Pentax Pancake on M-4/3

[julianphotoart]

So Pentax has these DA "Limited" lenses. One, for example, is a 21mm f/3.2 Pancake lens that looks awful slender. They also have a 15mm f/4 "Limited" lens. At 2x on M-4/3, they might be nice moderate wide-angles that offer good quality.

Has anyone tried either of these with a K to Micro 4/3 adapter? I'm especially wondering how compact the 21mm Pancake is in that configuration?

 

[photogdave]

I have tried it for the sake of trying it but I don't see the point. You can just get the Panasonic 20mm 1.7. The Pentax lens isn't very compact with the adapter on it. The Voigtlander adapter is almost the same size as the lens.

 

[rover]

I have tried it for the sake of trying it but I don't see the point. You can just get the Panasonic 20mm 1.7. The Pentax lens isn't very compact with the adapter on it. The Voigtlander adapter is almost the same size as the lens.

I am thinking the same thing. Pick up the Pany 20, or a Pentax Km body.

 

[julianphotoart]

OK, thanks. I took a look at the K-M4/3 adapter. Looks huge.

Now I've been wondering about C-lenses. There seem to be quite fast C-mount lenses that are cheap. Like 25mm f/1.4. C-mount to M-4/3 adapters are super-slim. What's the down-side of using a C-mount lens?

 

[photogdave]

OK, thanks. I took a look at the K-M4/3 adapter. Looks huge.

Now I've been wondering about C-lenses. There seem to be quite fast C-mount lenses that are cheap. Like 25mm f/1.4. C-mount to M-4/3 adapters are super-slim. What's the down-side of using a C-mount lens?

I believe close focusing may be an issue. I'm not sure how well they will resolve at large print sizes. The 16mm frame is still much smaller than 4/3 format.
I've played around with a lot of manual lenses adapted to M4/3 and my conclusion is if you have a bunch of lenses laying around anyway, then sure, pick up an adapter and have some fun. But I don't think it's a good idea to get into the system for the purpose of seeking out old lenses to adapt them to digital. The native M4/3 lenses perform much better and give you the advantages of auto focus and auto exposure.

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

The main problem with c-mount lenses is coverage and soft corners. Most vignette, some heavily, and almost all have corner softness. Pretty distinctive effects, though.

After trying a bunch of different kinds of lenses, the best performers, in my experience, are the old Olympus Pen manual focus ones. They're fantastic.

Also, about those Pentax lenses--the DA ones have no aperture ring. So you would have to buy a $300 Novoflex adapter that comes with an aperture control, or otherwise shoot wide open all the time.