The GetDPI Photography Forum

Great to see you here. Join our insightful photographic forum today and start tapping into a huge wealth of photographic knowledge. Completing our simple registration process will allow you to gain access to exclusive content, add your own topics and posts, share your work and connect with other members through your own private inbox! And don’t forget to say hi!

Adapter(s) Help for my wife's GF2

J

jrob

Guest
I'd like to get my wife the nice 20mm pancake for her GF2 as it's seems like darn near a bargain for the quality of shots it's capable of and from what I've heard it can be reversed to make one heck of a macro lens as well.

Trouble is I'm far from an expert and I'm having a tough time figuring out exactly what I need to get to reverse the lens. The links on the first page or two of the macro thread seem to be dead. I tried looking up a step up ring from 46mm-52mm and reverse adapter on BH and there were *ahem* a "few" options. So some specific info would be a HUGE help as If i get her the lens and adapters they HAVE to work or I'll be:

:poke: :deadhorse:

For instance would this:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/11624-REG/B_W_65041197_46mm_to_52mm_Step_Up.html

..and one of these (which one?!) work?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=52mm+reverse+adapter&N=0&InitialSearch=yes

Thanks!
 
J

jrob

Guest
personally I'd get some manual focus lenses + extention tubes and do it the old fashioned way.

I found that it worked quite well just working off the back of a screen and chasing focus around by moving the camera

Well see that seems like a good idea too! I' hadn't heard of those! So basically you just move the lens further from the body to increase magnification? I believe the 20mm has manual focus as well so that might work!
 

JBurnett

Well-known member
Remember that both aperture and focusing are electronically controlled on the 20mm, and most other micro-4/3 lenses (this includes manual focus). So the reverse adapter and extension tubes are not as useful as they are with a fully manual lens (i.e. you have no way to control aperture or focus beyond moving the camera & lens).

Good quality close-up lenses are an option. They do affect image quality somewhat, but a whole lot less than some people imagine.

Alternatively, you can pick up a legacy lens and adapter quite inexpensively. You then have the option to find a legacy macro lens (my preference), or to use either extension tubes or a reversing ring.
 

pellicle

New member
There doesn't seem to be a lot out there for M4/3...but I did find these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170483712000

Any thoughts?
I'd still stick with a manual focus 50mm f1.8 (cheap as chips) any cheapo adaptor and some extension tubes. My personal advice would be go with an OM 50mm lens
1) they are beautiful lenses for the price
2) you won't really benefit much from AF (unless you get the 45mm macro)
3) because the mount works nicer than say FD series so its easier to add or remove from the stack
4) you'll get a great manual focus portrait lens to boot

this is my FD setup (and now I use OM because attaching FD into the stack is painful)


G1 macro setup by obakesan, on Flickr

total cost (including the geared rail) was under $100
 
J

jrob

Guest
Well after our honeymoon in Maui (I'll post pics when I get a minute!) I think I'm actually leaning towards getting her the 45-200mm zoom. It will giver her a pretty good zoom range of 14-42 and 45-200 to shoot darn near everything (including some shots we couldn't QUITE get maxing at the 42mm zoom) and in a pinch we can use it for macro shots (even if it is a bit dark).

So I think that's what she's getting for Christmas (with a polarizer and possibly spare battery).

Then I'd later I'd like to get her the 20mm prime and we'll look at extension tubes etc then. I'm hoping that if I wait a bit, someone (maybe even Panasonic?) will come out with tubes that have the contacts for the AF etc. They'll likely cost a bit more but I think it would be worth it :)
 

pellicle

New member
Well after our honeymoon in Maui (I'll post pics when I get a minute!) I think I'm actually leaning towards getting her the 45-200mm zoom.
speaking as one with a lot of legacy lenses which I like and use in the main the 45-200mm has a couple of significant advantages not found in legacy lenses (as well as its own drawbacks). Aside from the obvious auto focus component I will say that the OIS on that lens works a treat when doing video. I didn't find the OIS worth a pinch of rocking horse____ on stills but on video its very helpful.
 
J

jrob

Guest
Yeah I'd imagine much past 100 you'd definitely need to use a monopod/sturdy railing etc if not a full on tripod for clarity with longer shots.
 

pellicle

New member
Yeah I'd imagine much past 100 you'd definitely need to use a monopod/sturdy railing etc if not a full on tripod for clarity with longer shots.
its more the fix up of jiggle that you get in hand held video ... it makes everything look like a professional steady cam.
 
J

jrob

Guest
Aaaah nice. Good to know.

I don't think we've taken any video yet...but we haven't got kids yet so I'm sure it will come...lol
 

pellicle

New member
Aaaah nice. Good to know.
back on the stills side the 45-200 is a lot darker at the sensor end than say a fixed 200mm lens such as a old Canon FD200f4 (available for $40 usually) so whatever small effect you may gain from the OIS assisting stills clarity you loose because of the need to shoot higher ISO or slower shutter speeds.

f5.6 isn't always equal to f5.6 on an other lens

http://cjeastwd.blogspot.com/2010/02/panasonic-45-200mm.html

note the reference to T-Stops within that blog post
 
J

jrob

Guest
Well I ordered the 45-200, a Hoya polarizing and UV filter and a spare battery for her from BH :)
 
Top