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Which (mount) MF lenses to get for m43?

emr

Member
I bought recently an Olympus E-M5 and have started experimenting with manual lenses on it. I'm a Pentax user and have some Takumars, which work beautifully regarding manual focusing. Some are excellent optically, some not so much. My PK mount lenses are mostly either of the DA series (meaning no aperture ring) or optically sub-par, so they're not optimal.

So, excluding the M42 and PK mounts, which lens mount lenses (or even individual lenses) would you suggest worth getting?

In order to make sense, the lenses should be optically good and reasonably priced. Smallish size (shortish flange registration length) would also be a bonus.

Any suggestions? I suspect not many Leica-M lenses are reasonably priced. And while Leica-R lenses may be cheaper (or are they?), they aren't exactly small.
 

JBurnett

Well-known member
As you've found with the Takumars, I'm not sure any specific mount has uniformly excellent glass. But you can find good individual lenses in a variety of mounts. It requires some research, though.

Most Contax G-series glass is reputed to be excellent. But these are expensive, and require a very specialized adapter to focus.

Olympus OM lenses can be excellent, and they command higher prices because of it. They tend to be among the most compact SLR lenses. The original Olympus Pen lenses are even smaller, but harder to find, and pricier still.

Old Nikkors are pricey because they are still in demand.

There are some excellent Canon FD examples, but, like the Nikkors, they are not always very compact or light.

Konica SLR lenses can be had less expensively, as can most lenses with discontinued mounts.

Among the Leica M-mounts, you might consider the Minolta Rokkor 40mm f/2, or Voigtlanders. Not cheap by any means.

There are many c-mount adherents -- you can see lots of examples on this site.

I have personally tried a variety of older lenses -- M42, Canon FD, Leica M (the Rokkor 40mm), a Konica Macro lens. In the end, though, I use them very little. For me, the IQ and convenience of native micro-4/3 lenses outweighs the fun of adapted lenses.
 

emr

Member
For me, the IQ and convenience of native micro-4/3 lenses outweighs the fun of adapted lenses.
That may be a wise approach, but in addition to potentially finding optical gems, the feeling of shooting with old lenses is an added bonus. Like for example now on my OM-D is the 50mm f/4 1:1 Macro-Takumar that was made 1966-69 and is actually about my age. Shows much less wear, though.
 

biomed

New member
For me, the IQ and convenience of native micro-4/3 lenses outweighs the fun of adapted lenses.
I agree with this for the most part, but I quite often use my Voigtlander Heliar 75/2.5 and Nokton 50/1.5 with my u4/3 bodies. I only use native u4/3 wide angle lenses. As for what adapter to get....I based my choice on the MF lenses I own.
 

iiiNelson

Well-known member
I believe SLR magic and Voigtlander makes native MF Micro 4/3 lenses. That saves you a bit of money on adapters.

All of my manual focus lenses are M mount though but none are really "cheap." Voigtlanders were a great deal a few years ago (not that they aren't still capable.) The prices have silently creeped up though.I bought my Nokton 50/1.5 for about $450 with adapter in 2009. I think they go for close to $850 new now. Same with My 28/2 Ultron... It was in the $450-500 range and now it's $630. For the money I would say the Zeiss 50/2 Planar is hard to beat if you can find a good used one. It would make a great portrait lens on M4/3.
 
V

Vivek

Guest
C mount:

1. Computar-TV 25/1.3
2. Fujinon TV 25/1.4
3. Fujinon TV 50/1.4

Pen F mount:

40/1.4

60/1.5

100/3.5

38/3.5 Macro

Aside from that consider getting a Speed Booster (EF mount) so that you can virtually use pretty much any SLR lenses with increased sharpness and speed.
 

Tullio

New member
C mount:

1. Computar-TV 25/1.3
2. Fujinon TV 25/1.4
3. Fujinon TV 50/1.4

...
I quite like those lenses as well. They are tiny, very sharp and for some reason, they make MF very easy as you can clearly see when the image is on focus. Add to that the fact that they are fast and cheap and you've got winners.

I also like the Canon FD lenses, particularly the 50mm f1.4 and 28mm f2.8.

However, IMO nothing beats the native m4/3 lenses.
 
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