The 24mm f/2 belongs to the first wave of Zuikos, not the last. Olympus’s own sales sheet calls it “the fastest 24mm lens available today”, offering a more striking wide-angle effect than the 28mm that had become the normal wide, with a floating element group for image quality at close distances and a design compact enough to take a 55mm filter. Ten elements in eight groups, 280g, 48mm long, focusing to 0.25m. Rick Oleson’s listing, cited by mike-lee.org and repeated on Olypedia, puts it in a 1974 OM sales catalogue, and Franz Pangerl described it in his 1975 book on the system; Nikon did not answer with a 24mm f/2 until October 1977. OM Mania’s claim that it was announced in the early 1980s with the OM-4 does not survive the catalogue and is not carried.

The versions are a matter of engraving. Olypedia counts five: a J.Zuiko Auto-W 1:2/24 mm known only from period press and from a cross-section in Pangerl’s book, apparently a pre-production lens without floating elements and with slightly different optics; then the first known production lens, a Zuiko MC Auto-W with a chrome nose, an odd pairing since the MC engraving elsewhere arrived after the chrome noses had gone; the same lens with a black nose; the same lens again without the MC, multicoated all the same according to Olympus; and a Sinaron digital version sold by Sinar for its SinarCam 1, reportedly selected for performance. Paul Schings’ coating survey records chrome-nose lenses at 1026xx and 1027xx and black-nose lenses at 1011xx, 1012xx and 1101xx, so the serial number does not sort the finishes. The optical prescription is the same throughout the production run.

One claim needs the badge it carries. Foto Atom reports that the early silver-nose lenses contain thorium and prints a reading from serial 10256x. Nobody else says so: not Olypedia, not OM Mania, not Burgard or Pomeroy, and the lens is absent from camera-wiki’s list of radioactive lenses. A silver-nose buyer can check it with a white wall and a Geiger counter; this page records the claim as single-source.

Reviewers who test on high-resolution sensors converge. Nikolaus Burgard finds the centre usable at f/2, very good from f/2.8, the edges sharp from f/5.6 and the corners from f/8, with heavy vignetting wide open that clears by f/8, visible coma, flare against the sun, moustache distortion that rarely shows, and a background rendering he calls very nervous. Ashley Pomeroy’s summary is shorter: extremely good stopped down, not fantastic at f/2, but at least you have f/2, and sharper in the centre than the f/2.8 at the same apertures. Foto Atom finds it noticeably soft at f/2 and excellent by f/8 to f/11. OM Mania, judging it on film and in the company of its OM siblings, gives it five stars for image quality, praises its edge sharpness even wide open, and reports the nickname “Elmar” among Japanese users. David Braddon-Mitchell’s view is that the f/2.8 is the better lens for most people and that the f/2 earns its price mainly on film, where the brighter finder makes focusing easier. Everyone praises the build.

Nothing dated has been found for the launch price. OM Mania’s ¥102,000 has no year against it and Olypedia’s DM 844 is from a 1992 catalogue. The 275g that Burgard and Braddon-Mitchell weigh against Olympus’s 280g, and Burgard’s eight blades where Olympus gives no count, are the only other places where the sources and the maker’s table part company.

Expand Collapse

This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.

Example photos

Sample photo wanted — shot with a Zuiko 24mm f/2? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $630 across 7 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-18 (middle half $470–$680). First day tracked.

Asking prices from the listings scanned, not sales; junk-flagged rows and auction lots excluded; other currencies are not converted.

Show 5 more listings

Buying from Yahoo! Auctions outside Japan. It is a domestic marketplace: sellers ship within Japan, and most will not register an overseas buyer. A proxy service bids on your behalf, receives the item and forwards it, for a fee and a wait. Buyee, Jauce and ZenMarket each accept a Yahoo auction number directly. Listed alphabetically for information — none is recommended over another, and none of these is an affiliate link.

Listings updated 2026-09-18. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.

Related: Zuiko 21mm f/2 · Zuiko 28mm f/2 · Zuiko 28mm f/2.8 · Zuiko 35mm f/2

Sources (13)

Every page here is assembled from public sources, and the gaps are real ones. If you own this lens, know a serial number I'm missing, or can see where I have it wrong, tell me — corrections, serials and sample photos are all worth having.