Vintage Rangefinder Lenses on M4/3 Bodies

[photoman12001]

I've got several rangefinder cameras from Leica, Nikon, & Canon. I shoot them alongside digital M4/3 bodies with adapters for the LTM & Nikon S-mount lenses. I'm having a lot of fun doing that and seeing what the glass is capable of producing on digital while I finish rolls of film. I figured I'd share the results here.

To begin, here are a few photos from an Olympus E-M1 & Nikkor 35mm f/2.5. I picked this lens up a few days ago via Craigslist while I was on a trip to NYC. I've been very impressed by it. The resolution/sharpness of its photos really stand out. I love its rendering.

 

[photoman12001]

Olympus E-M1 & Nikon 35mm f2.5
P1168960 (RF Nikon 35mm f2.5) Edit Layers 2048 Pixel 10 BW by Joseph Lambert, on Flickr

Olympus E-M1 & Canon 50mm f1.4
P1088649 (RF Canon 50mm f1.4) Edit Layers 2048 Pixel 10 BW by Joseph Lambert, on Flickr

Olympus E-M1 & Canon 135mm f3.5
P1088625 (RF Canon 135mm f3.5) Edit Layers 2048 Pixel 10 BW by Joseph Lambert, on Flickr

 

[BillBingham2]

Thanks for sharing. The old Nikkor and Leica (and others) glass is something I hope in a couple of years to have time to tinker with on a smaller digital body. I also have a Sony Projector lens I got at the ISU Surplus sail a few years back. It's huge and I have no idea what it will be, but it was too much glass at such a low price to pass up.

 

[photoman12001]

I love using the old glass on these bodies. Right now I usually carry an LTM film body and an Olympus body with various LTM lenses. In a few days I'll probably switch to a Nikon S mount body with an adapter on the Olympus. This all works really well and it's a lot of fun. One day I'd like to get a mirrorless Nikon because I have a ton of Nikon SLRs, DSLRs, and F-mount glass but I'm not willing to spend much money on digital bodies anymore. Prices will need to come down before I pull the trigger. I'd like to use the rangefinder lenses on that as well.

 

[photoman12001]

Canon Serenar 50mm f/1.9 & Olympus E-M1

P2019131 (Canon Serenar 50mm f1.9) Edit Layers 2048 Pixel 10 by Joseph Lambert, on Flickr

 

[Godfrey]

Some lovely results!

I have used various Leica mount (LTM and M-mount) on mFT quite a lot (mostly Panasonic G1, GF1, and Olympus E-M1 bodies). Made a lot of excellent photos for me. I still have the E-M1... It's been quite a while since I used it much, so before I take it out to use I'll have to read through the user instruction manual again. Compared to the Leica M digital bodies, the E-M1 is dauntingly complex in the number of commands and configurations it can be set up with. But it remains a fine camera in use, once I remember how to configure it! 😀

G

 

[photoman12001]

I really like the GF1. I sometimes carry a pair of them with 15mm & 42.5mm lenses. The E-M1 is one of my favorite digital cameras. I even like it more than the Mark 2 version. The menus are daunting but I rarely dig into them once I’ve adjusted the settings I want. The Super Control Panel quickly & easily adjusts the most common settings.

 

[Godfrey]

I have a cheat sheet which lists out my most common config for the E-M1. My primary criticism of the camera is that Olympus didn't include an 'export/import settings' facility (Leica did this and it is a godsend!).

Regardless, the E-M1 is simply a brilliant camera. 👍

G

 

[photoman12001]

Canon Serenar 35mm f/3.2 & Olympus E-M1

P3099453 (LTM Canon Serenar 35mm f3.2) Edit Layers 2048 Pixel 10 by Joseph Lambert, on Flickr

P3019403 (LTM Canon Serenar 35mm f3.2) Edit Layers 2048 Pixel 10 by Joseph Lambert, on Flickr

 

[jamesmck]

Summitar f2 50mm with Panasonic G1