The Joy of Adapting

[shadowfox]

One of the advantage of the 4/3rd system is the ability to find adapters for most of those lenses that are worth getting out there.

Albeit the 2x crop factor, I still get what I need, which is the resolution and contrast from those lenses.

A couple weeks ago I got two 4/3rd adapters from a hardcore lens-adapter user for way below the market price of each, one for the ubiquitous M42, the other, the C/Y mount. The adapters are all metal, no glass needed and give me infinite focus.

Here's my old E-300 with its new C/Y friend:

And here's a haphazard low-resolution crop from the try-out shot this morning before I went to work:

All the contrast and the sharpness of the Zeiss glass is there. WOOT!!

So, basically now I got a 100/1.7 portrait lens with the T* coating. 😉

 

[ruby.monkey]

The real joy of adapting is to be able to use all those lovely M42-mount lenses, and still have image stabilisation. A Pentax K100D with original Pentax adapter is a wonderful little toy. 🙂

 

[shadowfox]

You get X2 crop factor with this camera?

Exactly. So if you have a 100/2.8, it'll become a very compact 200/2.8 with its closest focusing distance intact.

Here's a crop from a shot with my Biotar 58/2 (which becomes ~116/2).

At it's closest focusing distance of 0.5 meter:

 

[kevin m]

The 4/3 system is still crippled, like so many other cropped sensor cameras, by the lack of availability of any fast wide-angle prime lenses. The Leica 25/1.4 is only a "50" and it takes 62mm filters, for cryin' out loud, so you can toss "compact" in the trash, too.

So you have a 1/2 frame camera that's no smaller than any other DSLR, no fast wide-angle primes, and the available lenses are huge. What, outside the appeal of having nearly every lens in your bag become a telephoto lens, is the appeal of this system? 😕

 

[former member]

Lots of people used lens adapters for Nikon, Canon, and other lenses with the original Olympus Pen F series of cameras. Today, those adapters go for 10x what the E300 adapters go for. A lot of people use normal-to-Telephoto range lenses. The widest lens that I've for for an RF is 28mm. That's wider than my 20mm Nikkor on the D1x.

 

[KoNickon]

What is the Leica 25/1.4? I'm pretty sure there is no such lens.

 

[Trius]

The 4/3 system is still crippled, like so many other cropped sensor cameras, by the lack of availability of any fast wide-angle prime lenses. The Leica 25/1.4 is only a "50" and it takes 62mm filters, for cryin' out loud, so you can toss "compact" in the trash, too.

So you have a 1/2 frame camera that's no smaller than any other DSLR, no fast wide-angle primes, and the available lenses are huge. What, outside the appeal of having nearly every lens in your bag become a telephoto lens, is the appeal of this system? 😕

1. You still get to use your fast primes. Yes, they become 2x effective FOV, but it still beats having to use zooms.
2. Oly makes some killer wide zooms. Yes, they're still zooms, but the 7-14, 11-22 & 14-54 perform very well.
3. Oly makes a 8/3.5 for a super-wide prime.

I expect additional fast-wide primes in the future, though I'm certain we won't have the wide choice we'd like. Like it or not, the dSLR world doesn't seem to be screaming for them.

 

[kevin m]

Like it or not, the dSLR world doesn't seem to be screaming for them.

So I gather. It's a zoom world, nowadays. It's just sad that even Olympus is following the herd on this one. 🙁

 

[gavinlg]

What is the Leica 25/1.4? I'm pretty sure there is no such lens.

It's a leica/panasonic prime summilux designed for the 4/3rds mount. Excellent lens for an excellent price too. Becomes a 50 1.4 or normal lens.

The appeal of the olympus DSLRs is that they have their own way of thinking, and are quite different to use than the canon/nikon/pentax ones. The DSLRs re very much smaller and lighter than the canikon equivalents, especially when you take the lenses into account, which for the most part are tiny. The kit lens on my fathers e-410 has more range and is about the same optical quality as my canon 17-40 f4L.

The olympus DSLRs also have excellent, vibrant and natural colors straight out of the camera that can be very pleasing to the eye.

I myself am interested in the e-330 and e300 like Wills one.

Feel free to post more adapter shots!

 

[gavinlg]

So I gather. It's a zoom world, nowadays. It's just sad that even Olympus is following the herd on this one. 🙁

Don't speak just yet about primes - I have a feeling nikon will be bringing in some new serious gear to suit their new cmos sensored DSLRs within the next few years. Remember too, that canon have the 14 2.8L II, 20 2.8, 24 2.8, 24 1.4L, 28 2.8, 28 1.8, 35 f2, 35 1.4L, 50 1,8/1.4/1.2L, 60 macro, 85 1.8/1.2L, 100 2.8, 135 f2L etc etc all the way up to 600ml. This is one of the reasons why I stay with canon.

 

[shadowfox]

The 4/3 system is still crippled, like so many other cropped sensor cameras, by the lack of availability of any fast wide-angle prime lenses. The Leica 25/1.4 is only a "50" and it takes 62mm filters, for cryin' out loud, so you can toss "compact" in the trash, too.

So you have a 1/2 frame camera that's no smaller than any other DSLR, no fast wide-angle primes, and the available lenses are huge. What, outside the appeal of having nearly every lens in your bag become a telephoto lens, is the appeal of this system? 😕

Kevin, if you already decided that you don't like the system, then by all means, stay away from it.

But the fact is, many people like the cameras using the 4/3rd system. I for one am looking forward to get the E-3 (much bigger viewfinder... yummy for manual lenses 😉 ). And I've produced several stock pictures from the lowly E-300, so I am staying with the system. I like the results from it.

 

[kshapero]

What is the Leica 25/1.4? I'm pretty sure there is no such lens.

 

[John Bailey]

The 4/3rds Oly 14-54/2.8-3.5 zoom is very sharp and contrasty. The only prime lens I have in that range that is in the same league is my Pentax SMC-A 50/1.4.

 

[sienarot]

The thing I really dislike about any crop body is you do lose some depth of field, especially with the 4/3 systems. I guess you really have to weigh out what's more important for you: shallow DOF or longer focal length.