50mm OM on E3

[Greg McCary]

It comes up from time to time here in the Olympus forums. Can I use OM lenses on a 4/3rd mount? Well after some horse trading I got my hands on a OM 50mm an a adaptor. The lens was hung up in customs in Canada for 6 weeks. But it came in yesterday and I must say it works great. If you don't mind shooting in manual then it is a cheap way to shoot a prime. Just playing around with it some tonight I am really impressed. The IS worked flawlessly. The first pictures did come out slightly over sharpened and I did turn that down -2. I shot the picture of the Leica at 400ISO F/4 @ 1/13th a sec. I shot a narrow DOF on purpose to see just how it looked. I couldn't resist showing off one of my toys.LOL
I have seen the adaptors on E-bay for $25.00.

I'll try and post some more test stots as time permits and post them here.

[dumpy]

This something that I've thought about doing on my E-510, there is a fair amount of OM mount glass out there for not much cash.

I've got a few questions that have held me back though. Does the adapter ring have any adverse effects (except loss of AF)?

How does older glass work on digital bodies? I've heard that since CCDs (or CMOS) chips are reflective and film is not, that lenses on digital cameras need to be specially coated to prevent lens flare. Is this true or are these claims exaggerated?

[Greg McCary]

The adaptor ring has no adverse effects. You attach it to the lens and you would think it was part of the lens. I have used similar rings on my M6 to use Voigtlander LTM lenses and they have always served me well.
Yes, All you really loss is AF. As I stated you have to shoot manual but the meter, wb adjustments and everthing else works fine. i shot RAW, Jpeg ect.
I am not sure how easy it would be to focus through the smaller finder on the 510 but I have no issues on the E3. It is really just like shooting a fully manual camera and that is really no issue with me. I shoot manual anyway except for AF.
I took several pictures inside last night but they were of my daughter and I don't really like posting pictures of her. But the camera performed great and I will try and get out and take a few to post. I was thinking this would be a cheaper way to shot with a fisheye as well.

[dumpy]

I was thinking this would be a cheaper way to shot with a fisheye as well.

That was my exact intention...:thumbsup:
I can't justify spending a lot of money on a fisheye given the limited amount of use it would get, but I do want one.

I don't have much of a problem with MF and the 510, unless I'm shooting fast moving objects this is how I shoot. If I'm on a tripod, I'll pop up live view and use the zoom feature to really nail the focus (works great for Macro). Otherwise I can usually get it from the view finder.

So having the extra space of the adapter doesn't affect DOF? Or am I not properly visualizing how this thing fits on?

[Greg McCary]

Here are a couple more.

[Don Kondra]

Greetings,

I find the OM 50mm lenses work great on a 510, even with my aging eyesight for the manual focus sigh...

The adapters basically screw on to the lens and then onto the camera, the ebay versions for $25 seem to be better machined than my original Olympus version.

I took a series of test shots at different f settings to get a feel for the depth of field. Absolutely love the bokeh and "tone" these lenses produce, it's hard to describe...

The added bonus is you are encouraged to use manual controls

Before I purchased a ZD 50mm f2 I bought two f 1.8's and a f 1.4 to test. Total cost was half of the ZD

Previously posted, this was shot with the f 1.4 @ f 1.4, iso 100, 1/2000

I thought the dof might be a little too narrow but..



Cheers, Don

PS... The f 1.8's are for sale in the classifieds here.

[Atomic2]

so exactly how cheap are the 1.8s and 1.4s? manually control the F number? adapters are ~$25?

interesting.

[Greg McCary]

You can get one on e-bay for less than $20.00 all day long. Basically after some trading around with internet friends I have nothing in mine, but maybe some shipping cost. I am actually thinking of sending this one out and share it to PR mambers interested in trying it. So if anyone is wanting to try it out please PM me and I will send it out. I sent Dumpy a PM offering it to him to try. He will have first go if he wants.
Thanks for the insight Don. That is a great shot.

[Atomic2]

which is better, the 50mm 1.8 or the 1.4?

[Greg McCary]

Personally I would go with the fastest. 1.4. But with the IS can it really matter? I have the 1.8.

[dumpy]

You can get one on e-bay for less than $20.00 all day long. Basically after some trading around with internet friends I have nothing in mine, but maybe some shipping cost. I am actually thinking of sending this one out and share it to PR mambers interested in trying it. So if anyone is wanting to try it out please PM me and I will send it out. I sent Dumpy a PM offering it to him to try. He will have first go if he wants.
Thanks for the insight Don. That is a great shot.

Greg I just PMed you back. I am certainly interested.

I can send it on to whoever is going to try it next

[Don Kondra]

Forgot to mention, I have read that lenses with serial numbers over 1,000,000 are considered to be of better quality. Possibly because at around that point multiple coating was introduced...

Some casual reading - http://www.datasync.com/~farrar/zuiko.html

Cheers, Don