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Mark
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Hi,

I'm new to photography and trying to keep costs down. I've got an oly e-510 with the twin kit.

I've bought an OM->4:3 adapter and a couple of cheap OM lenses of fleabay just to play around with. I know that limits me to manual but I'm regarding that as a good thing because its forcing me to an understanding of aperture and shutter speed rather than just letting it happen.

So, what recommendations does anyone have for bargain lenses (and lets say for any system) with an adapter or lenses which can be adapted.

Also what does the AF confirm do on the adapters that have it?

Thanks
 
What is wrong with the lenses you have? not enough range? no macro? poor quality?
 
Hi

I've got the kit lenses which seem to be good quality and cover 14 - 150mm, but no faster than f4. I've bought an OM f1.8 50mm which lets me have a much shallower dof.

Ideally I would like a macro and a wide angle, to be going on with. But I'm interested generally in what lenses are 'bargains'. AsI said I'm happy to go manual and the 'faster' glass seems a good idea.

While I'm happy to splash £10 on ebay without having any idea at all about the quality that Im going to get, I'm reluctant to start spending more without any idea of the results I should expect.
 
The Tamron Adaptall-2 range is worth looking at. Most of the primes are f2.5 including the 90mm macro, but you wouldn't get that for a tenner. Nor the f3.5 17mm. The cheapest is the 28mm. Sometimes the 24mm goes for half the usual amount and the zooms and telephotos sometimes go for peanuts if they have no mount or a less-used type. Although it wasn't cheap, I once got a lens for far less than it would've gone for on fleabay from Ffordes:
https://secure.ffordes.com/Shop/Store/StockList.asp?Type=secd&Sub=1&code=OY&subcode=ML
That list will give you some idea of what's available and the 2nd-hand retail value.

You're probably most likely to get a bargain by getting a film camera complete with a few lenses. The bargains I've had have been for lenses off the radar: they've not been really cheap, but they've gone for far less than they might've. But then again, any publicity you dig up for a hidden gem may have been planted by someone when he was trying to offload his own.
 
Thanks for the advice.
 
If you are looking at OM lenses, then the 18 F3.5 (or is that a F2.8), 21 F3.5, and 90 macro are all good, but none of these are easy to find or cheap (quality costs money). Also with the tiny view finder in the 510 I would not be using manual focus lenses as you just can't tell when it is in focus.
 
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