Finally got it.

[peterb]

An f1.7 20mm lens for my G1. It's been soooooo damned hard to get a hold of one. And I've been so envious of the shots I've seen here and on flckr.

And...WOW what a lens. I soldiered on with the kit lens which was okay but THIS is why I bought the G1 the first week it came out over a year ago. Sharp. And able to conjure up loads of lusciously, gorgeous bokeh. Like my old M6 with the 35mm Cron I had before I went digital (a D2).

I'm off to Maui next week and I can't wait to share what I see with everyone.

 

[peterb]

Anderson.

 

[photoSmart42]

Grats! It's a nice lens, and you can even reverse it for some decent macro work =).

 

[Steveblack]

Grats! It's a nice lens, and you can even reverse it for some decent macro work =).

Can you please explain how to do it? Or was that a tongue in cheek remark? Thanks.

 

[photoSmart42]

Can you please explain how to do it? Or was that a tongue in cheek remark? Thanks.

Not at all tongue-in-cheek. Check out this thread: http://forum.getdpi.com/forum/showpost.php?p=176944&postcount=77

Basically a 52mm reverse adapter for m4/3, a 52mm macro coupler adapter, and a 52-46mm step-down adapter ring. Set the lens aperture with the lens normally attached, then detach the lens while in preview mode to lock in the aperture before reversing it.

 

[pellicle]

somone recently asked me if there was any advantage to reversing the lens. I've not used a 20mm before, so how's the working distance?

 

[Steveblack]

Not at all tongue-in-cheek. Check out this thread: http://forum.getdpi.com/forum/showpost.php?p=176944&postcount=77

Basically a 52mm reverse adapter for m4/3, a 52mm macro coupler adapter, and a 52-46mm step-down adapter ring. Set the lens aperture with the lens normally attached, then detach the lens while in preview mode to lock in the aperture before reversing it.

Thanks for the quick reply. So that's 3 adapters. Is the result nice? Is it a decent macro lens, reversed?

Also, will the camera allow to remove the lens while still powered on?

 

[neekoh]

somone recently asked me if there was any advantage to reversing the lens. I've not used a 20mm before, so how's the working distance?

Before photosmart gets off from work... I didn't measure exactly, but it's in the order of 2cm, so quite tight. If you have a static subject and can light it well enough, the results are actually really nice. Really thin DOF of course. Maybe not ideal for butterflies, but for some more abstract shots. Photosmart's linked post had good examples.

 

[Vivek]

somone recently asked me if there was any advantage to reversing the lens. I've not used a 20mm before, so how's the working distance?

I have already posted that in the macro thread (linked by Dragos). Have a look.

WD is the same as the camera registry.

 

[neekoh]

Thanks for the quick reply. So that's 3 adapters. Is the result nice? Is it a decent macro lens, reversed?

Also, will the camera allow to remove the lens while still powered on?

Hi all! I didn't realize that was my first post. I've been checking this forum too irregularly...

I've got the same adapters. I bought all three so that I could reverse mount a 52mm canon FD to the camera but also to reverse mount a lens to another. I'm not sure if you could find 46mm reverse mount adapter directly, but all those are just a couple of $ each on ebay. The results are quite good but with quite limited use. Personally my few macro tries have been much more comfortable with a extension tube and a manual lens, but for that you need some more investments.
As photosmart said, yes you can set the aperture and focal length, then engage DOF preview and just remove the lens. Shoot w/o lens must be set in the menu of course. Disclaimer: I've only tested this with GH1.

That macro thread is really nice.

Back on track: peterb, enjoy the lens and be sure to share those Maui images!

 

[photoSmart42]

I'm not sure if you could find 46mm reverse mount adapter directly...

I don't see a need to get the 46mm adapter directly - reversed lenses are used in manual mode just like bellows lenses, so the distance from the sensor doesn't have to be exact. I get a lot of my adapter rings from CameraGear. They have a good selection of pretty much any adapter you might want, and they're inexpensive. It's the only place where I found the correct adapter for the Leitz Macrotar VII macro filter, so I'm very happy with their selection.

-Dragos