New Novoflex adaptors for Olympus

[idb]

Hi,
I just recently read about the new adaptors that will allow you to use lenses of almost any kind on the Olympus micro 4/3 digital cameras.

This looks like a great option for anyone (like me) who has a tonne of old glass that won't fit their digital camera. In my case, it's Minolta MD lenses which won't even fit a Minolta-Konica or Sony DSLR.

Anyway, has anyone tried any of these adaptors yet?

Ian

[inkista]

Novoflex = too expensive for me. eBay is where the true variety and affordable prices on adapter rings is.

And the ability to adapt manual focus lenses is the #1 reason I would like to someday get an EVIL. But for me, right now, I think I'll wait until the format's at least three years old. Right now, it's early days yet. And if someone does manage to come out with an ASP-C or full-frame sensor with a registration distance small enough to take M-mount and a pricetag that won't break the bank, then µ4/3 is likely to be yesterday's news.

If Pentax comes out with an ASP-C-sized camera like the NX-10 (with a 25mm registration distance), only with inbody stabilization and weather-sealing, AND a bunch of good pancake primes that are actually manufactured in quantities large enough to make it available, they could so pwn Panasonic and Olympus.

Samsung doesn't have the name or the lenses. Olympus doesn't have the lenses. Panasonic doesn't have the in-body stabilization, high-res viewfinder, or availability. Pentax is in a really good position to kick ass on this front.

Nikon and Canon don't need to enter the EVIL world (although they should damn well be pursuing it). But Pentax doesn't have a full-frame body in its lineup, and no current full-frame zooms right now. Chasing that direction would still leave them behind the curve. Going EVIL would put them in front of it. Hell, the K-x is tiny already...

...the big tech issues are solving the registration distance and coming up with the lenses.... There are probably a lot of folks right now contemplating how to bring those old rangefinder designs up to date.

[idb]

Originally Posted by inkista

Novoflex = too expensive for me. eBay is where the true variety and affordable prices on adapter rings is.

And the ability to adapt manual focus lenses is the #1 reason I would like to someday get an EVIL.

.

OK, pardon my ignorance - what is "EVIL"?

Thanks.
Ian

[inkista]

Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens. It's one of the early acronyms for these interchangeable lens cameras that have done away with the mirrorbox and are using an LCD or EVF (electronic viewfinder) and liveview instead for composing.

The thing about using old SLR lenses on a micro four-thirds camera is that these smaller cameras get awfully nose-heavy. It's similar to adapting medium format lenses for SLR use. You can do it, but it may or may not be worth it.

Remember, too, that the micro four-thirds sensor is smaller than an APS-C sized one, so you're dealing with a 2x crop factor. So, if you're adapting lenses, you need to realize nearly everything is going to become a normal or telephoto lens once you get it on there. It's incredibly hard to find good wide angle lenses for micro four-thirds.

Right now, probably the best lenses to adapt to the format are rangefinder lenses or half-format (e.g., Olympus's PEN F) lenses--they're really the right size and weight for them.

[idb]

Originally Posted by inkista

Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens. It's one of the early acronyms for these interchangeable lens cameras that have done away with the mirrorbox and are using an LCD or EVF (electronic viewfinder) and liveview instead for composing.

The thing about using old SLR lenses on a micro four-thirds camera is that these smaller cameras get awfully nose-heavy. It's similar to adapting medium format lenses for SLR use. You can do it, but it may or may not be worth it.

Remember, too, that the micro four-thirds sensor is smaller than an APS-C sized one, so you're dealing with a 2x crop factor. So, if you're adapting lenses, you need to realize nearly everything is going to become a normal or telephoto lens once you get it on there. It's incredibly hard to find good wide angle lenses for micro four-thirds.

Right now, probably the best lenses to adapt to the format are rangefinder lenses or half-format (e.g., Olympus's PEN F) lenses--they're really the right size and weight for them.

Thanks for the info, and you're right about the 2x crop factor. It means a 24mm is the closest thing to a "normal" lens so getting a fast (f2 or faster) normal lens is going to be nearly impossible.

I handled the 2 latest micro 4/3 Olympus cameras yesterday. One of them, the pricey one, is fairly heavy and feels very solid so it would handle a 35mm film format lens up to about 135mm alright but beyond that it will be tricky.

cheers.
Ian

[StellaG]

I've been playing around with diff./ vintage lens's for my E-520, and so far the lens I've been most impressed with is the Tamron adaptall. I was given an old 70-210 3.8 and loved it. Really nice to shoot with, lovely focus and zoom rings, felt really good to use. I was so impressed with it that I bought a 35-70mm 3.8 and wow, I can't say enough about it. I was considering getting the 28mm 2.8, but then I read that the 35-70 is actually supposed to be sharper...I still may pick up the 28, if cheap enough, but right now the 35-70 is the lens that's been on my camera the most lately ;-) I can't say enough about this lens. The sharpness, the bokeh they produce...and they aren't all that heavy either...you can pick them up fairly cheap on ebay, I think I paid $30 for mine...and there are tons of adapters available as well.

Here are a couple of shots taken with the Tamron lens. This shot was taken in low light, inside my barn. There was a little sunlight coming through a window, but still fairly low lit.
Tamron 35-70mm 3.8

Outdoors early morning 35-70mm


This one was taken outdoors on a cloudy day.

70-210mm 3.8

[idb]

Originally Posted by StellaG

I've been playing around with diff./ vintage lens's for my E-520, and so far the lens I've been most impressed with is the Tamron adaptall. I was given an old 70-210 3.8 and loved it. Really nice to shoot with, lovely focus and zoom rings, felt really good to use. I was so impressed with it that I bought a 35-70mm 3.8 and wow, I can't say enough about it. I was considering getting the 28mm 2.8, but then I read that the 35-70 is actually supposed to be sharper...I still may pick up the 28, if cheap enough, but right now the 35-70 is the lens that's been on my camera the most lately ;-) I can't say enough about this lens. The sharpness, the bokeh they produce...and they aren't all that heavy either...you can pick them up fairly cheap on ebay, I think I paid $30 for mine...and there are tons of adapters available as well.

Here are a couple of shots taken with the Tamron lens. This shot was taken in low light, inside my barn. There was a little sunlight coming through a window, but still fairly low lit.

Thanks for the info Stella.
Lately I have been leaning more toward the Samsung NX-10 because it has an APS-C sensor so the Minolta lenses I would use with it would have only 1.5x crop factor instead of the 2x of the Olympus.
But I'm still not close to affording the NX-10 and the Novoflex adaptor anyway. And I would probably go for a wide angle lens for my Pentax first.

I would love to hear from someone who is actually using any of the Novoflex adaptors.

Btw, those are all great shots of your dog and it's a very unusual looking dog too.

Cheers!
Ian