Amazing lens, incredible sharpness

David Kieltyka wrote:

Just to note...the lens doesn't give a rat's dupa what the characteristics are of the sensor or film frame it's mounted in front of. If the ratio of focal length to max. aperture diaphragm size is 1.8:1 then the lens is a 1.8. Period (allowing for manufacturing tolerances and lens maker rounding/exaggerating).

It's certainly a good thing to know that larger photosites tend to be more efficient both at photon collection and in turning those photons into legit image-generating electrons. It's also a good thing to know that using a larger sensor/film frame yields less DOF for a particular field-of-view & f-ratio compared to a smaller sensor/film frame. (Whether or not this second feature is an advantage or disadvantage is up to the individual photographer.) But when taking photos with an m43 camera/lens combo it's also irrelevant. The format is what it is...you go with it and work within its boundaries, same as any other format including 35mm.

-Dave-

With no intent to hi-jack the original post, my 2 cents worth.

I play with old legacy glass from my old film cameras and the above discussion, I have read with great interest.

I have the adapter that allows me to mount, say my 45mm/f2.0 Minolta film lens, to my PEN. With the 2x crop factor in mind, my angle of view or should I say DOF, is equivalent to a 90mm on a 35mm film camera. But the f stop is still f/2.0, as I did not change any of the physical aspects of the lens itself? Its still the same old lens I used many years ago. (the focal length of the lens and the physical size of the aperture determines the "f" number)

I fought with this concept in my mind for some time. But when I consider that I must shoot this old stuff in manual mode, set the focus, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, I am lucky to get the first exposure even close.

And as a added note, this old lens on the PEN does not work as well as it does on my DSLR. Could be a problem with the adapter? But it was fun to try.

Again, thanks to all who have posted. Very interesting.