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Old OMlenses on E1

Someone I know just sold a lot of OM lenses with high specs (16mm, 24 f2, 35-80 f2.8, 180 f2.8) because he is going digital and didn't realise the possibility of an adaptor to encourage his choice of an E-1 allowing him to keep zuiko lenses.

So Olympus probably has missed an marketing opportunity there, as he is lost to Olympus after 20 years (apart from the OM4 and 55 1.2 he is keeping!).
 
Yes maybe they missed an opportunity, but I guess the whole system and lenses are designed as one, and the whole philosophy of the dedicated digital lenses for digital cameras is a valid one if you look at the science behind it all. It is actually not that clever an idea to put an analogue lens on a digi camera for many reasons. Especially wide angle lenses. Take a look at the four thirds site to see why.
Then again it makes it less painful way to get into digital if you can use a few older analogue leses.
I have to say that I have 3 or the lenses dedicated for the E1, and the difference in the operation compared to the OM lenses, so it is well worth getting them for many reasons. I used the OM 400 yesterday which works well, it seems, but all the feedback to the eyepiece is lost, of course.
JK
 
The biggest drawback, in my opinion, to using OM lenses on the E-1 is the lack of auto diaphragm. Aperture priority AE is fine for me (it's what I use 90% of the time anyway) and for a lot of my work I can live with manual focus too.
Of course, I'm not advocating the use of OM lenses in preference to the dedicated E-system lenses, but it's quite enlightening to see what high quality can be achieved with this mix of "old" and "new" technology.
Wide angle OM lenses seem to perform well on the E-1, it's just that they're not wide angles any more of course......
 
Hi Andy,
I can see that it would be very easy to forget to stop down if there is no auto diaphragm using OM lenses which would be a pain. I often used to forget when using screw thread Carl Zeiss Jena lenses on my Contax via an adapter.
John
 
Hi John,
Yes, I can see the logic both ways but I do think that the ability to add a lens like your 400 at reasonable cost for special and perhaps rare occasions must be a plus.
John
 
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