Pages: [1]   Go Down

Author Topic: Nikon adaptor for micro 4/3 Olympus camera body  (Read 3644 times)

MrIconoclast

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 96
Nikon adaptor for micro 4/3 Olympus camera body
« on: May 13, 2013, 01:18:01 pm »

Greetings,

I have recently made the decision to sell most of my Nikon gear and replace it with an Olympus micro 4/3 system.   My photographic interests have changed and I no longer find it necessary or desirable to lug heavy DSLR gear about.

There is one exception, and that is wildlife photography at some local preserves.  I do this with friends and therefore still need my Nikon 500mm f/4 P lens.  My idea is to put this lens on my Olympus PL5 and get the equivalent of a 1000mm f/4 lens.

I would be interested in the comments of anybody who has adapted a Nikon lens to the Olympus micro 4/3 system.  What are your thoughts?  What problems came up?  How do you feel about it overall?

Thanks.
« Last Edit: May 13, 2013, 01:43:11 pm by MrIconoclast »
Logged

HSakols

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1239
    • Hugh Sakols Photography
Re: Nikon adaptor for micro 4/3 Olympus camera body
« Reply #1 on: May 13, 2013, 03:01:50 pm »

I just got an Olympus epl5 which I have played with using a Nikon 20mm lens.  The only drawback is that the lens in large compared to the camera and of course one needs to manual focus.  The problem is that I focus by looking at a closeup so the system is a bit slow.  I look forward to using my 300mm f4 lens.
Logged

Telecaster

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3686
Re: Nikon adaptor for micro 4/3 Olympus camera body
« Reply #2 on: May 13, 2013, 03:11:02 pm »

I would be interested in the comments of anybody who has adapted a Nikon lens to the Olympus micro 4/3 system.  What are your thoughts?  What problems came up?  How do you feel about it overall?

I use a number of Nikons w/ my Olympus OM-D5. The longest is a 400mm f/3.5, the widest a 24mm f/2.8. I have a Novoflex adapter, the version that provides aperture control for AF-S lenses (though I no longer have any of those!). The adapter is well-built & gives proper infinity focus.

I can't say I've experienced any problems with the setup, but there are some things to be aware of. You'll need to focus manually, of course...this is quite easy, especially with longer lenses, with the Oly's in-finder magnification. You can place the point-of-focus anywhere within the central 85% or so of the frame and can select 5x, 7x, 10x or 14x mag. With the 400 I either use 5x or no mag at all depending on what I'm photographing. Also you'll want to experiment with focusing wide-open vs. at taking aperture...I tend to do the latter, though the 400 mostly gets used @ f/3.5. The Novoflex adapter doesn't show exact f-stops with AF-S lenses...you'd need to approximate them, best done via the camera's choice of shutter speed.

I got rid of my D-SLRs (kept some film bodies) largely due to nerve/spine issues resulting from years of lugging around heavy gear (photo-related and otherwise). The Oly is compact, light and offers plenty good enough IQ for my needs.

-Dave-
Logged

fike

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1413
  • Hiker Photographer
    • trailpixie.net
Re: Nikon adaptor for micro 4/3 Olympus camera body
« Reply #3 on: May 13, 2013, 03:27:21 pm »

MFT with adapted telephoto lenses may be okay for "perching" animals, but I would hesitate to call it suitable for anything that moves.  While zoomed-in, achieving good focus is difficult.  MFT will work for telephoto landscape work, and possibly a critter who is not moving, but as soon as there is any subject movement, the manual focus adapted lenses are really hard to work with.
Logged
Fike, Trailpixie, or Marc Shaffer

Telecaster

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3686
Re: Nikon adaptor for micro 4/3 Olympus camera body
« Reply #4 on: May 13, 2013, 04:17:12 pm »

MFT with adapted telephoto lenses may be okay for "perching" animals, but I would hesitate to call it suitable for anything that moves.  While zoomed-in, achieving good focus is difficult.  MFT will work for telephoto landscape work, and possibly a critter who is not moving, but as soon as there is any subject movement, the manual focus adapted lenses are really hard to work with.

Maybe so, but I personally don't do animals. I do stars & planets & galaxies & nebulae & such. Ultra-fast focusing is thus irrelevant.   :D  As for focusing difficulty...depends on the lens. Some snap into focus readily, some don't.

-Dave-
Logged

MrIconoclast

  • Jr. Member
  • **
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 96
Re: Nikon adaptor for micro 4/3 Olympus camera body
« Reply #5 on: May 13, 2013, 06:17:54 pm »

  MFT will work for telephoto landscape work, and possibly a critter who is not moving, but as soon as there is any subject movement, the manual focus adapted lenses are really hard to work with.

My 500mm f/4 is a 'P' lens.  That means is has the electronic chip in it, but it is still a manual focus lens.  So losing manual focus because of the adapter is not much of an issue for me.
Logged
Pages: [1]   Go Up