Understanding Lumix G and lenses

[skeen]

Howdy,

I'm a little confused about the compatibility of lenses for my GF1. Looking on the Panasonic site, I can see a range of lenses for Lumix G...but not all of them list the GF1 specifically as being compatible.

I'm also curious about the manufacturer adaptors for Leica lenses. What kind of compatibility can I hope to expect generally for this camera?

Ideally...I am looking for lenses which are fully compatible, in that I don't want the lenses to have features the camera cannot utilize, such as changing f-stops, or auto-focus.

I'm extremely inexperienced in this area, and I'm not looking to buy a new lense just yet anyway. I'd just like to gain an understanding.

I think probably the next lense I'll go for, or ask for, for my upcoming birthday is the f/1.7 Pancake for the GF1, but I'm just curious as to what my options are and what will work well.

 

[usayit]

GF1 is a micro 4/3rds camera. Do not confuse this with the "plain" 4/3rds cameras.

Currently, Olympus and Panasonic make micro 4/3rds lenses with full compatibility. Many like to refer to these lenses as "native" as they were intended for the micro 4/3rds format.

Micro 4/3rd native lenses (m43 for short) from either Olympus and Panasonic are interchangeable. Olympus implements image stabilization in body while Panasonic implements image stabilization in the lens. As such, you'll find Olympus lenses do not have built in image stabilization while many of the Panasonic lenses have built in image stabilization.

Here is a chart of the current m43 native lenses available:

Four Thirds | Four Thirds | Micro Four Thirds | Chart(Lenses)


There is currently one Leica/Panasonic lens for the m43 system. It is the Panasonic 45mm f/2.8 macro.

The Pancake lens you mentioned is a very popular lens on m43. So much good has been said about it but I don't own one.


[EDIT]

Forgot to mention one odd ball to recently join the native m43 format. Voigtlander makes a nokton 25mm f/0.95. It is the fastest lens for this format natively. It was designed for m43 (to avoid fringing, color casts at corners etc) BUT does not have any automatic control. Meaning it is manual focus and manual aperture control.

 

[usayit]

Now for adapted lenses.

Olympus and Panasonic both provide adapters that allow the "plain" 4/3rds format lenses to be used on the "micro" 4/3rds bodies. AF, metering and aperture are all operational. What is widely accepted is that autofocus performance is noticeably slower when these lenses are adapted to m43.

There are a few Panasonic/Leica zoom lenses available in "plain" 4/3rds format. They were originalliy part of the Leica Digilux 3 and its cousin the Panasonic DMC-L1. This zoom aparently is a decent performer and thus difficult to find on the used market.

 

[usayit]

Finally, other adapted lenses.

The mirror-less design with the short flange distance makes the m43 format perfect for adapting lenses of almost any make/brand. BUT with limitations. There are numerous adapters to adapt manual focus lenses to m43. I personally adapt K-mount, m42 screwmounts, as well as M-mount Leica. When adapted, they are completely manual. This includes aperture control and focus.

If you adapt lenses that require electronics to control, it is even more limited. EF/EOS lenses for example mounted to m43 cameras via an adapter cannot be stopped down as the aperture diaphragm are electronically controlled.

 

[skeen]

Awesome, just the kind of reply I was hoping for. So with the 4/3 mount, I effectively have my pick of any 4/3 and m4/3 lenses.

How does metering work (if at all) for adapted lenses then? Presumably the camera can't know the focus and aperture - does it then not record these properties in the EXIF?

I'm really liking this camera, it feels personal already - but I'd love to have a neat selection of lenses. Unfortunately, the camera blew away my budget, and I'll be lucky to be bought the Pancake (which I'd really like, as everyone is saying it's quite fast).

So I'm wondering if there are some (relatively) inexpensive solutions to slapping on some old glass that might give my images a different perspective, and just enable me to learn more about the craft.

I currently have the 14-45mm. (Probably a dumb question, but why doesn't the Panasonic site list the DMC-GF1 on the top right of these pages?)

 

[usayit]

How does metering work (if at all) for adapted lenses then? Presumably the camera can't know the focus and aperture - does it then not record these properties in the EXIF?


So I'm wondering if there are some (relatively) inexpensive solutions to slapping on some old glass that might give my images a different perspective, and just enable me to learn more about the craft.

I currently have the 14-45mm. (Probably a dumb question, but why doesn't the Panasonic site list the DMC-GF1 on the top right of these pages?)

Metering on these cameras are performed by measuring the light entering through the already stopped down lens. It doesn't know the aperture set... doesn't need to for metering. EXIF on the other hand won't contain the correct information because it does not know which lens is attached. Exit won't stop you from taking a good photo.

There is a whole world of vintage lenses to choose from of all sorts of characteristics and price ranges. FD, K, M mount, Nikon, Contax, m42 screw mount, Leica threaded mount, Even quirky c-mount lenses. Many make their choice based on lenses they already own. I personally have a collection of m42 screw mount takumar/Pentax lenses so I adapt those. My main camera uses m-mount. As such I adapt those too so the two can share lenses.

I'd probably recommend starting with the m42 screwmount and check eBay for Takumar SMC and some Russian lenses. They are pretty cheap and the adapter is very simple. Adapters are pretty commonly found on eBay too.

The reason why the GF1 is not listed on that page is because the GF2 was just released. It is the next generation replacing the GF1.


note.... TPF doesn't have a large following of m43 users (infiltrated mostly by Canon and Nikon shooters) so information specific to m43 might not be easily available. There are other resources online specific to the format that should be interest to you

 

[skeen]

Metering on these cameras are performed by measuring the light entering through the already stopped down lens. It doesn't know the aperture set... doesn't need to for metering. EXIF on the other hand won't contain the correct information because it does not know which lens is attached. Exit won't stop you from taking a good photo.

Right, of course. I was concerned that metering might somehow use the electronic values of the aperture and f-stop. I'm just wondering what is displayed on the screen then for these values? Nothing, or something incorrect?

I'd probably recommend starting with the m42 screwmount and check eBay for Takumar SMC and some Russian lenses. They are pretty cheap and the adapter is very simple. Adapters are pretty commonly found on eBay too.

That's very interesting, thank you

The reason why the GF1 is not listed on that page is because the GF2 was just released. It is the next generation replacing the GF1.

Hard to believe the GF2 is in the same series really. It seems like more of a consumer-oriented camera than the GF1, which seems more geared toward the hobbyist.

note.... TPF doesn't have a large following of m43 users (infiltrated mostly by Canon and Nikon shooters) so information specific to m43 might not be easily available. There are other resources online specific to the format that should be interest to you

Noted - thanks

 

[usayit]

Right, of course. I was concerned that metering might somehow use the electronic values of the aperture and f-stop. I'm just wondering what is displayed on the screen then for these values? Nothing, or something incorrect?

I am assuming that the gf1 is similar to the Olympus cousin the EPL1 which is what I have. You should see just the shutter setting within the viewfinder when in aperture priority. Manual mode should present current set shutter plus a meter reading. This is for adapted lenses.

For m43 as well as 4/3 you should see both values.