Konica AR lenses for Four Thirds

I have managed to adapt Konica AR lenses for my Oly E300. Somebody asked about this a long time ago. I posted my discovery on the Konica SLR Yahoo! group, but nobody payed much attention.

Long story short: All my Konica SLR lenses are now beeing used with my E300, including the legendary 40mm "pancake" f.1.8 "sharpest lens ever made for 35mm". Also the 28mm f.1.8, 57mm f.1.2, 85 f.1.8, and a super rare 800 f.8 works fine. I Use no adapter because the mount is partly compatible (unscrew the black plate at the back of the lens, and the aperture lever; 5 screws total, put som felt pads on the rear of the lens to get some tension, and you're done. I like to add a new light-baffle of card-board on the end of the lens to limit the amount of light to the 25mm circle of 4:3. This make the lenses much better. It's that easy!

The film-> flange distance for Konica is 40,5mm, so you loose a little of the macro abilities, and the lens focuses a little beyond infinity, but hardly noticable.

The 40mm kan be had for as little as $20 on eBay, and is totaly worth it. It's like carrying only the camera-house around. Beautiful for portraits.

You loose AF (not permanently, of course:-), and only program that works are M and A(perture priority), so you have still one AE mode. It slows you down, but not much.

I have a lot of pictures of camera, and pictures taken with different konica lenses. Maybe someone here can receive them by e-mail and post them for all. I don't understand how to incorporate pics in this message.

Wrotniak http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/moon/index.html published one of my pictures taken with Hexanon 800mm of the moon (scroll down the page)
--
Free your mind, and your camera will follow...

The quality of the 40mm is exelent, better than my 14-45 from f.2.0. At f.5.6 there is no competition; the konica pancake is way better in terms of color, resolution, CA (of whitch the konica has none!), distortion, and so on. The 85mm is better than my Sigma zoom, but I have not compared it to any of Oly's lenses. It's deadly sharp already at full aperture. The 28mm 1.8 is not so sharp, but than again, ther are no alternatives at this aperture. At f.5,6 it's equal to the standard zoom in resolution. It has more saturated colors. The 57mm 1.2 is the jewel in the crown. It's as sharp as the Sigma zoom when stopped down to f.4,5, but the bokeh at full aperture is spectacular. I have never seen anything ever that renders out-of-focus like this. Clearly my favorite lens for portraits and flowers! It's very similar to the Leica 75mm 1.4 in every way.

The wide angles are not good performers on E300. The "normals" and short-teles ARE! The 50mm 1.8 is $10 on eBay. On Four Thirds this is a razor-sharp 100mm eqv. at f.1.8!

I have pictures of the convertion procedure, but it's rather obvious how to do it once you hold a konica lens in your hand. The mount fit like a glove after the felt-pads are glued on the rear of the lens. (Felt pads= those things you put under legs of chairs to avoid scratches on the floor, with felt on one side and tape on the other) Three small pieces on the end of the lens, and it fits!

You maintain infinity focus, but loose some at the close-up range.
--
Free your mind, and your camera will follow...

NoRules wrote:

I have managed to adapt Konica AR lenses for my Oly E300. Somebody
asked about this a long time ago. I posted my discovery on the
Konica SLR Yahoo! group, but nobody payed much attention.
Long story short: All my Konica SLR lenses are now beeing used with
my E300, including the legendary 40mm "pancake" f.1.8 "sharpest
lens ever made for 35mm". Also the 28mm f.1.8, 57mm f.1.2, 85
f.1.8, and a super rare 800 f.8 works fine.

This is the best 'photo' news I heard since my 1984 FS-1 shutter mechanism died (unrepairable...). Got 28/2.8, 40/1.8 'pancake' (me too!) plus the rarest 35-70/3.5 zoom. Also a Tamron 80-200, but not much sure about acceptable quality. So sad to see these good pieces of glass resting in the bottom of my cabinet!

I Use no adapter
because the mount is partly compatible

you mean the bayonet size is exactly the same? Sure the E-300 internals (e.g AF & lens diaphragm drive contacts) cannot suffer damage?

(unscrew the black plate at
the back of the lens, and the aperture lever; 5 screws total, put
som felt pads on the rear of the lens to get some tension, and
you're done.

better using a watchmaker's screwdriver?

I like to add a new light-baffle of card-board on the
end of the lens to limit the amount of light to the 25mm circle of
4:3. This make the lenses much better. It's that easy!
The film-> flange distance for Konica is 40,5mm, so you loose a
little of the macro abilities, and the lens focuses a little beyond
infinity, but hardly noticable.

The 40mm kan be had for as little as $20 on eBay, and is totaly
worth it. It's like carrying only the camera-house around.
Beautiful for portraits.

You loose AF (not permanently, of course:-), and only program that
works are M and A(perture priority), so you have still one AE mode.
It slows you down, but not much.

I have a lot of pictures of camera, and pictures taken with
different konica lenses. Maybe someone here can receive them by
e-mail and post them for all. I don't understand how to incorporate
pics in this message.

I'll be glad to host your pics and any detailed instructions on how to modify the lens mount. Have 50 MB free on line.

Wrotniak http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/moon/index.html published
one of my pictures taken with Hexanon 800mm of the moon (scroll
down the page)
--
Free your mind, and your camera will follow...

Hei Morten,

That is really a very interesting idea. I hope I can repeat it myself easily!

Namenlos wrote:
Hi,

NoRules wrote:

Long story short: All my Konica SLR lenses are now beeing used with
my E300, including the legendary 40mm "pancake" f.1.8 "sharpest
lens ever made for 35mm".

This sounds like such a great idea, and stunningly simple. I'd love
to see more images of the setup, particularly some photos during
the procedure you used to modify the lenses.

Me too!!!!!

kind regards

Nick

Never argue with an idiot...they'll drag you down to their level and beat you on experience!!!

http://www.pbase.com/nickjdavis

Four Thirds FAQ's - http://www.fourthirdsFAQ.com

I have a lot of pictures of camera, and pictures taken with
different konica lenses. Maybe someone here can receive them by
e-mail and post them for all. I don't understand how to incorporate
pics in this message.

I'll be glad to host your pics and any detailed instructions on how
to modify the lens mount. Have 50 MB free on line.

I have taken Rapick up on his offer, and posted him the How-To pictures and a couple of samples with the 40mm at f.1.8

I don't know when he will put them available for the forum though:-)

Free your mind, and your camera will follow...

At the moment, I have uploaded Morten's original pics (procedure & samples) and notes into this dedicated gallery:
http://www.pbase.com/rapick/hexanon

I'll try the 'surgery' myself on one of my 'vintage' lenses. 'Operation' is planned during the weekend. Then, stay tuned: I'll add my comments, tips & tricks (if any) and possibly a few samples of mine ti this thread.
Morten, my sincere thanks, by now!
--
Rapick
Old Glory Ninetynine-five, New Companion E-Threehundred
PBase supporter
http://www.pbase.com/rapick

Many thanks to you for the picture gallery, Rapick. It's nice to see this knowledge spread to the forum in such a fine way!

Some of the best konica lenses do not deserve to die. Stories go that Konica stole som industrial secrets from Leica in the eighties. Although this has been denied by everyone, the two-element 800mm, the marvelous 57mm 1.2, and the 35 f.2 on the Konica Hexar, makes one wonder... But the philosophy for Konica in those days was not to go for sharpness alone, but also bokeh, the over all feeling of a picture, and extreemely saturated colors given by their secret coating. And theese are elements Four Thirds cameras can exploit to the fullest, giving us the possibility of produsing pictures with shallow depth of focus, the sharp and the unsharp in perfect harmony. In fact, Olympus, with their circular apertures, and sellection of expencive lens glass, think in the same direction.

As for spreading this "discovery", I leave it up to the people on this forum, as I myself am a dork with computers and internet pages:-)

Cheers!

M-)
--
Free your mind, and your camera will follow...

... with additional explanations and notes I received from Morten:
Link: http://www.pbase.com/rapick/hexanon
[View at the pic renamed 'Questions and Answers' - See also below the BW flower]

If anybody else is performing lens 'surgery', please let us know, and add notes, comments, sample images HERE! (I have not yet tried it myself).
Hope will help.
--
Rapick
Old Glory Ninetynine-five, New Companion E-Threehundred
PBase supporter
http://www.pbase.com/rapick

george_online wrote:

What about danger of letting some fiber from felt getting on sensors?
George

... I'm more concerned about other internals, such as mirrors, AF sensor, contact pins, etc. (CCD should be 'protected' by the ultrasonic dust buster).

And not just felt fiber... I understand that the bayonet 'teeth' alone cannot ensure tight coupling, then all internals are continuously exposed to dust, atmospheric moisture, etc... what would make the use of the e-300 / Hexanon lens combo 'at your own risk' in any less than ideal environment outdoors.
I wonder: maybe it's possible to think of installing an O-Ring on the lens?
Hmm...
Morten (NoRules): would this be feasible, according to your experience?
--
Rapick
Old Glory Ninetynine-five, New Companion E-Threehundred
PBase supporter
http://www.pbase.com/rapick

As I have stated in the How-To on Andres' site, I have not experienced any damage to camera, any damage to mirror or AF or contacts. Not even dust on the sensor, as clearly explained in the Q&A. Only problem I have had is with jamming of lenses if I try them before the pads are in place.

O-ring is of course possible, but not all the way around because of the pin on camera body. And a rubber O-ring might give too much friction. Then again you have the problem of gluing rubber to metal. The pads glue to everything, and different thickness gives different friction. It's an ongoing project, and any experiences are received with thanks. The pads do not shed, they are not designed like that. They are designed to maintain cushoning against hard surfaces.

To me I could afford to "loose" a camerabody during the experiments, because I had the money, and the reward would be so great. But any way I was a total nerve-wreck about the contacts shorting out and everything, but all is fine.

Remember; I am the guy who tryed and failed, and tryed again untill it worked, and I am still using the same camera with a 11-22mm Oly as a standard and fully working outfit. I have twisted, turned, pulled and forced lenses in and out, but nothing has broken. I have used many different materials, filed, sawed and cut them into place. And not even dust on the sensor! I have not used the lenses in dusty conditions, but I can think of nothing worse for my E300 than what I allready have done to it. I am amased of the robustness of the system. I even destroyed a lens with metal dust, but camera was fine. Mind you, the camera was in my "work-shop" all the time, exposed to everything that happened there. Must have changed lenses 3-400 times during those days. Only a test round demands 20 lens changes. Finding right spots for pads recuire 3 changes. Finding right size of baffle hole I changed each lens 5-10 times. My poor, poor Oly'...

If you follow instructions and do not use any force, I can't see anything bad happen to your cameras. Only tool you need is a small screwdriver, pads with tape, black cardboard, sissors and some drops of superglue for baffle-mounting.

As I metion in Q&A the baffle must be cut to make place for contacts on lenses that go too far into the camerabody at infinity.