Twice as good as a nifty fifty?

TBAM

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I don't really know what to say other than I am completely-freaking-ecstatic.

I recently purchased an OM System 50mm f1.8 for $12.50 AUD off ebay, and an adapter for $16.95 AUD for my Olympus E-420.

Now, because of the 4/3 sensor being a 2x crop factor, that means that the 50mm f1.8 becomes a 100mm f1.8 lens.

That's a damn fine focal length and aperture for less than $30 Aussie bucks.

I just put it together and tried it out...can anyone say Depth of Field?

I'm talking easily distingushable Depth of Field of a few millimetres. My wife has some fake roses (made of material). I can literally focus in on the strands with the remainder of the rose out of focus.

It's so versatile, you can stop it down and get more depth of field, or position yourself at different distances from your subject to make it more versatile.

Anyways, I'm mainly writing because i'm so overwhelmed by the performance of a 70s lens on a 2008 model camera for under $30.

Now i'm pondering purchasing the 50mm f1.2 which usually goes for $150 AUD, or some shorter focal length f2.8 primes.

I just can't believe the amount of value a $16.95 adapter has added to my camera.

Sorry for the hip hip hooraying, I just had to share it with someone. hehe.
 
tis okay hip all you want,,now do they have some thing for a Canon :lmao:
 
Just to clarify, hehe. When I meant it's twice as good as a nifty fifty, i meant because the focal length is twice as long / the crop factor is 2x, not necesarily that it is twice as better.

Which I understand since most nifty fifty's go on 1.6 crop factor camera's making it a 80mm f1.8 in comparison to my 100mm f1.8 making it not really twice as good, but you get my meaning, hehe.

Anyways, enough of my rambling.

rlcphotos: You can get an OM to EOS adapter i'm pretty sure, or an FD to EOS adapter so you can use some old lenses, however your crop factor will more than likely be 1.6 and not 2x and the lenses may not focus to infinity. But that sort of thing is best researched before you invest in an adapter and retro lens.
 
With the adapter does it still let you auto focus?
 
Nope.

For one, the lens is a manual focus lens (even on it's intended camera body it has no motor inside it or provision for auto-focus).

Two, the adapter pretty much eliminates any electronic communication there is between the camera and the lens. Even if the lens did have auto-focus capabilities, the camera would not be able to tell it to auto-focus.

Although, you can get focus-confirm adapters that allow the camera to beep and confirm focus once you have focused correctly.

However the glass is so good, and with the pre-set aperture ring focusing accurately is very easy, even with the small viewfinder.

I prefer the manual focus on my f1.8 1 billion times better than the focus by wire that comes with the olympus kit lenses.

I too was worried about manual focus before I got the lens, but you don't have to worry. Focus is smooth and just amazing.

I see you have an e-510.

Check out ebay, you can get an OM-S 50mm f1.8 quite easily (there's actually I think a guy in Britain selling 8 of them for $150 AUD) on ebay and the adapter's are easily purchased from Hong Kong and are fantastic quality (I used a Roxsen adapter).

Normally you pay $200 AUD for the official Olympus MF-1, but the ebay ones are just as good and go for around $20 AUD.

Check it out, I was a bit hesitant, but you won't regret it. One of the best photographic purchases i've ever made.
 

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