Shooting with OM lenses on e520 - Help!

[alix13]

I have just ordered a converter so I can use my old OM lenses on my 520 but realise I have no idea how to go about shooting with this setup as you are unable to control the aperture. Any help or tips would be gratefully received!

[Cold]

As I understand it, its quite the opposite: you HAVE TO control the aperture, because your 520 wont. Set to Av, compose & focus wide open, stop down to your desired aperture, and shoot.

I could be mistaken, but that's how I understood it.

Also remember to mentally double your lens focal length when using with a 4/3 body.

[xinman]

That's it you have to control the aperture on the lens.

[inkista]

Use the aperture ring on the lens (sorry, no third-stops):



Obviously, you're going to have to focus with the focus ring, too.

Basically, set your camera into Manual or Aperture Prioirty mode. Depending on your adapter and metering, you may or may not have to keep the DoF preview button pushed down for accurate metering (on my Canon, the adapter ring I have has a pin that keeps the DoF preview lever locked down,



so when I adjust the ring, the lens is actually stopped down. My Canons do perform "stop-down metering" accurately (I believe the Es do, too), so the upshot is that I can use my meter like this.

Basically, the lens won't communicate with the body, so you have no aperture control from the body, and you'll have holes in your EXIF information. You can get a chipped adapter, which may help fill in the EXIF and possibly give you autofocus confirmation, but it's not necessary. In addition, if you're not getting stabilization with the OM lens, try upgrading your firmware to the latest release for your model.

BTW, if you're shooting with a fast lens (say the 50/1.8) wide open, and you're having problems accurately placing focus, try use liveview and magnification. Welcome to the world of manual glass. It's a lot of fun.

[alix13]

Thank you so much for the help! Especially the photos, they helped heaps! Can't wait to get started shooting.