Olympus om lenses for e-400

[Amadeus]

Hi! I have Olympus E-400 and although I'm quite new to photography, I feel that I need some more (different) lenses. As my budget is limeted my eye was caught by OM adapter. OM lenses cost just a fraction compared to 3/4 lenses. I am just wondering if having that adaptor and "old" OM lenses has any downsides? Could someone give me any advice on this subject? Thank you! :blushing:

 

[jon_k]

Hi! I have Olympus E-400 and although I'm quite new to photography, I feel that I need some more (different) lenses. As my budget is limeted my eye was caught by OM adapter. OM lenses cost just a fraction compared to 3/4 lenses. I am just wondering if having that adaptor and "old" OM lenses has any downsides? Could someone give me any advice on this subject? Thank you! :blushing:

There are downsides and upsides to everything, thats the beauty.

The OM Zuiko's are wonderful lenses from there time and still produce great photographs. The biggest downside is no autofocus obviously. With many lenses this makes it harder to focus in the small viewscreen of the E-500 (I'd assume the E-400 too.) Film cameras also had a split prism focus screen to aid in focusing, and without that on digital cameras it's even harder to focus.

As for image quality, the quality is great with primes. With the zoom lenses, may or may not be so great, near the edges of the photos at the wide end there's usually color fringing and such that becomes apparent at the 2x crop factor of the 4/3 design.

The primes on the other hand were so well made from that era that they work GREAT. Hardly any fringing at the corners. And for the speed of some of the lenses... wow! And primes are so fun to work.

The OM zuiko lenses have a 2x crop factor, so any wide angle lens won't be so wide on 4/3. This can be a good or bad thing. Don't spend $1,200 on a 10mm OM Zuiko obviously. ;-) It'd end up being 20mm on 4/3...and your kit lens can cover that!

Adapters vary in quality, the ones off ebay are good enough. Some are poorly made, light leaks, and dont allow infinity focus, and some are good. I wouldn't spend the $100 for the Olympus adapter. Just take a gamble with ebay for $24 bucks.

A word of warning once you get into legacy glass you won't stop. I'm diving into all sorts of legacy glass, collecting new adapters for other mounts... even converting lenses that have no adapter over to fit my 4/3 camera (e.g. hexanon lenses). Nearly any 35mm lens will work on Olympus due to the flange distance.

It is fun and exciting, and if you buy a split prism focusing screen ( http://www.katzeyeoptics.com/item--Katz-Eye-Focusing-Screen-for-the-Olympus-E-400--prod_E400.html ) from katz eye, or a cheapie from eBay... then you can take images sharp as a tack. Nobody will ever know the wiser.

I even like some of the old lens coatings, and the colors they make... I kinda prefer the coatings more than some of the ZD glass.

Try it out to begin with, if you like it, great! Don't ditch it if your images come out blurry, if your eyes aren't good you might need to invest in a focusing screen. Just don't buy all the good lenses off eBay! I don't want any more competition.:twisted:

If it turns out not to be your thing then at least you didn't spend much. Of course, at the deals you'll get you won't stop once you find an adapter!

You can obviously tell from my signature that I'm no stranger to adapting 35mm lenses to the E-500. I had no idea I'd have so much fun when I got my adapter.

 

[Amadeus]

Thank you very much! I will try it out. Can I ask something else? I only just got a tripod and now need a remote - as I found out I already ordered one from e-bay. I can't remember the make but it was a cordless one. Now I am starting to wonder, if it is good enough. (See what a worrier I am - I don't even have it yet) And may be I should get a cord one...