The OM test for PR members

[Greg McCary]

I thought it would be a good idea for all of the Photography Review members to get a shot at using an OM lens if they wanted to. So I sent a 50mm lens and adaptor the the first volunteer, Dumpy. He is going to use the 50mm on his Olympus DSLR for a few days and then offer it to another member to see if it something they are interested in exploring.
So if you are interested keep checking back or maybe drop Dumpy a PM letting them know you want a turn, just remember you will have to sent out the lens to the next member wanting a turn. Dumpy should have the lens Thursday so stay tuned for pictures and his thoughts. Oh yeah, If you want to do this you have to promise pictures and thoughts on your experiance.
I may try and get my hands on a couple more lenes and an adaptor or two.
Stay Tuned..

[dumpy]

Looking forward to doing the test!!

Just a warning, as I live in the sticks, my internet connection at home is a bit slow, so there might be a couple day delay on getting the photos up. I will try post them asap, but I rarely upload images from home.

[MB1]

If you get your hands on an ultra wide I'm your boy!

[Greg McCary]

If you get your hands on an ultra wide I'm your boy!

Will do MB1. I will keep an eye on e-bay.

[SmartWombat]

I've got 4 OM lenses and two OM bodies !
If I ever go 4/3 then I'll be testing those lenses

[Greg McCary]

I've got 4 OM lenses and two OM bodies !
If I ever go 4/3 then I'll be testing those lenses

Paul you can order an adaptor to fit you OM lenses to almost any brand DSLR you have. I have an adaptor on the way that will fit my Contax/Yashica 28mm 2.8 to the 4/3rd mount. Just search e-bay.

[Greg McCary]

Just before I went digital I bought a 28mm Yashica lens. I never even got it out of the box. I think I paid $10.00 for the lens on e-bay. I ordered another adaptor and mounted it up to the E3 this afternoon. Here are a couple of test shots. I did use a polarizer on these shots. All shot in RAW format and developed in Lightroom. I hope you enjoy the test. Again the IS worked flawless on a few low light test. I found the Yashica lens to be very sharp and fast. Again if you don't mind shooting fully manual it is certainly an option for cheap glass. For these shots I hyperfocal focused the lens at F/8 and never focused again.

[erikzen]

I'd like to give this a shot. I will PM Dumpy with my contact info, or has the lens gone on to someone else.

Greg, I like the way those shots came out. Maybe I'm imagining things but there is a "film" quality to those shots. It reminds me of the way you can tell the difference between high definition video and film. There is a rich smoothness to the shots without sacrificing detail.

I posted a link to an article in today's New York Times about vintage lenses in the View Finder. One of the photographers quoted said that although the numbers might be the same, the great benefit of using vintage lenses as opposed to the newer ones developed for DSLRs, is that each lens has its own character.

[Greg McCary]

I'd like to give this a shot. I will PM Dumpy with my contact info, or has the lens gone on to someone else.

Greg, I like the way those shots came out. Maybe I'm imagining things but there is a "film" quality to those shots. It reminds me of the way you can tell the difference between high definition video and film. There is a rich smoothness to the shots without sacrificing detail.

I posted a link to an article in today's New York Times about vintage lenses in the View Finder. One of the photographers quoted said that although the numbers might be the same, the great benefit of using vintage lenses as opposed to the newer ones developed for DSLRs, is that each lens has its own character.

I took the following flower picture with a Vivitar 28-80mm Macro lens that I used on my Yashica for some time before I went digital. If you want to give the Yashica glass a shot I can send it out too. I think MB1 was wanting to try a wide lens but the 28mm is as wide a film lens as I can find. The Vivitar is a pretty cheap lens but I think this would be a good way to shoot macro cheaply. You should be able to pick up an inexpensive macro lens and since you will probably be manually focusing any way. Drop me a PM if you are wanting to give the Yashica glass a test.

[Greg McCary]

I'd like to give this a shot. I will PM Dumpy with my contact info, or has the lens gone on to someone else.

Greg, I like the way those shots came out. Maybe I'm imagining things but there is a "film" quality to those shots. It reminds me of the way you can tell the difference between high definition video and film. There is a rich smoothness to the shots without sacrificing detail.

I posted a link to an article in today's New York Times about vintage lenses in the View Finder. One of the photographers quoted said that although the numbers might be the same, the great benefit of using vintage lenses as opposed to the newer ones developed for DSLRs, is that each lens has its own character.

I agree with that photographer. I use a Summicron 5cm from the 50's on my Leica M6 for that very reason. I want to try and get that 50's look to my B&W work. How better than a 50's lens?

[erikzen]

Drop me a PM if you are wanting to give the Yashica glass a test.

PM sent!

That's an awesome picture, by the way.

[Greg McCary]

I got the PM, Thanks

[erikzen]

Here's a quick test shot taken with the Yashica. I found it a bit difficult to focus but I think with experience I could be very happy with this lens. Over the weekend I'm going apple picking with the family. I will bring the Yashica and Vivitar. There should be some good photo-ops if the weather is good.



I like the way this lens looks. The softness works in this shot.

[Greg McCary]

It certainly is a sharp picture. Good luck this weekend.

[erikzen]

Unfortunately we had a family emergency and my wife had to go out of town. However, I managed to get out with the kids on Sunday to the park.

This shot was taken with the Vivitar. I really like the colors these lenses give you. For some reason they seem very rich.



Because it's all fully manual and there is no meter reading, it's all kind of hit and miss. It would take quite a while to be really comfortable with these lenses, but I'm looking forward to learning.

[Robusto]

Hi Greg

been reading this thread very intresting i have a OM adapter at home and an old Tamron 80-200mm OM lens ok if i try a few shots and add to thread using my E300 and the OM lens,

As im in the UK not expecting to be sent yours

Martyn

[Greg McCary]

Sure Martyn, I would love to see them.

[Robusto]

Was having a little practice last night . Hope to get some decent shots at the weekend with it. 1st time i have used the manual focus.

[Robusto]

Greg

i managed to try out the lens i have its not a tamron its a Tokina 80-200. well i was out today trying my new 70-300 zukio at a soccer match. so during the half time break i switch to the manual Tokina with adapter and gave it a go . not the most intresting shots but i had never used a manual lens so will try to improve my shots but here they are
1. @ 80mm
2. @ 120mm
3. @ 200mm

[Greg McCary]

Thanks Martyn. I have been thinking of getting a big zoom. I dont mind manually focusing for what I do. I don't shoot sports and I think I could live with a manual lens for Nature and wildlife stuff.