Using an OM lens on a 4/3 Camera

Qwerty69

Qwerty69

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I've decided to force myself to learn about apertures and have purchased a 28mm OM lens to use with my E-420.

I know I need an adapter ring (and am thinking of getting one that has an AF feature) but does anyone have any experience using an Olympus OM lens on a 4/3 camera body?

Any tips or things to look out for would be appreciated.
 
sorry - I missed this.

I use OM lenses on my 510 and e1. You can get adapters for pretty much anything to 4/3rds.

The viewfinder is a bit small and it can sometimes be tricky to manually focus, but it is a good way to access cheap quality lenses.
 
I use a 300mm f4.5 OM on my e410, other than manual focussing it works very well. Make sure you get a genuine olympus MF-1 adaptor, I know 2 people who have damaged camera bodies with cheapo copies.

Seems a bit odd to be using an OM 28mm lens as thats equivalent to 56mm digital. I don't know what you paid for the lens but add in the cost of the adaptor and it would probably have been cheaper to buy a digi lens that covers 56mm. no adaptor so quicker to fit and you keep the auto focus.
 
I wanted something in the range of a 50mm prime, so thought it would be a good buy.

The aim is to pick up a cheap adapter from "the bay" to keep the costs down, but I understand the need to be careful as not to damage the camera.
 
I have a cheapy adapter and have never had any problems. I have heard of people buying the AF confirm ones and having the chip fall off into the camera causing damage.

However - I also have a minolta MD adapter and that could cause problems. MD lenses have an aperture pin that sticks into the camera body. Doesnt seem to be a problem on the e-1 but they do foul the 510.

As for why buy a 28mm - I presume for lens speed. Its quite easy to pick up a f/2.8 or f/3.5 manual lens at a sensible price.

And of course a 28mm OM is the same as a 28mm digital - all lenses are quoted in 'standard' 35mm terms. The field of view is the equiv of 56mm on a full frame body, but it is the body that makes the difference.
 
who? said:
I have a cheapy adapter and have never had any problems. I have heard of people buying the AF confirm ones and having the chip fall off into the camera causing damage.
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Was going to go for an AF confirm one but based on the above I may opt for the manual focus version.

I think I need to put the camera in Aperture priority and then set both the camera and lens to the Aperture? Any tips for use or thing I should be aware of?
 
I tend to use manual mode. Set aperture on the lens and shutter speed on camera.

But aperture mode works fine.
 
To be honest I've not ventured too near manual mode yet.

If I put the camera in manual and set the shutter speed can I assume that the aperture on the camera has no effect i.e. it doesn't matter what it's set to?
 
Yes. On my e-1 the aperture just comes up as -.- on the display. ie you can't set it anyway.
 
Thanks for all the assistance, I can't wait until I get the lens now.
 
Have fun!

It is a cheap way to some good quality glass.
 
Have fun!

It is a cheap way to some good quality glass.
 
who? said:
And of course a 28mm OM is the same as a 28mm digital - all lenses are quoted in 'standard' 35mm terms. The field of view is the equiv of 56mm on a full frame body, but it is the body that makes the difference.
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Which is why I posted this
johnw said:
Seems a bit odd to be using an OM 28mm lens as thats equivalent to 56mm digital.
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knowing he was using a 4/3 body and is (judging form his post) fairly new to this sort of thing.
 
John I knew exactly what I was buying. One of the lenses I have goes to around 55mm but I wanted to force myself out of auto/program mode in order to get a better understanding of the effect of different apertures.
 
Olympus sent me one for free when I bought the E-300 (came in a silk lined box no less!). Worked great with a 50mm Zuiko.
 
JohnW said:
Which is why I posted this knowing he was using a 4/3 body and is (judging form his post) fairly new to this sort of thing.
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John, I just wanted to make it clear that the lenses are not different - I've come across a number of people who think that the lenses *are* different. Olympus adverts do not help imo.

Oh, and I envy you your 300mm.
 
Qwerty69 said:
John I knew exactly what I was buying. One of the lenses I have goes to around 55mm but I wanted to force myself out of auto/program mode in order to get a better understanding of the effect of different apertures.
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Didn't mean to cause offence. Without the full explanation it made me wonder of you had fallen for some dubious advertising. I wish you luck with getting to grips with the basics, you will get a lot more out of your photography that way.
 
who? said:
John, I just wanted to make it clear that the lenses are not different - I've come across a number of people who think that the lenses *are* different. Olympus adverts do not help imo.
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I posted the way i did to avoid confusing the OP. Having seen his later post with explanation of why he wanted that particular lens it was clearly unnecessary.

who? said:
Oh, and I envy you your 300mm.
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it works well without being too large to lug about.
 
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