Newbie question

[G Pik]

My main gear is Sony FF but I am going to try MFT as lenses are smaller and lighter and I am getting older!!

Have an OM-1 arriving tomorrow with 12-40, have a s/h 300mm f4 and s/h 2x TC so am hoping for some decent weather so I can go out to play.

This might be a silly question but do Olympus bodies work OK with Panasonic lenses and vice versa? Any other makes of lens compatible? Pros and cons?

--
Geo C
http://www.gec.photography

 

[Albert Valentino]

The only rub is that if the lens itself has stabilization, then that stabilization of the lens can only be paired with a camera body of the same brand. So the OM/Olympus body with a 12-100 lens can use dual stabilization. But if you mount a Panasonic lens then you can use either IBIS of the body, or OIS of the lens, but not both at the same time. In most cases this is not an issue. The matched combo only brings about 1 stop more potential, which only makes a difference when one needs to really push things in poor light.

One of my two favorite lenses is the PL 8-18 used on my EM1 which performs perfectly!!! Lots of people use the Panasonic 100-400 on their Olympus bodies, and choose either IBIS or OIS. The later bodies have the better IBIS so that tends to be the better option.

--
Truth never fears scrutiny.

 

[Felice62]

They will work fine but will not use the full potential of dual IS or sync IC when paired with the other brand.

Though the om-1 should have a spectacular IBIS, a 300mm plus tc2 makes it a quite long Tele (1200mm equivalent in terms of field of view) . I never managed to handle such long telephoto steadying..

But that's just one flaw of mine.

Enjoy

 

[Skeeterbytes]

The other Panny feature that will not work if present is an aperture ring.

Optically they will be fine and AF response should be good.

Hope you enjoy the new kit!

Cheers,

Rick

 

[Regor250]

Aside from what has already been mentioned, some (few) Panasonic lenses will have a tendency to purple shift on Oly bodies because of a difference in sensor set up, but this isn't a common issue. Personally if there in option I stick to the same manufacturer.

 

[grsnovi]

...will apparently only work with M.Zuiko lenses.

I'm waiting for clear night skies to try the 12 f/2.0 that just arrived this week for mine.

 

[Brandon birder]

My main gear is Sony FF but I am going to try MFT as lenses are smaller and lighter and I am getting older!!

Have an OM-1 arriving tomorrow with 12-40, have a s/h 300mm f4 and s/h 2x TC so am hoping for some decent weather so I can go out to play.

This might be a silly question but do Olympus bodies work OK with Panasonic lenses and vice versa? Any other makes of lens compatible? Pros and cons?

The OM1 works very well with my PL 100-400 for birds. Won't work with focus stacking though.

--
Cheers, Brandon.
Olympus OM1, EM10 mII, Sony RX10 M4, RX100 M7
Nikon V1,V3, D500, D810
FlickR Photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brandon_birder/

 

[ahaslett]

Some of the OM1 functions will only work with specific Olympus lenses, typically the Pro ones. Check the manual. Otherwise MFT lenses are compatible with MFT bodies (mostly). Laowa manual electronic lenses don't have lens profiles in the EXIF, but they are Zero-D, so that's less important.

I got a used 300mm recently, what a great lens! I can't imagine trying to use with with an MC20 - the MC14 is hard enough. I get better IQ by cropping the bare 300mm than by using the MC14. I'd say there is copy variation. You might want to test with your MC20 in controlled conditions before use.

Andrew

 

[Michael Meissner]

As others have said, in general Olympus and Panasonic lenses work on both bodies, but there are a few issues such as if the lens has stabilization, it will only work in conjunction with the sensor shift stabilization if both body/lens are made by the same company. On OM/Olympus cameras you can choose whether the camera will use lens based stabilization or sensor shift stabilization if the lens has OIS. The OM-1 works with Pany lenses using both defaults.

Another thing to note is Panasonic lenses zoom/focus rings go in the opposite direction as OM/Oympus lenses. A few weeks ago I went to Florida, and I had a dual camera setup for doing birds (E-m5 mark III with Olympus 12-200mm lens and OM-1 with Panasonic 100-300mm lens) and I kept turning the zoom in the 'wrong' direction when I switched cameras.

Finally some people have noticed that the rubber gaskets that provide splash resistance between the lens and camera is slightly different. Whether it impacts the splash resistance, I don't know. The only lens I've ever had problems with sealing was the Panasonic 100-300mm lens, but I was using it on a Panasonic G85, so the difference is not relevant in this case. After that I don't trust Panasonic claims about sealing as much as I do OM/Olympus.

 

[techie takes pics]

Interested to hear your impression and experiences.

Panasonic lenses do work, they are recognised and AF works. Only extended functions do not.

• Buttons and aperture rings might not work across brands
• in-lens-stabilisation works but only on its own, not in conjunction with a cross-brand body;
• Pro capture works on all Olympus lenses; on Panasonic you have to use ordinary burst;
• Focus bracketing works but focus stacking-in-body only works on a few Olympus lenses.

 

[Bassam Guy]

Interested to hear your impression and experiences.

Panasonic lenses do work, they are recognised and AF works. Only extended functions do not.

• Buttons and aperture rings might not work across brands
• in-lens-stabilisation works but only on its own, not in conjunction with a cross-brand body;
• Pro capture works on all Olympus lenses; on Panasonic you have to use ordinary burst;
• Focus bracketing works but focus stacking-in-body only works on a few Olympus lenses.

I don't have a P. lens to test with but are you absolutely sure about your third point?

I use pro cap low and high on an E-M5 III and an E-M1 III using old, c. 1980, 35mm manual focus lenses with no electrical contacts whatsoever. The major difference between Pro Cap and normal sequence is that the photos are not saved to SD until the shutter is fully pressed. I don't see why O. would intentionally disable it for non-O. lenses (but wouldn't be surprised).

 

[Skeeterbytes]

Interested to hear your impression and experiences.

Panasonic lenses do work, they are recognised and AF works. Only extended functions do not.

• Buttons and aperture rings might not work across brands
• in-lens-stabilisation works but only on its own, not in conjunction with a cross-brand body;
• Pro capture works on all Olympus lenses; on Panasonic you have to use ordinary burst;
• Focus bracketing works but focus stacking-in-body only works on a few Olympus lenses.

I don't have a P. lens to test with but are you absolutely sure about your third point?

I use pro cap low and high on an E-M5 III and an E-M1 III using old, c. 1980, 35mm manual focus lenses with no electrical contacts whatsoever. The major difference between Pro Cap and normal sequence is that the photos are not saved to SD until the shutter is fully pressed. I don't see why O. would intentionally disable it for non-O. lenses (but wouldn't be surprised).

Pro Cap low, like silent continuous low, on those cameras leaves C-AF engaged for the burst and I suppose there's no reason to disable it for use with an MF lens. MF lenses also reach higher burst speeds than adapted AF lenses, which slow things down considerably.

The OM-1 is a little different in enabling C-AF with PC low and silent low, even if it's not exactly documented. Good news for 200/2.8 and PL 100-400 owners.

Focus stacking is limited to a subset of lenses, including just certain Oly lenses.

Cheers,

Rick

 

[ahaslett]

Interested to hear your impression and experiences.

Panasonic lenses do work, they are recognised and AF works. Only extended functions do not.

• Buttons and aperture rings might not work across brands
• in-lens-stabilisation works but only on its own, not in conjunction with a cross-brand body;
• Pro capture works on all Olympus lenses; on Panasonic you have to use ordinary burst;
• Focus bracketing works but focus stacking-in-body only works on a few Olympus lenses.

I don't have a P. lens to test with but are you absolutely sure about your third point?

I use pro cap low and high on an E-M5 III and an E-M1 III using old, c. 1980, 35mm manual focus lenses with no electrical contacts whatsoever. The major difference between Pro Cap and normal sequence is that the photos are not saved to SD until the shutter is fully pressed. I don't see why O. would intentionally disable it for non-O. lenses (but wouldn't be surprised).

With a 12-40 on an OM1, you can choose Pro Cap, Pro Cap SH1 and Pro Cap SH2. With a 25/1.4, you can only do Pro Cap SH1 & SH2. Not sure what that’s about.

Andrew

 

[JosephScha]

If you look at photos on this forum you will see many OM cameras with Panasonic 100-400mm lens. Seems to be a popular combination. So yes, OM cameras work with Panasonic lenses. But you don't get dual IS. You get to choose in body camera stabilization (which works quite well) or in lens stabilization, for lenses that have that capability.

 

[Bassam Guy]

Interested to hear your impression and experiences.

Panasonic lenses do work, they are recognised and AF works. Only extended functions do not.

• Buttons and aperture rings might not work across brands
• in-lens-stabilisation works but only on its own, not in conjunction with a cross-brand body;
• Pro capture works on all Olympus lenses; on Panasonic you have to use ordinary burst;
• Focus bracketing works but focus stacking-in-body only works on a few Olympus lenses.

I don't have a P. lens to test with but are you absolutely sure about your third point?

I use pro cap low and high on an E-M5 III and an E-M1 III using old, c. 1980, 35mm manual focus lenses with no electrical contacts whatsoever. The major difference between Pro Cap and normal sequence is that the photos are not saved to SD until the shutter is fully pressed. I don't see why O. would intentionally disable it for non-O. lenses (but wouldn't be surprised).

With a 12-40 on an OM1, you can choose Pro Cap, Pro Cap SH1 and Pro Cap SH2. With a 25/1.4, you can only do Pro Cap SH1 & SH2. Not sure what that’s about.

Andrew

SH1&2 are focus before the first frame and then burst at full speed, only focuses once.

Pro Cap [low] focuses before every frame, perhaps that requires some O. only magic

 

[Michael Meissner]

If you look at photos on this forum you will see many OM cameras with Panasonic 100-400mm lens. Seems to be a popular combination. So yes, OM cameras work with Panasonic lenses. But you don't get dual IS. You get to choose in body camera stabilization (which works quite well) or in lens stabilization, for lenses that have that capability.

Note, the Panasonic 100-400mm was introduced in 2016, while the Olympus 100-400mm was introduced in 2020. I wonder how many people bought the Panasonic 100-400mm for use with Olympus cameras after the Olympus version came out? Yes it WAS a popular combo, but I'm not sure it would be a popular combo now for new purchasers that don't have Panasonic gear.

IIRC, there were also long threads in 2019 or 2020 about how Panasonic had limited resources to fix the 100-400mm (evidently all 100-400mm's had to be shipped to Japan for servicing).

 

[Tom Caldwell]

The only rub is that if the lens itself has stabilization, then that stabilization of the lens can only be paired with a camera body of the same brand. So the OM/Olympus body with a 12-100 lens can use dual stabilization. But if you mount a Panasonic lens then you can use either IBIS of the body, or OIS of the lens, but not both at the same time. In most cases this is not an issue. The matched combo only brings about 1 stop more potential, which only makes a difference when one needs to really push things in poor light.

One of my two favorite lenses is the PL 8-18 used on my EM1 which performs perfectly!!! Lots of people use the Panasonic 100-400 on their Olympus bodies, and choose either IBIS or OIS. The later bodies have the better IBIS so that tends to be the better option.

Interestingly the Olympus 12-100/4.0 on Panasonic bodies shuts any Panasonic IBIS down and prefers its lens IS.

Luckily lens IS is pretty good whether it is Olympus or Panasonic lens IS.

Makes using camera bodies that don't have IBIS pretty stable platforms.

Could try an Olympus body with IBIS shut down whilst using a Panasonic lens IS - not sure that any real practical difference might be noticed.

20 years of only lens IS hardly slowed down the appreciation of the dslr body type.

 

[ahaslett]

Interested to hear your impression and experiences.

Panasonic lenses do work, they are recognised and AF works. Only extended functions do not.

• Buttons and aperture rings might not work across brands
• in-lens-stabilisation works but only on its own, not in conjunction with a cross-brand body;
• Pro capture works on all Olympus lenses; on Panasonic you have to use ordinary burst;
• Focus bracketing works but focus stacking-in-body only works on a few Olympus lenses.

I don't have a P. lens to test with but are you absolutely sure about your third point?

I use pro cap low and high on an E-M5 III and an E-M1 III using old, c. 1980, 35mm manual focus lenses with no electrical contacts whatsoever. The major difference between Pro Cap and normal sequence is that the photos are not saved to SD until the shutter is fully pressed. I don't see why O. would intentionally disable it for non-O. lenses (but wouldn't be surprised).

With a 12-40 on an OM1, you can choose Pro Cap, Pro Cap SH1 and Pro Cap SH2. With a 25/1.4, you can only do Pro Cap SH1 & SH2. Not sure what that’s about.

Andrew

SH1&2 are focus before the first frame and then burst at full speed, only focuses once.

Pro Cap [low] focuses before every frame, perhaps that requires some O. only magic

All this discussion is great for getting me more familiar with the manual. I reread p133 - ProCap SH1 is max 120 fps and locks focus on the first shot. ProCap SH2 is max 50 fps and refocuses for each shot in any CAF mode. ProCap is max 20 fps and also refocuses in any CAF mode.

In either SH2 mode, non supported lenses are limited to 25fps. Since I have 25 fps set, it allows ProCap SH2 with the PL25/1.4.

The manual hints that AF might be more accurate in ProCap than ProCap SH2. ProCap has fewer limitations than ProCap SH2, apart from max fps.

Andrew

 

[Michael Meissner]

Interestingly the Olympus 12-100/4.0 on Panasonic bodies shuts any Panasonic IBIS down and prefers its lens IS.

My memory is there were a bunch of cameras before Olympus and Panasonic got together and made the newer cameras know how to turn off the OIS in the other manufacturer's lenses. If you have one of these older bodies, it may be problematical if your lens doesn't have a switch to turn off OIS.

 

[Gary from Seattle]

My main gear is Sony FF but I am going to try MFT as lenses are smaller and lighter and I am getting older!!

Have an OM-1 arriving tomorrow with 12-40, have a s/h 300mm f4 and s/h 2x TC so am hoping for some decent weather so I can go out to play.

This might be a silly question but do Olympus bodies work OK with Panasonic lenses and vice versa?

Absolutely, and well. Certain software innovations like In Camera Focus Stacking do not work cross platforms.

Any other makes of lens compatible? Pros and cons?