M lenses with Olympus E-P2

[parigby]

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Is anyone using their M lenses on an Olympus E-P2 via an adaptor, and if so, is there anything l should be made aware of.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

philip

[250swb]

I use them on the E-P1, so not far off. There is nothing to be aware of really, only the obvious thing is that your focal length double! The doubling of focal length doesn't solve the soft corner problem of lens that are wider than 35mm focal length. The m4/3 sensor is designed for telecentric lenses with the light path going in more or less a straight line from lens to sensor. Of course legacy lenses don't do that, the angle is acute. So the corners render as soft because the sensor can't pick up the contrast/detail as well as say the Leica M sensor that has micro lenses to overcome this problem. Its not dreadful though, and some people like the more arty look from say a CV 15mm.

 

Other than that the qualities of the lenses are still there, beautiful rendering etc. But like a lot of people I find that the novelty did wear off for day to day use. I still like using the longer Leica lenses because you get image stabilisation, but the Panasonic 14-45mm m4/3 lens that I default to (not the Olympus kit lens) is so good that for smaller enlargements it does everything exceptionally well.

 

Steve

[om2ep1]

Hi Philip,

 

as Olympus aficionado since OM2 days, Leica M-6 owner as well I'm

totally happy with an E-P1 and a bag of OM, 4/3 and Leica M-Lenses,

mountable with adapters for the Olypmus E-P series.

 

The E-P1 allows me to use my OM macro lenses (50, 80, 90, 135 mm) and

the set of M-Lenses (mostly second hand

2.8/24, 2.0/35, 2.0/50, 1.4/75, 2.8/90, 2.8/135 mm).

My favourites are the 24 and the 75.

The 35, 50, and 90 fit nicely with the E-P body shape and concept, as well.

Even a Leica R 3.4/180 is mountable via 2 adaptors and performs exceptionally good.

 

Concerning M-Lenses, I assume you are familiar with manual focusing

and its restriction to more or less static motives.

 

Using M-Lenses on an E-P you should read the E-P manual in order to

get advantage of the offered 7x and 10x display enlargements for focusing.

Especially for the short M - tele lense sector I think - without concrete proof -

that this on-screen focusing system outperforms the original one

provided for the analog M-bodies.

 

With respect to the m4/3 sensors telecentric requirement I could say,

that it is not so a big issue as often pointed out,

since due to the smaller m4/3 sensor, the maximum deviation angle for light rays

is far less than for the M8 and M9 sensors.

 

All in all I'm really happy that OLYMPUS / PANASONIC launched this line of digital devices

and I still shake my head, why Leitz didn't come up with this class of camera bodies as

alternative to their (rather expensive) M8, M9 series.

 

For wide-angle tasks I recommend genuine (micro) four third lenses.

 

If you have any questions, let me know.

 

Ludwig

[henri]

Using the great VF-2 Finder, OlyPen+Leica-Lenses is just a great combo, e.g. with the Summilux 1.4 50mm for portrait-work. Easy focusing, great to see the bokeeh-effects, just wonderful.

[sanyasi]

I saw someone demonstrate the Olympus E-P (don't know if a 1 or 2) with the M lenses about six weeks ago at a Leica dealer's shop--so these folks new what they were doing. I was tempted to look at it as a backup camera. It may be a legitimate backup camera, but the focusing with the M lenses was quite slow. For landscapes, probably fine. But if you are doing candid walking around shots, the process looked less than ideal. My sense was, why not just use it with the intended lens that comes with the kit?

[Steve Busby]

Well, I have both the E-P2 and the GF1, to date I have had NO problems with the GF1!

with using M lenses, I wish I could say the same with the E-P2.

The GF1 is a joy to use, and focus M lenses with ease, giving very good sharp results.

I can even Hyper-focus any of the Leica & CV lenses I have.

The E-P2 on the other hand is a nightmare!!!!! I have only a handful of sharp focused shots,

using both Leica and CV lenses?

I'm beginning to feel I have a duff example!! But for me the E-P2 just dose not work, not sure whether it's the viewfinder or the camera thats at fault!!! Also I found the files very noisy compared to the GF1, But thats just me.

 

Steve