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OM-D is Camera of the Year 2012 on DPR

scott kirkpatrick

Well-known member
Question:

What is the experience with using WA Leica M lenses on the OM-D?
Do some exhibit the well known red edge effect?

Thanks, K-H.
I'm currently exploring the use of the Voightlander CV15/4.5 that sits unused in my drawer, as a walkabout lens on an E-PL5. That lens gives vignetting and red edges on the M8 and is quite unusable on the M9, so it is a good test case. I don't find color shifts with it annoying on the smaller M43 image field, but...

Getting a good, cheap, easy to install and remove adapter for M to M43 is a problem. Adapters from firms you have never heard of cost from $12 to $50 and all appear the same in the online pictures. From Voightlander, Panasonic, or Novoflex the more rugged stainless steel models cost $160 to $250. My $12 Rainbow imaging adapter proved too thick and a bit stiff in use. Neither of two lenses tried so far focus to infinity, although they work well at interior distances. 10X liveview focusing (on a tripod) is wonderful.

scott
 

k-hawinkler

Well-known member
Scott,

Many thanks.
I have Kipon adapters on order for M and R lenses.
We'll see whether they work.

For my NEX cameras I finally bit the bullet and got the Novoflex adapters.
Very expensive and very precisely made.
In fact I can focus my APO 280/4 with a NEX-5N or NEX-7,
then swap adapter and camera with the M9 and the lens is still precisely in focus.

Focus APO-Telyt-R 280/4 on M9 with NEX-5N - Leica User Forum

With best regards, K-H.
 

Maggie O

Active member
Not crazy but with the components you have here I watch with big interest as to how you will bag and carry the kit?
I am pondering the same.

:watch:
Probably the same way I do with my Leica- put a lens on the camera, put another in a pocket and go out and shoot. I have a camera bag, but I only use it for shoots when I know in advance I'll want more than two lenses or one of the lenses is big.
 

greypilgrim

New member
I have to admit that I don't know what ibis or the diopters are. :eek:
As was said, IBIS = in body stabilization. Really nice to get stabilization with that f2.5 lens. When you press the ok button, it brings up a quick menu in the view finder or on the screen. You can scroll through the choices to select the stabilization mode. However, there is a somewhat hidden feature here that if you press the info button, it gives the opportunity to change the focal length that the stabilization will work at. Once you press the info button, the control dial on the top of the camera lets you choose between various focal lengths. Choose 105 when shooting with that lens, and the IBIS will work best.

The diopters simply give you an ability to do some closeup work without using a separate macro lens. If you use one, it is important to use a quality diopter attachment like the canon or nikon ones I mentioned. Cheap ones will really degrade your images.

Doug
 

scott kirkpatrick

Well-known member
Funky lenses on M5s

This one is with a Voightlander CV15/4.5 on an adapter that I first thought would not allow focusing at infinity. I finally found infinity at where the scale indicates 1 meter. This means the adapter is not too thick, but 0.225 mm too thin. To focus for an actual 1 meter, I set the lens for .5 m, and so forth.

A cold rainy night portrait, room light plus a 4000K LED panel hand held at my left:



I wish I still had the Nikon 105/2.5, but I would want to use it on a full frame camera.

scott
 

jonoslack

Active member
Re: Funky lenses on M5s

This one is with a Voightlander CV15/4.5 on an adapter that I first thought would not allow focusing at infinity.
Lovely shot Scott - nice to see a lovely girl who likes to have her photograph taken :ROTFL: (there's daggers in that look - I recognise it well!)
 

Maggie O

Active member
Re: Funky lenses on M5s

I wish I still had the Nikon 105/2.5, but I would want to use it on a full frame camera.

scott
It was glorious on my BF's D600. But my Nikkor 50/1.8 does fine duty as a Nikon 105 (more or less), and it's kind of nice to have an EFOV 200mm lens.
 

greypilgrim

New member
Re: Funky lenses on M5s

This one is with a Voightlander CV15/4.5 on an adapter that I first thought would not allow focusing at infinity. I finally found infinity at where the scale indicates 1 meter. This means the adapter is not too thick, but 0.225 mm too thin. To focus for an actual 1 meter, I set the lens for .5 m, and so forth.

A cold rainy night portrait, room light plus a 4000K LED panel hand held at my left:



I wish I still had the Nikon 105/2.5, but I would want to use it on a full frame camera.

scott
I use the Oly 45mm as my somewhat equivalent to the 105 on a FF camera. And as Maggie says, it's kinda nice to have a 210mm equivalent field of view with such a nice little lens.

Doug
 

scott kirkpatrick

Well-known member
Even further off-topic: Snow Day in the Middle East

Snow in Jerusalem is memorable. A year before I first got here, in 1992, there were several feet of snow in one storm, which paralyzed the city for much of a week. The city still doesn't own a plow, so a 5-6 day storm, which was mostly rain with a vigorous last day of cold and snow can now be added to these legends, mostly for the precipitation it brought -- more in one week than we get in some winters. This one affected a wide area. For some great news photos, see The Atlantic's review. My favorite is #2, which appeared on the front page of HaAretz. You see pictures from Istanbul, Amman, Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and mostly Jerusalem in the collection.

Schools closed for two days, so I sent a scout out to measure the snow depth (max 16 cm) while staying inside and warm:


Leica M9, 28/2.0 at f/5.6

Unfortunately, these things don't last here. Yesterday it took over an hour to clear paths, etc. Today,


Olympus E-PL5 CV15/4.5 @f/8

We can't compare with Minnesota, but this seems to be about as much winter as, say, Boston is having...

scott
 

m43

New member
Your opinion Buddy Don't care :D


Don't mean to be naive, but if a "popularity contest" is good enough to determine the best available government, why wouldn't it be good enough to identify a decent camera? or a least worst camera? :ROTFL:

I agree with Jonas, this is a worthy DPR discussion. :rolleyes:

Cheers

Brian
 

jstaben

Member
I think the Oly is a great camera and would love to have one myself. For me though it just wouldn't replace my DSLR as I love those shallow DOF shots like many do, and the smaller sensor just can't compete there. Sure the fast primes retain the speed of the lens in terms of exposure but in terms of DOF you have compared to a FF camera:

Primes: 25mm f/1.4=50mm f/2.8
90mm f/3.6

Zooms:
Pana 12-35mm f/2.8=24-70mm f/5.6
Pana 35-100mm f/2.8=70-200mm f/5.6

You just aren't going to get the same look as those big bulky primes and zooms on a FF. Sure you have tradeoffs in weight but it's not equivalent by any means.
 

jstaben

Member
@ f/2.2 and 45mm, Jackson isn't sure he quite agrees with you, r

That's some nice shallow DOF! Your DOF is equivalent to a 90mm f/4.4 on a FF camera...you'd get a completely different image from an 85mm f/1.4 or f/1.2 FF lens. Not saying one is better, just not the same. Mainly my point is that if you want those ultra shallow DOF shots such as ones you will get from an 85mm f/1.4 or a 200mm f/2 FF lens there is no way to get there on a m43 kit. Sure you can get shallow DOF shots but it won't be the same. Can't argue with physics.
 

jstaben

Member
I'm saying it's a moot point, in real life use. Sort of like quantum mechanics. ;)
Not really a moot point Maggie...it depends what you are trying to produce.

Pretend you had nice shiny new Leica M9. One you shoot with the 50mm f1.4 summilux and the other lens you had is a 50mm f/2.8 Elmar. Ignore IQ of each lens. Ignore lens speed in terms of exposure and light gathering ability.

Sure close up you can achieve shallow DOF shots with the f/2.8. You simply will not be able to get the same kind of images with the f/1.4 lens.

It's simplistic to say it doesn't matter. It may not to you, but in real life use it may to some. I'm sure when ISO 256,000 comes out in a Leica body there will still be a market for a Summilux, because of the type of images you can get with this.
 

Maggie O

Active member
I do have a shiny M9 and a 50mm Summilux, along with a C Sonnar (which I prefer) and I'm not being simplistic, I'm saying that in my 46 years of day-to-day-use, you are over-stating the point and using your brain and your eye will get you close enough to happy most of the time.

Yes, sometimes you might need a DOF that encompasses a single eyelash, but that's rare. In that case, I break out my Mamiya or rent a view camera. ;)
 

jstaben

Member
I do have a shiny M9 and a 50mm Summilux, along with a C Sonnar (which I prefer) and I'm not being simplistic, I'm saying that in my 46 years of day-to-day-use, you are over-stating the point and using your brain and your eye will get you close enough to happy most of the time.

Yes, sometimes you might need a DOF that encompasses a single eyelash, but that's rare. In that case, I break out my Mamiya or rent a view camera. ;)

It may be overstating it for some instances such as portraits etc, but at the risk of :deadhorse: I'll give one more example and leave it at that. I have a Nikon 200mm f/2. I use it wide open, ALL the time, for sports. I use it wide open for shallow DOF not for shutter speed reasons. I purchased that one for specific reasons, over a 200mm f/4 version. Stopped down to f/4 the images I get from my 200mm are totally different than when used at f/2. For most people, f/4 will be fine and much more practical. That's the nice thing about the m43 system is the size and portability. There are tradeoffs though. I'm not saying one is better than the other it was just an example. It is incorrect to say they are equivalent in capability though. :salute:
 

scott kirkpatrick

Well-known member
Yes, sometimes you might need a DOF that encompasses a single eyelash, but that's rare.
I'm not that interested in shallow DOF for its own sake, but playing around with the OMD5's two medium tele primes, it can certainly happen, not ruled out by M43. Consider this picture, with only whiskers in focus:



(How's that for cattitude?)

scott
 
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