AEL/AFL on E-P1

[Mike Hatam]

Tim - thanks for doing this testing. I'll be watching this closely, as the 50 lux is my main lens on the E-P1, and will want to know the optimal IS settings (depending on shutter speed).

Mike

 

[Martin S]

I must agree. Compared to the G1 the Olympus method of manual focus zoom, and then unzoom is unwieldy. I am going to email the local tech rep with some ideas on how to make the process simpler, and less kludgy.

Martin

 

[tashley]

I've tested the same way as above but now with a shutter of 1/50th at F5.6 on a newspaper 1.25 metres away and as I thought, it demonstrates that the IS does always introduce a tiny blur but often saves you from a worse one. Out of five shots with IS off and five with IS one, otherwise identical apart from the natural variations of hand-holding, the single best shot was with IS off - but the next six in the ranking were identical and were all with IS on. The remaining four IS off shots were clearly worse.

I then went and shot a whole bunch in the wild with the IS off and I would say that I feel very confident at 1/400th, pretty confident at 1/200th and somewhat at 1/125th.

What would I choose? If the shot were vital and there was only one chance to get it but enough time to choose settings, I'd go for no IS above 1/200th and IS below 1/150th and whatever the camera was set at inbetween!

HTH

Tim

 

[Terry]

Thanks Tim,
You are a dedicated tester! I do want to just double check one thing. When I am putting in the lens focal length I'm using the lens actual, not the m4/3 equivalent. So, I'm setting the 50 at 50 not 100.

The 50 lux is the lens I kept from my M8 sale . For some odd reason I like using it more on my Pen than G1.

 

[tashley]

Thanks Tim,
You are a dedicated tester! I do want to just double check one thing. When I am putting in the lens focal length I'm using the lens actual, not the m4/3 equivalent. So, I'm setting the 50 at 50 not 100.

The 50 lux is the lens I kept from my M8 sale . For some odd reason I like using it more on my Pen than G1.

You're doing that correctly Terry. I am sure it does refer to actual rather than equivalent focal length.

I like the 50 lux on the pen too. It has the same sort of weight and build, which os very flattering to the lux. It does, however, suffer bad CA against the light sometimes and that can ruin a shot. In the world of multi adaptors it's easy to forget just how much is done in software these days and that a physical adaptor is just part of the story. M glass on Micro 4/3rds cameras is not nirvana but it sure is fun!

Best

Tim

 

[jonoslack]

Hi Tim
Glad you bit the bullet - it's especially good to have you around here to do all the tests that the rest of us humble mortals are either
1. too busy
2. too lazy
3. too incompetent

to do (in my case I claim all three faults).

 

[tashley]

Hi Tim
Glad you bit the bullet - it's especially good to have you around here to do all the tests that the rest of us humble mortals are either
1. too busy
2. too lazy
3. too incompetent

to do (in my case I claim all three faults).

Buddy, it's just that I'm

a) too anal not to do them!

I'm rapidly forming the opinion that more detail is lost to poor focus than to shake. I now turn off IS above 2x focal length and MF whenever possible as a rough formula for best results. I also find that even the venerable 50 lux gives bad CA against the light on the Pen, cos the camera doesn't know what it should be correcting for....

 

[Stuart Richardson]

have any of you tried an APO lens like the 75 summicron or even the 50/1.4 ASPH (which is supposed to be APO, though they did not bother to characterize it as such)? I am wondering how much of the CA is from the lens, and how much is from the internal characteristics of the Pen sensor glass and IR filter...I get the impression that much of the CA we see on digital cameras is a result of the sensor glass more than the lenses themselves.

 

[tashley]

have any of you tried an APO lens like the 75 summicron or even the 50/1.4 ASPH (which is supposed to be APO, though they did not bother to characterize it as such)? I am wondering how much of the CA is from the lens, and how much is from the internal characteristics of the Pen sensor glass and IR filter...I get the impression that much of the CA we see on digital cameras is a result of the sensor glass more than the lenses themselves.

Stuart, the 50 lux I refer to in the previous post is the 1.4 and shot against the light on the Pen it has sometimes very bad CA, the cause of which is I think an imperfect marriage of camera and lens rather than the fault of either.

Under normal circumstances the lens gives lovely results on the Pen.

 

[Vivek]

Stuart, the 50 lux I refer to in the previous post is the 1.4 and shot against the light on the Pen it has sometimes very bad CA, the cause of which is I think an imperfect marriage of camera and lens rather than the fault of either.

Under normal circumstances the lens gives lovely results on the Pen.

Is that with the RayQual adapter? If it isn't, that could be the source of your problem.

 

[Stuart Richardson]

Yes, I realize it is the 1.4, but is it the 1.4 ASPH or the 1.4 pre-ASPH? The pre-ASPH does have some CA even on Leicas and film, but the 50/1.4 ASPH should not really have any. But I do understand the point about the marriage of lens and sensor...sometimes it just does not work as well as it does when using native lenses.

 

[tashley]

Is that with the RayQual adapter? If it isn't, that could be the source of your problem.

It's with the cameraquest adaptor which seems very well made. According to Sean Reid (and this makes sense) if you think about the microlenses that had to be put onto the edge sensors of the M8 to make M lenses work on it, and realise that the Micro 4/3rds do not have these micro lenses, then a change of adaptor is not likely to make any difference. I'd like to be proved wrong though!

 

[tashley]

Yes, I realize it is the 1.4, but is it the 1.4 ASPH or the 1.4 pre-ASPH? The pre-ASPH does have some CA even on Leicas and film, but the 50/1.4 ASPH should not really have any. But I do understand the point about the marriage of lens and sensor...sometimes it just does not work as well as it does when using native lenses.

It's the ASPH, a retlatively recent and still very current lens that also happens to be the finest lens I've ever owned!

 

[Vivek]

It's with the cameraquest adaptor which seems very well made. According to Sean Reid (and this makes sense) if you think about the microlenses that had to be put onto the edge sensors of the M8 to make M lenses work on it, and realise that the Micro 4/3rds do not have these micro lenses, then a change of adaptor is not likely to make any difference. I'd like to be proved wrong though!

Tim, In my experience, if there are shiny exposed metal parts in the optical path (as in an unpainted adapter or most Leica lenses with their RF coupling rings) then that causes problems and induce lateral chromatic aberration on the G1. Cameraquest adapter is the same as the RayQual, I think. That should be good.

Any other lens (apo or garden variety- almost all of them) do not show any CA.

To check this, take a lens that does not show CA and put a piece of aluminum foil in the optical path (rear of the lens). This would induce CA.

Not a matter of microlenses on the sensor at all, IME. I would check if there are rubbed metal parts in your Summilux.

 

[tashley]

Tim, In my experience, if there are shiny exposed metal parts in the optical path (as in an unpainted adapter or most Leica lenses with their RF coupling rings) then that causes problems and induce lateral chromatic aberration on the G1. Cameraquest adapter is the same as the RayQual, I think. That should be good.

Any other lens (apo or garden variety- almost all of them) do not show any CA.

To check this, take a lens that does not show CA and put a piece of aluminum foil in the optical path (rear of the lens). This would induce CA.

Not a matter of microlenses on the sensor at all, IME. I would check if there are rubbed metal parts in your Summilux.

Nope, no rubbed parts... here's an example from a cropped frame:
View attachment 19496