Beginner Olympus to Canon es adapter and some general advice

[diviy]

I am currently getting back into photography my current kit consists a Canon 350d x2, 18-55 kit lens, Tamron 70-300, The new Tamron 18-270(birthday pressie off mrs ) couple of AFD360 flash guns, Tripod, mono pod, cleaning kit, nd filter kit .
I have a mint Olympus Zuiko 50mm 1.8 lens off my old om30 camera would it worth getting a lens adapter for it I know it will be fully manual and that does not bother me I assume I can use it in AV.
The reason I asking if I can use the adapter is to save money as I am medically retired so cash is on the tight side hense I buy most stuff second hand.I know I can pick up a canon 50mm 1.8 for about £50.00 but I`m trying to cut cost`s where I can.
So is it worth getting the adapter for the Olympus zuiko 50mm 1.8 or am I just wasting money and just wait untill I can save for the Canon .
My photography interest`s include abstract ,macro,landscape and motorsport. I have a few friend that do 4x4 challenge events so a fair range of subjects to photograph macro and still life when I am house bound.
Any help and advice would be appreciated and what prime lens should I keep a eye out for ?

Cheers Gerry
Read more at http://www.amateurphotographer.co.u...o-Canon-es-adapter-advice#tt1hIgzCCw5UfiXe.99

 

[wakarimasen]

I just bought a Nikon adapter in order to use manual focus lenses on Canon cameras, so I can give you a perspective on this.

Firstly, the image quality can be very good if you get everything right. However, in order to get everything right you need to focus manually (optically) and potentially without any electronic focus confirmation - unless the adapter provides that. A cheap adapter may not provide this - in which case you will have three options:

1. Use the focussing screen and a good pair of eyes! I have had mixed success with this method, and I think it becomes more difficult with faster lenses used at their maximum aperture.
2. Change the focussing screen in your camera, so that it provides a split screen focus aid - just like the older manual focus cameras. I have not tried this, and so cannot comment on its' effectiveness. A quick internet search leads me to suspect that the focus screen on the 350D is meant to stay where it is, although an alternative can be provided by KatzEye. Note that changing to split screen focus, normally means that Evaluative and Spot metering is not usable, or at least not reliable in use.
3. Use live view to focus. A good method, but perhaps better with the use of a tripod. Handheld at wide apertures, live view - in my experience - becomes a little more tricky.

If you buy an adapter with a focus confirmation chip, then this may not be as cheap as the Canon lens that you mentioned. The ones from SRB are around the £25 mark (http://srb-photographic.co.uk/canon-eos-to-olympus-om-lens-adaptor-5998-p.asp) but do not provide focus confirmation.

Hopefully this helps a little.
Best regards,
RoyM

 

[woof woof]

I have a mint Olympus Zuiko 50mm 1.8 lens off my old om30 camera would it worth getting a lens adapter for it I know it will be fully manual and that does not bother me I assume I can use it in AV.

...and trying to add to rather than duplicate what has already been said...

When I had Canon DSLR's I briefly used Zuiko 28mm f2.8, 50mm f1.8 and 135mm f3.5 via a cheap adapter which as far as I remember cost £5 off the auction site beginning with e. I've just checked and you can get a dumb metal adapter for under £5 and one with focus confirmation for £10.99.

I originally bought a dumb adapter but later bought an adapter with an AF confirmation chip in it but by the time it arrived I'd lost interest and gave both adapters away so I can't say how well the AF confirmation facility works.

When manually focusing with modern DSLR it is IMVHO quite difficult to achieve critical focus unless the image is big in the frame as they're just not made for manual focusing. However as the lenses are lovely and the adapters are cheap I think it's well worth giving it a go and seeing how you get on. It'll only cost £5-10 or so to find out if you're happy with the experience and the results or not.

Anyway... I'd say that the image quality you get from mounting these old lenses on modern kit is actually good and I still use manual lenses to this day but now on my compact system cameras as it's much easier to focus using these cameras than with a modern DSLR with no focus aids. I use my manual lenses on my Panasonic G1 (you can find these for under £100, adapters start at about £10) and also on my Sony A7. Manual focus is very easy with cameras like these as you can call up a magnified view and focus very accurately. Newer CSC's like the A7 also have focus peaking which is also a good manual focus aid.

If you decide to give it a go... good luck with it.

 

[Phil V]

The 350d's viewfinder doesn't really lend itself to manual focus. IMHO you can spend a tenner on buying frustration or save that tenner till you can get the Canon lens. In fact, that tenner, plus the money from the sale of your Zuiko 50mm will get you more than half way there.