OM/Manual lenses on 4/3 Systems

[Zoobiee]

Anyone tried using Zuiko OM Lenses on a 4/3 system?

How does it perform?
I'm itching to try out a Zuiko OM 50mm f1.8 on my E510.

Anyone any experiences with this combo?

Also what about Nikkor range of lenses?

I'm aware of the manual-only and stop-down arperture. I'm just curious how it performs optically on a 4/3 system.

Z

[OlyFlyer]

I use 35 and 100mm OMZ lenses and they work great for my needs. The 100mm is really nice for portraits and the 35mm I mostly use for macro. I no longer have OM 50mm lenses, no point having them since I have the ED50 f/2.0 macro. Also IMHO, range that are covered by kit zooms are usually better with the kit zooms than OM, unless you need the aperture or the focal length for some reason. I also have a Tokina 400mm prime for longer reach, and several other OM stuff.

You should be able to get nice results with any 'good' lens if you use the proper converter ring.

[Mikefellh]

See this site...it not only talks about how to use OM lenses on 4/3 cameras, but it also has links to how well certain OM lenses work on them including the 50mm f/1.8:

http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/oly-e/omz.html

While you're there click on the "Other Articles" link for lots more useful tidbits for new and seasoned Oly users.

[Zoobiee]

Ah my intention ultimately is to get a nice zoom lens so i thought i'd try with a cheaper copy which is relatively more popular.

Heartening to see good responses with non 4/3 lenses and thanks for the resource links guys.



Z

[Zwitter]

The 50mm f1.8 still performs relatively well though a little soft when used with 4/3rds adapter, which is already quite impressive considering that on 4/3rds, the original sharpness is cut down by half. Some people say that the f1.8 version is sharper than the f1.4 version if both are used fully open(sharpness, not only dof). Stopped down to f2.8, it's sharper than ZD14-45mm. But stopping down further than f5.6, the sharpness drops quickly. When used wide open at f1.8 and with ESP metering, you must do exposure compensation by -0.3EV. Compensation only required when wide open.
Bokeh-wise, the 50mm has a hard-edged bokeh due to over-corrected spherical aberration compared to the ZD50mm with soft edged bokeh due to a slightly under-corrected spherical aberration. What this means is that if you like defined spherical highlights in your photo, OM50mm might be more to your liking. The spherical highlights with ZD50mm would be more dispersed and faded into a blur.
Contrast-wise, ZD50mm is twice as contrasty as the OM. It may translate to more intense colours, especially the reds.
Sharpness-wise, I think it's really unfair to compare these two. The OM was designed for 35mm film. With 4/3rds the sharpness is halved. And the ZD version gives you surgical sharpness...

Personally, I would keep both the OM and ZD versions for their unique characteristics. The softness of the OM can be useful sometimes.

[Mikefellh]

Originally Posted by Zwitter The 50mm f1.8 still performs relatively well though a little soft when used with 4/3rds adapter,

In case you didn't know, there are at least FIVE versions of this lens...for instance one version has 6 elements and 4 groups, another has 6 elements and 5 groups, some versions are better than others...when I bought mine I had a choice and made sure I got the sharpest version.

[Zwitter]

Originally Posted by Mikefellh In case you didn't know, there are at least FIVE versions of this lens...for instance one version has 6 elements and 4 groups, another has 6 elements and 5 groups, some versions are better than others...when I bought mine I had a choice and made sure I got the sharpest version.

Yup there are many versions. The higher the serial number the more recent, which are sharper. Early versions were single-coated. Try to get at least get the multi-coated version. The photo will look so soft it's almost 'cloudy' if you use the single-coated version in bright daylight but it'll still do alright in shady places.

[Zoobiee]

Originally Posted by Zwitter The 50mm f1.8 still performs relatively well though a little soft when used with 4/3rds adapter, which is already quite impressive considering that on 4/3rds, the original sharpness is cut down by half. Some people say that the f1.8 version is sharper than the f1.4 version if both are used fully open(sharpness, not only dof). Stopped down to f2.8, it's sharper than ZD14-45mm. But stopping down further than f5.6, the sharpness drops quickly. When used wide open at f1.8 and with ESP metering, you must do exposure compensation by -0.3EV. Compensation only required when wide open. Bokeh-wise, the 50mm has a hard-edged bokeh due to over-corrected spherical aberration compared to the ZD50mm with soft edged bokeh due to a slightly under-corrected spherical aberration. What this means is that if you like defined spherical highlights in your photo, OM50mm might be more to your liking. The spherical highlights with ZD50mm would be more dispersed and faded into a blur. Contrast-wise, ZD50mm is twice as contrasty as the OM. It may translate to more intense colours, especially the reds. Sharpness-wise, I think it's really unfair to compare these two. The OM was designed for 35mm film. With 4/3rds the sharpness is halved. And the ZD version gives you surgical sharpness... Personally, I would keep both the OM and ZD versions for their unique characteristics. The softness of the OM can be useful sometimes.

Hey wow thanks a lot. This really helps. I'll be testing this out soon.

Z

[Zoobiee]

Originally Posted by Zwitter Yup there are many versions. The higher the serial number the more recent, which are sharper. Early versions were single-coated. Try to get at least get the multi-coated version. The photo will look so soft it's almost 'cloudy' if you use the single-coated version in bright daylight but it'll still do alright in shady places.

How do I tell which is the latest version?

Thanks

Z

[Kid Shotter]

Originally Posted by Zoobiee How do I tell which is the latest version? Thanks Z

Serial Number of over 1mil i think

[Mikefellh]

Originally Posted by Kid Shotter Serial Number of over 1mil i think

Mine's over 3.1 million...it's also one of the rare ones that's actually labelled MC (Multi-Coated); from:
http://www.mir.com.my/rb/photography...mls/50mm1a.htm

"Strangely, Olympus has not been very keen on highlighting any technological advancement applied to the update neither it has addressed some sensitive issue pertaining to the lense coating used in these lenses. For an instance, up to a very late stage, many of the 50mm f/1.8 still have not been identified whether it carries any MC (multi-layers lens coating) despite the fact most of us know, it is."

[b-a-k]

hey, any bros know which shop sells the 4/3 mount adapter?? other than ordering from ebay...
CP selling $175 a bit expensive right?

[spidey89]

hey bro,i'm looking for it also,CP quoted me 175 as well,called TK foto,quoted 80 bucks,try here,http://www.tagotech.com/

[Zoobiee]

Originally Posted by bakkaiwei hey, any bros know which shop sells the 4/3 mount adapter?? other than ordering from ebay... CP selling $175 a bit expensive right?

Well I tried one from Orient Photo costing $45, its china-made but seems completely metal/brass and pretty solid.

Maybe you want to check that one out.

[bousozoku]

The August 2007 issue of What Digital Camera detailed using the 28mm f/2.8, 50mm f/1.8, and the 135mm f/3.5 on an E-500.

The 28mm was good from f/2.8-f/16 but rather bad at f/22.

The 50mm was fine except for slight fringing.

The 135mm was fine until f/11.

[chensin]

Originally Posted by Zoobiee How do I tell which is the latest version? Thanks Z

I think you can easily tell the latest version by seeing the "made in Japan" etched near the forelens. That's for sure the latest and best version. I did try and sell some.

[sokol]

Originally Posted by Kid Shotter Serial Number of over 1mil i think

this is true for the OM 50/1.4 - there are several versions, the oldest (with G. Zuiko engraved and low serial numbers of about 300.000 or lower, I think) being the softest, whereas the ones >1 Mio being quite sharp and (reputedly) the ones >1,1 Mio being the sharpest (or, as others say, the >1 Mio would have quite good sharpness from center to edges while the >1,1 Mio should be sharper in the center but a little bit softer in the edges - myself I only can report that, I didn't test this myself)

as for the OM 50/1.8 I am not aware of great differences between different versions; I own an OM 50/1.4 >1,1 Mio and an OM 50/1.8 >1,2 Mio, but I never let them run against each other, so to speak

as for use, I would say that none of the OM'z I own (28/3.5 35/2.8 50/1.4 50/1.8 135/2.8) is as sharp than any of my digital Zuikos (35/3.5 14-54 14-42/3.5-5.6 50-200 7-14), nevertheless I do use them occassionally, for several reasons:
- 135/2.8 is a very compact telephoto lens and therefore has it's uses, although not near as sharp as the 50-200; it's a better IR lens than the 50-200 too, by the way
- 50/1.4 for it's speed, of course, even though it's not free of CAs if not stopped down
- both 50/1.4 and 50/1.8 show quite a nice bokeh, that's a reason to use them on digital
- and in future I hope to make good use of the 50/1.8 with a retro adapter (on it's way, I'll have to see yet how good it is for macro work)

my other OM lenses aren't used on my digital E-330 at all, there's not much point

[microcosm]

Talking about OM lenses, I am still trying to hunt down the 500mm mirror lens... that would be a fun lens to use because of the donuts bokeh... sigh... anyone knows where I can get one?

[sokol]

Originally Posted by microcosm Talking about OM lenses, I am still trying to hunt down the 500mm mirror lens... that would be a fun lens to use because of the donuts bokeh... sigh... anyone knows where I can get one?

yeah sure ... ebay (I know this doesn't help very much - well, anyway, sometimes one pops up there)

you might also try this one:
https://www.leicashop.com/
an Austrian shop, but they deliver worldwide, they even boast a japanese version of their website: and they, too, had some months ago a Zuiko mirror 500 mm and fairly cheap at that (about € 550 if I recall correctly ...) - well, it's a rather rare lens and you might have to pay a little over the odds for that one

[sokol]

[deleted - double post, sorry]