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Old wide angle lenses (24mm, 28mm) on m43 ?
  • 106 Replies sorted by
  • the nikkor is nikon mount, the vivitar OM. nomad, does it matter? i'm using m4/3 adapters.

  • Well, you'll need to adapt to different focusing directions…

  • @amked I've tested old Nikkor 24/2.8 on the GH1 and didn't like it so much. But many people admire it, maybe I've tried just a lemon copy and this lens is better- can you not try it first? The price $ 128 is very good, though. The early series didn't have multi-coating, in that case it would be too expensive. This lens is still manufactured, one can have it brand new for some $ 530

  • these are the two i'm having difficulty to decide on. more opinions anyone?

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    vivitar_24.jpg
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  • @amked

    This Nikkor has lots of CA. No idea about this Vivitar, many brands produced for them. Some are great, try it. Check in some second hand store also for old Minolta 24mm f/2.8 or equivalent Canon FD, both are excellent, maybe also bit cheaper.

  • I've had a number of wide angle Nikon based lenses that I've used with my old Letus and M2 adaptors, and then moved to the GH2. A Nikkor 24mm 2.8 and 2 different Sigma f2.8 28mm. All of them were so mushy and soft that I could never tell if I was in focus. I've even sampled other people's Nikkor 24mm with the same mushy results.

    I bought the Panny Pancake 20mm for this exact reason. A fast (f1.7) very sharp wide lens. While I don't love the 20mm completely - I think the focus ring is terrible. But, in fairness, I'm not doing a ton of rack focusing with it.

    [just my opinion]

  • I recently got a cheap as chips mint pentacon 29mm f2.8 in m42 mount. Really great lens for the money.

    Overall, m42 is a mount with many cheap quality lenses.

  • I ve' got the Canon FD 24mm f/2.8 and it's the sharpest lens among canon FDs (except the Canon FD L 85mm f/1.2). The medium shots on this videos are from this lens . . .

  • Canon FD 24mm f/2.8 and it's the sharpest lens among canon FDs (except the Canon FD L 85mm f/1.2)

    @sakattaq76
    You can not claim that this lens is even the sharpest one among Canon FD lenses with focal length 24mm - it is just a wrong information you post here (already FD 24mm f/2.0 is obviously sharper) and it is nothing but bullshit to compare 24mm and 85mm lenses. If you care so much about the sharpness, there is a whole list of Canon FD lenses sharper than this lens.

  • @tetakpatak, you have ablolutely right, I meant sharper than the other FD lens in my collection. Didn't express my thought correctly. My bad. I also have, Canon FD 28mm f/2.8, Canon FD 50mm f/1.4, Canon FD 35-70mm f/3.5-4.5, Vivitar Series1 28-105mm f/2.8-3.8.

  • My Nikkor 24mm F/2 is currently my favorite lens paired with my GH2 and anamorphic (until I drop the cash on a Voigtlander I'm sure). I've been shooting mostly nighttime, available light stuff at F/2.8 - F/4 at the most, admittedly, so currently I'm not leaning on it for sharpness. I'll have to see how it does with deep-focus, daylight stuff...one of these days.

    http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/2420.htm

    http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/comparisons/24mm/

  • I use the Carl Zeiss Jena 20mm f2.8, the latter version, not the one with zebra stripes. It's tack sharp even when wide open. I also use Carl Zeiss ZF 28mm f2, which is really good, and the Carl Zeiss 28-85mm, though a push pin zoom lens, is surprisingly sharp wide open. Its slower aperture at f/3.3 wide open could be one of the reasons.

    I have also tried Voigtlander M mount lenses. The 21mm Skopar at f/4 wide open is not the sharpest piece of glass. I bought it brand new but traded it within a month for the Jena 20mm. The Vivitars made by Komine may have a reputation, but the 35mm copy i had was soft wide open. The flares were interesting if you are after an effect, but for normal corporate shoots, the softness was hard to fix in post.

  • @driftwood i'm sorry for disturbing you.. i saw you write some time ago: "Ive just been given an old OM 24mm 2.8 Olympus / Vivatar and for a freebie its pretty darn good! It was made by Cosina in either 1986 or 76 judging by the serial. :-) "

    I'm thinking about upgrading my old Canon HV30 with the new Panasonic GH3, hoping that the possibility to change from 50p to 60p will arrive soon..(i'm in Europe..and i'd like to shoot windsurfing action..like you could see from my avatar...) I'd like to try a new Lens with AF to helping me in this job.. Moreover to take picture or to make film with subject more steady..i found some old OM Zuiko lenses my father bought with a Olympus OM2-N.... 28mm f3,5 50mm f1,8 135mm f3,5 and i'd like to try to use it.. Is it technically possible to use these lenses with GH3 and it worth...? How could work the manual aperture control..? What kind of adaptor should i buy and where...? Thank you very much for the time you dedicate in helping me.. ws

  • @windsurf Yeah there's some terrific OM Zuiko lenses out there - I must have about 10 of them now! Technically you just need to find and buy what's known as a 'm43 to OM adapter' which extends and converts these old style lenses to correctly fit the the Panasonic Gxx range of micro four thirds cameras without harming the sensor.

    There's a plethora of cheap ebay adapters available (most of these are made in China and are perfectly as good as Panasonic's own brand of m43 to OM adapter) so have a look around. Fotodiox also make many adapters and they are proven quality but may cost slightly more. Around $10 (£6) is the cheapest Ive seen though this was a few months back. Happy hunting.

    Lens Usage: You just use them as you would a manual lens - select M for manual on movie recording modes and also switch on 'Shoot Without Lens' for manual lenses in the menu. Use the aperture on your OM lenses & the focus barrel to focus - easy :-) Get some nice filmic looking clips with these great little lenses.

    Good luck. Here's a link of the adapter

    http://compare.ebay.co.uk/like/120994822799?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&adtype=pla&crdt=0

    Generally if u find a UK dealer a few days for delivery else upto 10-14 days for China (sometimes quicker)

  • @driftwood That looks just like the adapter I have. The only problem is it doesn't hold the manual aperture.

    I was given an OM-2 in pristine condition with a couple three lenses but don't have any experience with a non-Nikon SLR. I'm assuming the little lever you can depress on the lens to manually engage the aperture setting is perhaps the camera's DOF preview? Anyway, there's a pin sticking into the barrel of the adapter near the lens coupling that looks like it may be there to hold this button in place on the OM lens, it just doesn't actually align to anything.

    Given that these are inexpensive items made in China I've wondered if perhaps it's just an assembly error. Is this consistent with your adapter?

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  • I have the fotodiox ones. For the above link I just did a quick ebay search and that seemed the cheapest - sorry if thats no good. Its perhaps better to spend a few extra bucks then.

  • Yeah.

    Before ordering another I'm going to see if I can find a screwdriver small enough to take off the top coupling and rotate it, hoping they just didn't align in properly. Otherwise that screw/pin serves no purpose being there at all except to potentially throw an odd flare inside the barrel.

  • @driftwood Thank you very much for your help and suggestion...and more over for the time you dedicate in answering to me. I'll search for the fotodiox adapters.. Usually if you can it's better to spend some Euro more before than after...

  • @driftwood just another info about the Lens usage:

    Is clear about the focus..just a question about the functioning of the aperture/time values..

    When you set an aperture in the lens (for example f1.8 with the 50 mm) the GHx receive the info of the value you have choosed..?
    Or just calculate the light quantity that goes to the sensor and tell you if the couple of values that you have chosen (in the lens for example f1.8 and in the camera for example Time=1/100 sec) is right for the illumination..?

    Thank you for you r reply... ws

  • @windsurf re: your fotodiox link - thats the ones I bought. No the GHx cameras receive no information about aperture - its all manual control aperture. Similar to Voightlanders. You set your exposure and shutter manually on GHx. Aperture is whatever you set it to - but its viewed as '0' on screen/viewfinder. Set shutter to 1/50 s speed / 100th etc keep it in PAL divisibles.

    You;ll become used to working manually - its better and good education. :-)

  • @lenuisible I'm selling a Kiron 24mm f2.0 mount minolta MD - 160€

    Video sample shot with this lens: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=UVkQH9sRjh4

  • @driftwood i've received today the adaptor..and i've try to use it with the 3 old lenses.. It seem the lenses are making a fine job..the clips i have taken seems really nice.

    I've only noticed one little problem:

    when I change the direction of rotation of the focus ring from near to far or vice versa adapter does a snap and the movement of the focus is not so soft it it straight .. This defect is not present if I use the objectives directly on the old camera body Olympus OM 2N. The defect from the tests that I did seems to be related to imperfect connection between the adapter and the lens. It seems to have a couple of millimeters of play. Instead the connection between the adapter and the camera body GH3 seems very good and stable.    Do you have this problem or is it a flaw in my adapter ..?

    Because as I said I have only received today, if it is my fault to have this I would try to write to the provider asking for an explanation and possibly would try to make me change ..

    Thanks for your help and good evening.

    windsurf.

  • Could be a flaw in adapter as mine is pretty firm.

  • Ok thank you very much... So i try to write to the supplier.. ws.