D5500 + OM system lenses?

[alisdairv]

So I just got a D5500 to bring me back into the SLR fold after a good 10 years of p+s. I've still got a pile of mine and the family's manual OM gear that was being kept with the thought that I might use an adapter when I got a digital body (which was nearly the EM10).
There's nothing extra special, some all rounders and a couple of 50s, but now I've gone down the Nikon route, and given I'm a bit rusty, I'm wondering if getting an adapter and playing with them might not be very helpful for me and more serve to confuse and frustrate than add experience/enjoyment.
Does anyone have experience with old oly glass on new Nikon bodies? How are the results? Any advice/suggestions?
Thanks.

 

[Derrel]

I would buy a Canon d-slr in order to utilize Olympus OM-mount optics, with full infinity focusing, and decent light metering in stopped-down mode. I have an OM 28mm f/2.8 lens that I've used on Canon d-slrs with an adapter, and it works well. Nikon's flange-to-film/flange-to-sensor distance does not play well with other lens mount lenses; Canon, on the other hand, works well with seven different legacy lens mounts, making it the a good platform for adapted lenses. The glass element system needed to bring "non-Nikon" mount lenses to infinity focus hurts optics, in my experience.

Canon d-slr bodies are plentiful on the used market. I bought a moderately-priced adapter from Fotodiox, to bring m42 thread mount lenses to full Infinity focus on Nikon; the results were extremely underwhelming; meanwhile the same lenses on Canon's 5D were optically excellent performers for static or distant type shooting. Focusing may be a bit tricky/unreliable/spotty on the smaller-findered cameras like D3xxx and D5xxx bodies when using the eye-level finder, or for moving subjects, and with wide-angle lenses. Live View will likely be the easiest.

For close-up stuff, the Oly lenses ought to be pretty usable with the regular, garden-variety $17 Made in China type adapters from OM to F-mount. And at $14-$25 for the regular garden variety type adapters, that's a pretty reasonable expense to incur to see first-hand how they perform for your expectations.