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Em10 ll and older Oly 4/3 lenses

Started Mar 18, 2017 | Discussions
gary payne Senior Member • Posts: 1,026
Em10 ll and older Oly 4/3 lenses

Hey there m4/3 tribe:

I recently bought a pristine Oly 4/3 9-18mm f4 that just blows me away on my EM1 body, better IMO than the Pana 7-14mm for my purposes, and that is a respectable lens.

I have heard that generally the EM1 series 1 or 2 are the bodies to use for the older 4/3 lenses.  But I have been looking for a more compact body as a daily carry around with the Pana 20mm mounted.  And occasionally I might try my old Oly 9-18mm on it.

How bad or good do the 4/3 lenses do on the newest Em 10 ll body?  Any experience in focusing, CA, blobs, etc?

Another possibility could be the old EP5.

The sun is just above the image margin, I was shooting towards it but flare and purple haze weren't a problem despite extreme contrast.  I did not try to take distortion out in LR for this shot or the next.

Here's an action shot, subject wife running towards me jumping the creek at full speed.  No problem with focus on the EM1.  Contrasts again brought no purple haze.  My Pana 7-14mm and previous M4/3 tiny Oly 9-18mm probably would not have taken these shots without some repair on CA or blobs etc.    But could the EM10 ll body make this happen?

I like the flying snow specs against the dark water.

Thanks for any advice.  gp

 gary payne's gear list:gary payne's gear list
Olympus E-M1 Panasonic G85 Olympus E-M1 II Sony a7 III Sony a9 II +15 more
Olympus E-M1 Olympus OM-D E-M10 Olympus PEN E-P5
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Skeeterbytes Forum Pro • Posts: 23,186
Re: Em10 ll and older Oly 4/3 lenses

Hi Gary,

If you can live without decent AF response then any m4/3 body can host your 9-18 with no optical gotchas. Either E-M1 will coax good AF from all 4/3 lenses and the 9-18 also has limited CDAF capability that all bodies can use.

Happy experimenting,

Rick

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apathyman Veteran Member • Posts: 4,155
Re: Em10 ll and older Oly 4/3 lenses

I agree with Rick.

Some personal experience... I have the 4/3 9-18 mm.  On the E-M10/E-M5ii it focuses acceptably.  Not as quick as a native m4/3 lens but OK for the landscape work it's mainly used for.  On the other hand, I found the 4/3 40-150 mm just too slow to focus at an acceptable speed on the E-M10, so I sold it..

Cheers

Brian

(unknown member) Senior Member • Posts: 2,889
Re: Em10 ll and older Oly 4/3 lenses

Even in bright light, you can focus the old 4/3rds lenses faster manually than the adapter will allow it to be AF'd.  Except if you have the E-M1 or E-M1II.

OP gary payne Senior Member • Posts: 1,026
Re: Em10 ll and older Oly 4/3 lenses

Thanks.

Well...then I will stick with the EM1 with that lens because it's about as fast to focus as with other M4/3 lenses, it's more than acceptable.

I had hoped that the EM10 ll would be an improvement over the original EM10.  There had been quite a few updates in the new model in other areas.

I also wonder if the EP5 is any better.  I assume the EPL models are on the low end of the line and not worth considering for use with the 4/3 oldies.

gp

 gary payne's gear list:gary payne's gear list
Olympus E-M1 Panasonic G85 Olympus E-M1 II Sony a7 III Sony a9 II +15 more
apathyman Veteran Member • Posts: 4,155
Re: Em10 ll and older Oly 4/3 lenses
1

The reason the E-M1 & E-M1ii perform better with the older 4/3 lenses is because they have both phase and contrast-detect auto focus. All other Olympus bodies only have contrast detection AF.

More here:

http://asia.olympus-imaging.com/product/dslr/em1/feature5.html

Cheers

Brian

OP gary payne Senior Member • Posts: 1,026
Re: Em10 ll and older Oly 4/3 lenses

Yes...I had read that.  I was hoping that other factors in the new EM10 ll model might have mitigated it or that it wasn't a noticeable problem.  But I do need the higher focusing qualities to be satisfied.

gp

 gary payne's gear list:gary payne's gear list
Olympus E-M1 Panasonic G85 Olympus E-M1 II Sony a7 III Sony a9 II +15 more
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