Downside of OM lens?

Kofman13

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I want to get a 50mm lens but I'm strapped for cash. I found an om Olympus 50mm f1.8 for $60. And an adapter for dslr for $40. That's $100 for a 50 mm which is a great price for me. What are the downsides of having an OM lens. I hear there is no autofocus. What else?
 
I want to get a 50mm lens but I'm strapped for cash. I found an om Olympus 50mm f1.8 for $60. And an adapter for dslr for $40. That's $100 for a 50 mm which is a great price for me. What are the downsides of having an OM lens. I hear there is no autofocus. What else?

No auto-diaphram: The aperture closes as you change the f/stop ring as opposted to staying wide open until the shutter is fired. As a result, you have to manually open the aperture to maximum to focus and then close the aperture manually to meter and shoot.

Only Aperture Priority and Manual Exposure: no body control of aperture so no Program mode, no Shutter Priority mode, and no auto flash exposure.
 
I want to get a 50mm lens but I'm strapped for cash. I found an om Olympus 50mm f1.8 for $60. And an adapter for dslr for $40. That's $100 for a 50 mm which is a great price for me. What are the downsides of having an OM lens. I hear there is no autofocus. What else?

No auto-diaphram: The aperture closes as you change the f/stop ring as opposted to staying wide open until the shutter is fired. As a result, you have to manually open the aperture to maximum to focus and then close the aperture manually to meter and shoot.

Only Aperture Priority and Manual Exposure: no body control of aperture so no Program mode, no Shutter Priority mode, and no auto flash exposure.

Actually, if I am not mistaken, Olympus OM series lenses have a depth of field preview button on each and every lens, so you will not have to close the lens down one click-stop at a time, but will be able to press the DOF button on the lens to get it to stop down to the shooting aperture. Using a Nikon lens on a Canon body, one is forced to close the lens down by counting clicks--with Pentax M42 and Olympus OM lenses, both which have an on-lens diaphragm actuation button or switch, it's easy to stop the lens down at shooting time. But as Dwig writes, manual metering must be done with the lens stopped down, but Aperture-priority automatic should meter reasonably well at the time of the shot,without the need to stop the lens down prior to the shot being triggered.
 
so all those fancy auto modes wont work? so no program mode and shutter? but at least aperture priority will work? :( guess the newbie has to get good at manual stuff....
 
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Yep, Dwig is telling you the truth--no programmed automatic mode, no shutter priority automatic mode. However, if you are using this manual lens on an Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens camera, the EVF will compensate for the dimmed aperture when the lens is stopped down.

I use adapted lenses on my Canons sometimes--Nikon and Pentax lenses on Canon 20D and 5D bodies. It is a bit slower than using a Canon EF lens with autofocus, but on manual focusing lenses, there is not that much loss of speed.
Plus, it allows one to use lenses Canon does not have in their lineup, or to economically buy a lens that has narrow,limited use,for a very low price. Since Olympus OM lenses are "orphans", many Oly lenses are now available rather inexpensively.
 
ok no program priority and no shutter auto priority, but what about aperture priority auto
 

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