Using Manual "Retro" lenses on micro4/3rds.

[1948Kustom]

Hi,
Does anyone have any useful links, hits, tips or set up advice for using older fully manual lenses on Oly bodies ?
What retro lenses should I look out for and cost. I realise I will need to buy a suitable adapter to do this.
Does anyone use older, fully manual lenses, or even 3rd party new ones , Samyang etc.
Thanks in anticipation of any / all replies.

[David M]

I've still got a dozen or so OM and OM fit manual focus primes plus 3 Samyangs. For the past couple of years they've got more use than my HG and SHG glass. One of my favourite at the moment is a Vivitar 35mm f/1.9 from the mid '70s.

[Greytop]

Originally Posted by 1948Kustom

Hi,
Does anyone have any useful links, hits, tips or set up advice for using older fully manual lenses on Oly bodies ?
What retro lenses should I look out for and cost. I realise I will need to buy a suitable adapter to do this.
Does anyone use older, fully manual lenses, or even 3rd party new ones , Samyang etc.
Thanks in anticipation of any / all replies.

What focal lengths are you interested in?

I use a manual Tokina 300 mm f/2.8 with my E-M1 and E-M5 MK2 occasionally.
It's a Canon FD mount so I use an FD to micro4/3rds adapter.
Shown here with my old gripped E-M5.

[crimbo]

I use OM lenses as well as M 42 and Nikon AIS
Go search the charity shops , find a lens and then get an adapter
Then enjoy!

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[1948Kustom]

Thanks for all your replies. Primes probably, but a tele or long lens at the right price would be useful. Next question, how best to set up my EM-10 to shoot with a manual lens ?

[David M]

You can use manual or aperture priority exposure. I use aperture priority all the time. If you're looking at longer lenses the male Rose-breasted Grosbeak in my gallery was taken with my 30+ year old OM 300mm. The tent caterpillars were taken with my 35 year old Tamron 135mm.

[benvendetta]

Get a cheap 50mm f1.8 Zuiko, a cheap Ebay adapter and you have made a good start. This shouldn't cost more than £35 and you have a fast short telephoto. Best to avoid old zooms though.

[1948Kustom]

Thanks again.

[1948Kustom]

Hi,
Just bought a 50mm f1.8 Pentacon lens in a soft pouch with a 49mm skylight filter locally for under £20.00. I got a M42 adapter for £4.99. Bargains !
Now comes the fun learning how to best use this set up.

[Bengeo]

Don't forget to set IS to the focal length. You might want to add magnify and peaking to buttons to assist with manual focus.

[1948Kustom]

Thanks for this info Andy. Hope to have a play sometime later today with my 'new' lens.

[JonSchick]

I hope you don't mind the sales pitch but if you're interested, I have a very high quality Zeiss Planar T* 50mm/1.7 lens (Contax/Yashica mount) which I've been wanting to sell for a little while. I'll include mounts for both Four Thirds and micro 43 as part of the deal, and it comes with both caps and original soft case.

It's optically superb and cosmetically excellent, but there is a tiny amount of oil on the back of one of the aperture blades. This shouldn't cause any issues for years but one day the lens may need a service if the aperture gets sticky (certainly isn't currently - it's nice and snappy).

It's a super lens and there are other good Contax/Yashica options that you could use with the same adapters, including some fabulous telephoto lenses. I've also very much enjoyed some of the higher quality Vivitar lenses in the past in this mount too - esp some of the macros.

I'm happy to ship the lens with adapters for £65 including delivery. And can provide links to photos if you're interested.

Best wishes,

Jon

[Petrochemist]

I've used c-mount, PK, M42, OM, T2, & Sony A lenses, with plain, tiltable, focal reducing & macro extending adapters (c-mount & Sony A are limited to plain adapters)
Excluding playing with my telescopes (which get to extreme focal lengths & tiny effective apertures) I've have tried focal lengths between 10mm & 600mm.

The most difficult has definitely been the shorter focal lengths, where the adapter size/alignment is particularly critical. I've not been happy with any of the shots I've managed with 10mm lenses
Mind you 600mm is pretty much impossible to handhold (due to minute FOV, it is after all a 1200mm equivalent). Surprisingly with the focal reducer it is manageable with a steady hand & good position. (I've managed the moon handheld!)

I find it quite fun to experiment with adapted lenses, especially where it allows settings I can't get to with my native lenses.

If your not just using lenses you already have, make sure you get lenses with aperture rings! Lenses designed to be controlled by the camera don't adapt so well. I guess the same can be said for focusing, electronic focusing lenses aren't easy to use!

I'd also recommend sticking to focal lengths of about 25mm and longer. Shorter focal length c-mounts rarely if ever give enough coverage to increase the FOV further & issues with adapters become a headache...

[1948Kustom]

Hi Jon,
Thanks for your info and I would have been interested in your lens had I not just have bought a 50mm f1.8
Thanks again.