do adapters affect the picture quality negatively?

[ricitius]

i'm thinking about using a nikon to 4/3 adapter for my evolt e-410. i know for sure that the auto focus will not work on the nikon lenses. the reason i'm considering this is b/c 4/3 lenses are a tad pricey for a student budget, and i just want to use a 50mm normal lens. i figure i can find a cheap 50mm nikon normal lens anywhere.

 

[Big Mike]

There are two types of lens mount adaptors. One type is just a ring that has the corresponding mounts...this does however move the lens farther away from the camera, which makes it impossible to focus at infinity. Good for close up work but not much else. Because it's only a ring, image quality is not affected.

The other type of adaptor also moves the lens farther away...but it has a lens element, which makes it possible to focus at infinity. However, because the light has to pass though this other glass, the image quality is affected...and not for the better. Most of them are said to be pretty bad actually.

That's one of the problems with the 4/3 mount...it's too new to have a good selection of cheap/used lenses.