E-300 and Tamron lenses.

Hey folks. I have done a few ?tests? shots, for the lack of a better

word, on my E-300 and my Tamron SP300mm f2.8 LD IF and my SP35mm-

210mm f3.5-4.2 lenses using the Olympus supplied adapter. The 300mm

f2.8 set up goes like this - 300mm lens, Tamron Adaptall2 mount,

Olympus adapter, E300. The camera settings are ? centre weighted

exposure mode, manual focus, aperture priority setting, auto white

balance, 2 second timer. The 300mm shoots well-exposed, sharp photos

at manual settings (on lens) of f2.8, 3.5, and 5.6 only. Setting the

aperture to f8 or higher still gives a well exposed photo but depth

of field or shutter speed does not change which leads me to think

that it actually stays at the 5.6 setting. When I move the aperture

from f2.8 to f5.6 I only get three shutter speed changes, then that?s

it, even if I go to f16 it seems to remain at the f5.6 shutter speed.

The lens does darken very slightly as I go from 2.8 to 5.6 which is

good for focusing. I did notice a d.o.f change with aperture changes

from 2.8 to 5.6. This should work out fine for me as there is a lot

of camera shake, even on a sturdy tripod, so I?ll be shooting at f2.8

most of the time anyway. There was NO discernable purple fringing

even when shooting a bright white object against a black background.

It?s a little hard to focus without the split screen but I got use to

it. Overall I?m quite happy with the results and glad that I didn?t

have to sell the 300mm at a huge loss and I might keep my OM4T just

in case. Oh, I had the same results as above with the Tamron 1.4x

multiplier attached. Now that?s a telephoto! The results with the

SP35mm ? 210mm were mixed. I had the same set up to the camera as the

300mm and same camera settings. With the lens set to macro (a

misnomer on this lens) it made very sharp, detailed, well exposed

photos from 3.5 to f16 with a good change in d.o.f at each aperture.

It was at least as sharp, if not sharper, as the Oly 14-45 (set at

it?s best close focus at 45mm) lens with good sharpness edge-to-edge,

no fringing and even brought the subject in a little closer. There

was just a tiny bit of exposure differences at some apertures but

nothing to concern me, as I?ll be shooting in raw for the serious

photos anyways. Oh, the lens did darken as I went through the

apertures, so in this mode I will have to open up, focus and then

pick an aperture for my required depth of field. I?m very happy with

my macro/close focusing results (although the lens weighs a ton!).

Shooting at normal zoom distances was a different story though. While

shooting at full zoom, 210mm, at f3.5 there seemed to be a white

balance issue, re: yellow tint to the pictures but good overall

exposure. After f3.5 the exposure and white balance were very good up

to F16 then the pictures were very under exposed. The lens also

darkened while changing apertures there by making it difficult to

focus above f8. I had also found quite a lot of purple fringing in

the wrinkles of my subjects white tee shirt and white headband. In

all honesty this set up would not be very practical in the field as I

would have to set the lens to f3.5 zoom in, focus then zoom out, set

the aperture and hope the focus did not change any. I could just use

this lens at the 210mm f4.2 zoom thereby leaving me with a Oly 14mm-

45mm, Oly 40mm-150mm, (35mm format) SP210mm f4.2 tele and close

focus, (35mm format) SP300mm f2.8 tele, (35mm format) SP420mm f4

tele. Again if I keep this lens and the OM4T it will make a solid

back up package if I go into any rugged conditions and want a quality

mechanical backup camera. I used this set up throughout eastern

Africa, Nepal (up to 20,600 ft.) and the Canadian Rockies and it has

never failed me and produced hundreds of beautiful chromes. Sorry for

the long post but this is the kind of information I would like to

have before I purchase a camera hoping to use some of my old lenses

so I thought I?d pass it on. Don

Hi Don:

 

Very useful for the Oly users hereabouts -- and maybe instructive to others. I should that I get similar results from my PK Tokina ATX 50-250, which gives me eyepopping sharpness (as well as some of the white balance and darkness issues you mentioned -- all easily compensated for). When I slap on an f2.5 Takumar 135mm, or my old Kiron 28mm f.2.0 results are superb and, I think, sharper than with the very good kit lens. I have a 2x PK converter and with that results are pretty fine, though with the ATX I often need to push the ISO or use a tripod. I also get excellent results with an OM 1.8. It does seem to me that the easy use of all these lenses with the dust-busting E-300 is a real plus for this camera. The fast lenses certainly help compensate for the relatively minor ISO 1600 noise -- easily fixed with any number of programs and a bit of practice. I'm perfectly happy with virtually all IOS 800 results. My one problem -- I wear glasses -- has been fine tuning the dioper so that I get a truly accurate reading with these add-on lenses.

 

Thanks for keeping the Oly candle burning in this forum.

Don Take a look at this Link:

 

http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/oly-e/any-lens.html

Thanks! I have this lens, and am encouraged to try it on my E-300.

 

It would be nicer to have an E-Adaptall mount, though. I don't care for multiple bits of glue.

 

BTW: I have had what seem to be excellent results with the Zuiko 90/2 macro, as well. I want

to do formal testing of all 21 prime Zuikos that I have, and will post results when I do.

I'd be very interested on how the Tamron 90mm macro works with the E300 as I wood like it to be my next purchase. Thanks, Don

Gene; that was a very interesting link you sent.

It is a good lecture just when I wanna to get my first DSLR.

Thanks a lot