I learned from Godfrey that my Konica glass would probably need some minor surgery before it could fit on the E-5.
After a scan on the auction site, there appears to be a wide range of adapters to the 4/3 mount. Godfrey has shown that the Nikkor H fits nicely. Any other lens families that anyone has found to particularly do well on the 4/3 mount??
I have a few nice Taks, a bunch of FD's....??
I've used a bunch of adapted manual lenses on my FourThirds SLR bodies (L1, and E-1, most were gone by the time I got the E-5). Some borrowed, some bought. I have only kept a couple as I find the Olympus ZD lenses, even the standard grade ones, generally do a better job. And I don't really need all that many lenses anyway.
Manual zooms ... not worth the bother to me. I don't use zooms very often anyway.
Canon FL/FD cannot work due to mount register and other mechanical interference issues. Minolta MC/MD can work, there's an adapter for them but it's a bit fussy. Konica requires the lens' mount be modified but work very well.
Of the lenses I've tried, the ones that seemed to work best were:
Nikkor 20mm f/3.5 AI *
Nikkor 105mm f/2.5 AI *
Nikkor 28mm f/2 AI **
Konica Hexanon 40mm f/1.8 ***
Nikkor-H 85mm f/1.8
Pentax SMC Takumar 135mm f/3.5
* these two were great but 20mm is better covered by the ZD 11-22/2.8-3.5 and I didn't used the 105 enough at the time. I like the 85 more.
** but not as well as the Summilux-D 25/1.4 ASPH, and the much much cheaper and lighter Olympus ZD 25/2.8 is about on par.
*** Still have it but don't use much anymore. The Olympus ZD 35mm f/3.5 Macro is a better lens, but there are times when the extra stop and manual focus only are preferable to me.
**** both work brilliantly, will keep them.
They all work better on the E-5 than the E-1 and L1 due to the better viewfinder and metering system. They all work best on the Micro-FourThirds bodies, or on the E-5 (and other models) with Live View enabled.
Generally speaking, fast lenses 35mm and up are the right picks for adaptation. Stick with the FourThirds lenses for best results with wide to normal focal lengths (up to 25mm on this format).