Olympus 4/3 lenses to m4/3 - Who has experience here?

Hi,

I've been waiting for a new E-xxx body, which may not be appearing. The E-400 size is the biggest I want to go to.

I have an E-400, F36-R, 14-42, 40-150 and 9-18. Also the remote control.

Anyone come to m4/3 (Any brand) and can tell me their experience?

How's the balance/weight and general usage/experience and IQ?

My choices?

1) Give my entire kit to my daughter and switch brands.
2) Use a m4/3 body if the lenses work well and have a 2-body setup.
3) Hope for a new E-xxx body with better feature thean the E-620.

My daughter would be happy with number 1.

David.

--
If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.

You can use all your four thirds lenses on micro four thirds cameras. You need to buy an adapter, though. The Olympus MMF1 or MMF2 will do, or the Panasonic DMW-MA1. However, some of the lenses might not focus very fast, or not at all on the first generation of Panasonic cameras. More info here:

http://m43photo.blogspot.com/2010/03/four-thirds-lens-compatability.html

There is no denying that the grip on Micro Four Thirds cameras is not so well suited for larger lenses, especially for the Olympus cameras. However, some say that the EPL-1 has a pretty good grip.

Then there is the issue of the viewfinder. Many M4/3 cameras have no viewfinder, only an LCD screen. I prefer the viewfinder, and I am very happy with the one on the GH1 (similar as G1, G2).

Also, your flash will work very well with a Micro Four Thirds camera.

David J Barber said:

Hi,

I've been waiting for a new E-xxx body, which may not be appearing. The E-400 size is the biggest I want to go to.

I have an E-400, F36-R, 14-42, 40-150 and 9-18. Also the remote control.

Anyone come to m4/3 (Any brand) and can tell me their experience?

How's the balance/weight and general usage/experience and IQ?

My choices?

1) Give my entire kit to my daughter and switch brands.
2) Use a m4/3 body if the lenses work well and have a 2-body setup.
3) Hope for a new E-xxx body with better feature thean the E-620.

My daughter would be happy with number 1.

David.

--

Click to expand...

I was considering jumping onto the Oly family tree with an E-450 in preference to an EP-2/EP-L1, as it seems to be significantly cheaper.

I posted elsewhere about the supposed "rumour" that Oly pulled the E-4xx/E-5xx replacements at the last minute earlier this year.... So disappointed!

Useful imformation.

I like the E-xxx size, and would be reluctant to go smaller.

Perhaps I'll tkae my lenses to the local shops here in China and try them, if they have an adapter.

David.

--
If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.

Orangesmartie said:

I was considering jumping onto the Oly family tree with an E-450 in preference to an EP-2/EP-L1, as it seems to be significantly cheaper.

I posted elsewhere about the supposed "rumour" that Oly pulled the E-4xx/E-5xx replacements at the last minute earlier this year.... So disappointed!

Click to expand...

I think the EPL-1 with it's own sized lenses would be great, but I have 4/3 lenses.

I'll look at my lenses on the m4/3, but may look at an entirely new system, and probably not Olympus irf they truly are ditching a replacement E-xxx model.

David.

--
If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.

Hi David,

I have the E-PL1 and also some Olympus DSLR's plus lenses: 35mm, 14-54mm (mkI), 70-300mm, 14-45mm and the older version of the 40-150mm.

All the lenses work with AF on the E-PL1, but some are better than others:

• 5mm: very slow
• 14-54: very slow, bit heavy for all day use (mkII should be much better in terms of speed)
• 70-300: very happy with it! Speed OK (needs lens firmware update), weight/size is a bit high, but I hold the package differently and that's convenient
• 14-45: not tried (sits in cupboard...)
• 40-150: old version is slow to focus, but it's a very nice lens. If you have the newer version, it should AF very well on the PEN's.

The 9-18mm and FL36-R should work very well on the PEN.

The 4/3 lens I use most on my PEN is the 70-300. I really like the 14-54 (most used lens on the E-520), but focus is slow. The mkII versioon is CDAF compatible, but I'd rather wait for a similar lens specifically for m4/3.

Damien

David J Barber said:

Hi,

I've been waiting for a new E-xxx body, which may not be appearing. The E-400 size is the biggest I want to go to.

I have an E-400, F36-R, 14-42, 40-150 and 9-18. Also the remote control.

Anyone come to m4/3 (Any brand) and can tell me their experience?

How's the balance/weight and general usage/experience and IQ?

My choices?

1) Give my entire kit to my daughter and switch brands.
2) Use a m4/3 body if the lenses work well and have a 2-body setup.
3) Hope for a new E-xxx body with better feature thean the E-620.

My daughter would be happy with number 1.

David.

--
If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.

Click to expand...

--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bilgy_no1

I had the E420 (sold it when the EP1 came out) and just sold the E30. Now have the EP2 and an EPL1 (that was converted for infrared shooting).

I had the 14-54 but the MKII version which I loved and it did AF fine on the Pen cameras. But as was said, it just felt a bit too big/bulky for the body.

I still have the newer version of the 40-150, which does Contrast AF and even with the adapter it feels pretty well balanced with the Pen cameras - it was smaller/lighter than the original version.

Never got the original version of the 9-18 (just got the m4/3 version) but have heard good things about results and AF on the Pen bodies. The major advantage of the m4/3 version to the original version is the size weight (especially when collapsed) balances much better with the Pen bodies and since it uses the new AF system made for CDAF, it really auto focuses fast.

If you can get your hands on just a Pen body, you can try out your lenses and then decide whether to replace them with the m4/3 versions. (BTW - I have the kit m4/3 14-42 and have been much happier with it than I was with the 14-42 that came with my E410/E420.)

And as was stated, your flash (I have the FL36R also) will work fine and it actually feels pretty well balanced on the EP2.

Hi David,

I have EPL1 and some 4/3 lenses. Here it is my experience about AF on EPL1:
35mm: fast
50mm: slower
11-22: very fast
40-150 MKII: very fast

For longer lenses it's advisable to have viewfinder on EPL1: visualization on LCD oblige you to higher shutter speeds to maintain blur-free images

Continuous AF on EPL1 is junk with all lenses.

Overall, very happy: EPL1 +11-22 is particularly pretty impressive set-up.

Rgds
--
Viorel
http://viorelp.smugmug.com/

I use my FourThirds SLR lenses on my Panasonic G1 quite a lot. They're excellent lenses and work beautifully on the G1, albeit autofocus is supported with only two of them. Of course, I also have Olympus E-1 and Panasonic L1 bodies, and I'll likely buy a new E-3 or E-5 quite soon.

Lack of autofocus on a body with which manual focus is so easy seems no problem to me at all, but I'm probably in the minority on that opinion.
--
Godfrey
http://godfreydigiorgi.posterous.com

I'm happier about the immediate future.

I may pitch into the EPL-1 and have two bodies - a long-time ambition - and the Pen on it's own has a great size advantage.

I'll try and get to a supplier and try them out. I have two weekends of shooting (mountian trip and guest at a wedding), so the E-400 will be working hard.

David.

--
If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.

Here's how they worked:

7-14: could hunt for focus - apparently it shrinks the image so much there isn't a lot of contrast to detect. The EP1's level indicator, though, is priceless for this UWA. Handling? Well, it's not a small lens, but I can compose effectively with the combination.

PL25 1.4: Oh, this is the cat's meow on the EP1. Lightning fast focuser, very well balanced on the pen, and it works it's Leica magic as well on the Pen as it does on the E3. My PL25 has pretty much become permanently attached to my Pen, the two work very well together.

14-54: (original model) can hunt to get focus lock, but otherwise, still a terrific lens. The newer 14-54II that came on the E30 is CDAF enabled, and is supposed to lock focus quicker.

50 F2 Macro: It can be a cranky AF'er on the Pen, but then it can be a cranky focuser on the E3. If it misses lock, it traverses its entire focus length, and that can take some time. I typically MF with that lens anyway, and it produces it's usual razor sharp images.

50-200: It's a handful. You can frame well enough, but if you want to zoom the ring, you have to shift your right hand to grip the body better. There just isn't enough body to grip with your hand in the shooting position. It's a slow focuser on the Pen, partially because it has big elements and the tiny Pen battery can struggle to drive it.

As you have the E400, you probably have the earlier kit lenses that weren't CDAF enabled for live view focus, so don't expect lightning fast focus times. OTOH, you can pick up the later and more compact 40-150 that is CDAF enabled for a song these days. That's definitely worth looking into.

Can you give me an idea of the actual focusing speed of the original 40-150 with the MMF-2 adaptor on the E-PL1? Thanks
Bob Carstens

Bob Carstens said:

Can you give me an idea of the actual focusing speed of the original 40-150 with the MMF-2 adaptor on the E-PL1? Thanks
Bob Carstens

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http://ilya4.photosight.ru
http://outlier-v.livejournal.com/
http://photodom.com/photographer/viv

Bob Carstens said:

Can you give me an idea of the actual focusing speed of the original 40-150 with the MMF-2 adaptor on the E-PL1? Thanks
Bob Carstens

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Hi Bob,

I missed your post. Focusing time of the combination above is very long. Although I have not timed precisely, I estimate it to be 2-4 seconds. 2 seconds for re-focus at same distance, and more when going from near to far or the other way around. That's in relatively good light.

I think one would be better off with the ZD 40-150mm mkII, or the dedicated m4/3 lens. I say this with pain in my heart, since I really like the lens for the images it produces.

Damien
--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bilgy_no1

it seems that Olympus EP-1 and EPL-1 are the fastest focusing cameras now or at least equally fast as Panasonic cameras?? also on M43 kit lenses....

Bilgy_no1 said:

Bob Carstens said:

Can you give me an idea of the actual focusing speed of the original 40-150 with the MMF-2 adaptor on the E-PL1? Thanks
Bob Carstens

Click to expand...

Hi Bob,

I missed your post. Focusing time of the combination above is very long. Although I have not timed precisely, I estimate it to be 2-4 seconds. 2 seconds for re-focus at same distance, and more when going from near to far or the other way around. That's in relatively good light.

I think one would be better off with the ZD 40-150mm mkII, or the dedicated m4/3 lens. I say this with pain in my heart, since I really like the lens for the images it produces.

Click to expand...

The 40-150 f4-5.6 is an excellent lens on the Pen cameras. Mine focuses very well on the E-PL1. A three lens combination of the 9-18, 20mm f1.7 and 40-150 is pretty darn good, or add the 70-300 for extra reach.

The little Pen even has me considering the 50mm f2 Digital Zuiko, which I have never bought for my DSLR system. Manual focus is so easy with the E-PL1 and VF2 eyelevel EVF I'd just manually focus the 50. I also own the EC20 2x teleconverter for use with my 50-200, but I'd use it with the Pen mated to a 50mm f2 so I could have a three lens prime set of the 20mm f1.7, the 50mm f2 macro, then adding the EC20 I would have a 100mm f4 macro. Put the EX25 tube in the bag and you've got quite a powerful closeup combination. Throw in the 9-18 for superwide to wide coverage and that's a complete set.

Gregm61 said:

The little Pen even has me considering the 50mm f2 Digital Zuiko, which I have never bought for my DSLR system. Manual focus is so easy with the E-PL1 and VF2 eyelevel EVF I'd just manually focus the 50. I also own the EC20 2x teleconverter for use with my 50-200, but I'd use it with the Pen mated to a 50mm f2 so I could have a three lens prime set of the 20mm f1.7, the 50mm f2 macro, then adding the EC20 I would have a 100mm f4 macro. Put the EX25 tube in the bag and you've got quite a powerful closeup combination. Throw in the 9-18 for superwide to wide coverage and that's a complete set.

Click to expand...

Note, neither Olympus nor Panasonic claim that the teleconverters (EC-14, EC-20, EX-25) are supported for m43rds cameras.

The 50mm does focus slow on the E-P2, but then it is slow on most cameras, but it has a nice balance.

I have already used both the EX25 and EC20 with my E-PL1. They both work great. The EX25 with both my 70-300 and 40-150 and the EC20 with my 50-200 SWD. The latter is really too big for the E-PL1, but it works perfectly.

It does work, but manual focus that puppy. It isn't so much that AF is slow (it is), but if it misses lock, the 50M traverses it's rather long barrel length to reset. Go get a cuppa tea while you're waiting... okay, if you have SAF+MF, you can interrupt that and point focus in the right direction by twisting the focus ring. But, as long as you're doing that, may as well just MF.

MF works pretty good, and the 50M on Pen is as sharp, perhaps a bit sharper, than it is on 4/3. Like the PL25, the size is just right for the Pen, doesn't add much bulk or make it nose heavy.

EX25 works just like it does on 4/3. I've used the EP1/50M/EX25/STF-22 macro flash combination, it works quite well.

However... I still find my E330 to be the best for that, largely due to the swing out LCD. I like to photo tiny wildflowers in the spring, and the swing out LCD means I'm not crawling in the dirt to check focus or compose. Of course, if you have an EP2 with the swing up EVF, you won't have as tough a time.

Thanks Damien.
Bob