Why not an auto focus adapter for AF legacy lenses?

<p>I often wondered why no one attempted to make an adapter for auto focus lenses in other mounts to work on the 4/3 body. At first i realized well I'm sure its more than just making just electrical connections between the lens and the body flange mount. Even tho 3rd party lenses come in many different mounts including 4/3 mount I bet there are some slight differences in the circuitry. There probably isn't enough room to include circuitry adapters like that in most adapters. Then i started to wonder why not at least an adapter that lets you control aperture for AF lens then you can Total utilize all the lenses since most all can be focused manually. Maybe theres still not enough room for that kinda of circuitry in adapters, but now that there is the m4/3 I'm sure there is.<br>

Does anyone have any thoughts on this matter? Or does anyone know of some company thinking of attempting this type of adapter? If so what problems do you think think they need to overcome?</p>

<p>Novoflex has already made m4/3 adaptors with blue rings that enable manual control of apertures of Nikon G, Sony alpha and Pentax DA lenses.</p>

At the least they need information about the electrical properties/protocols of the two mounts, and manufacturers don't go out of their way to document those.

<p>My 2 cents, Likely legal issue!</p>

<p>I still cant find anything on line about these adapters, just 2 places that sell them and say they control aperture , Nothing more. Are they just for m4/3? got any links to pictures and more details.</p>

<p>And what do you think about adapters that adapt manual lenses and could have a mechanism that opens and closes the aperture after you have entered the Max f-stop. Now that would be something useful don't you agree?</p>

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<p>And what do you think about adapters that adapt manual lenses and could have a mechanism that opens and closes the aperture after you have entered the Max f-stop.</p>

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<p>That isn't necessary for the m4/3rds. At least with the G1, with its, impressive EVF/TFT displays, you can accurately focus stopped down.</p>

<p>This opening/closing issues are only for mirror reflex cams. Not terribly important for the mirrorless cams.<br>

I also strongly believe that once Sony, Nikon etc enter the fray, the m4/3rds cams will look like toy cams.</p>

<p>AFAIK, only a Canon EOS to Contax N (defunct and no legal issues that Tommy pointed out) adapter has ever been made that would permit everything.</p>

<p> </p>

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<p>And what do you think about adapters that adapt manual lenses and could have a mechanism that opens and closes the aperture after you have entered the Max f-stop.</p>

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<p>That isn't necessary for the m4/3rds. At least with the G1, with its, impressive EVF/TFT displays, you can accurately focus stopped down.</p>

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<p>Thanks for weighing in on this philosophical discussion Vivek. I always enjoy reading your postings and benefiting from your vast knowledge. Yes, I agree that such a mechanism may not be needed for focusing; however I was not even thinking about a focus issue when contemplating such an adapter. More like being able to set the aperture via the camera in Aperture priority mode or (God forbid) a Program mode for the occasional lazy shooting, and especially for Bracketing modes. Yes i know i can bracket manually but it would be pretty cool to have the camera do it for me in 1/3EV increments . Hey what is the fps speed on the pana anyway?<br>

And yes i know some would say then just use the AF lens made for the camera, but I'm just discussing ideas here , not looking for any solutions.<br>

Also i do not own a digital 4/3 camera and my friends wont let me try any of my old lenses via any sort of adapter on theirs (fearing it will damage their camera, i cant explain them). Can you tell me if the camera records the aperture too when using an old MF lens, and also is there a way to input the lens focal length or other info into the camera so it can be attached to the exif data?</p>

<p>Thank you all for entertaining my notions in this discussion, I think my problem is, studying engineering always gets me thinking of ways to tinker with things. I seldom think of the cost benefit aspect of the little devices I imagine in my head and have drawn up on CAD or legal issues that Tommy pointed out.</p>

<p>Iris regulation is electronic on Canon EOS and Olympus FourThirds lenses, mechanical on Nikon, Pentax, Minolta, Leica R, Contax/Zeiss, Konica AR and Olympus OM. Building auto-adapters to incorporate all of these different iris regulation mechanisms is unlikely to be profitable in the first place, never mind that it might not be practical to do it given mount register, control protocol and available space/power constraints.</p>

<p>When a FourThirds SLR or micro-FourThirds camera is being used with an adapted manual lens, it is operating as if there is no lens on the body at all. No data passes from lens to body so the EXIF data shows no focal length, lens type or aperture setting. Thus you have another thing you'd need to do: for each mount adapter you design, you need to incorporate a way to set it to communicate all the lens information the body needs to do anything other than simple metered manual or Aperture Priority AE. </p>

<p>The G1 and GH1 provide far better viewing and focusing capabilities than the SLRs do anyway for the adapted lenses.</p>

<p>For 4/3 lenses it is probably not possible due to how thin the adaptor is. However for m4/3 the adaptor is thicker and there is enough room in it for conversion electronics that would allow autofocus and auto aperture. Sigma has all the knowledge needed to do this. Also it is my understanding that some of the latest Pentax and Nikon lenses have electronic aperture and focus controls. </p>

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<p>My 2 cents, Likely legal issue!</p>

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<p>If Sigma can make lenses for Canon, Nikon, and Pentax without permission from the camera manufactures, they can make an adaptor that allows full auto control.</p>

<p>LOL ... If Sigma could make two lenses in a row that actually performed well ... ];-)</p>

<p>A lot of things can be jury rigged for a price and if there is enough interest.Importer chomping cigar says farm it out to eBAy China shops...Micro four thirds has got a lot of folks deciding they can digitize with Leica optics, or any optics. With some caveats we all know about.</p>

<p>My initial (and uninformed actually) thought was this. Auto focusing in the cameras that are most suitable for legacy lenses are controlled by the new mirrorless method of contrast focus detection. Even some Olympus lenses can't handle that. If focus confirmation were achievable that would be nice enough. I have the feeling that companies that sell cameras now, like Panasonic and Olympus micro four thirds are not thinking of gents like you Godfrey. Or me. I am not a great manual eyeball focuser these days with astigmatism and floaters aplenty even though I like to think I still am. Hoping when I get to actually see and try an FD adapter (those are good glass) on a Panasonic body I will be a believer like you Vivek. It would be fun and something to play around with. My 200 mm F.2.8 IF Canon is lovely. Am hoarding my gold bullion and krugerrands (smiley) for the next flagship model for some tripod and studio work...too bad I had to buy that Coolpix and flash a year or so ago. And some Lastolite gear for my Norman lights. Puts me out of the catbird seat on justifying a micro model. For the moment. Hey, they seem to be in stock at J and R and Adorama and Amazon..the GCF-1 superdooper new model. Hope iT IS COMING to a local "theater" soon :-). Y'all will post more here, kindly on that baby.</p>

<p>Gerry,</p>

<p>I don't understand your reference to me ... "<em>I have the feeling that companies that sell cameras now, like Panasonic and Olympus micro four thirds are not thinking of gents like you Godfrey."</em></p>

<p>Huh?</p>

<p>Hey, Godfrey. I am happy to clarify or try to . Now that I am back home from a sweaty day seeking a TV mount installer and getting up to speed with the Mac consultant at Best Buy over dual booting problems.<br /> Sorry for my obviously obscure remark. Part of a stream of thought about different members' lens choices, as in street shooting or low light photography and adapting older optics. (Early morning ramble during thundershowers w/ dog running to hide in the closet to set the stage). Not sure what connection came to mind, but I think it went something like this. I guess I am assuming, Godfrey, from past comments,that you are well pleased with manual focus for your kind of professional jobs. And like to work a lot with high aperture fixed focal length lenses. No?</p>

<p>Whereas, the corporate priority for Olympus at least <strong>seems</strong> to have been to generate its sale of autofocus zooms with variable aperture. If imprecise , I stand corrected... Apparently a surprise to Olympus that its affordable 25mm lens was really so popular. (No 100 mm macro with range limiter for me for a while it appears)</p>

<p>Too, Olympus did take some time back three years ago in promoting out even an OM adapter for its loyal past followers. (They gave it away, it was so important- or not so important, if I make my point)...that kind of thinking which shows a business plan that was,well, evolving .</p>

<p>Trust that clarifies what was -I now see- an out of the air comment that was also quite a bit tangential to the thread topic. (Need to reread my text or just let it <strong>set </strong> a while.) That is about it. Still friends? Gerry.</p>

<p>Still friends, Gerry, although the remark was out of thin air and still doesn't make much sense.</p>

<p>Consider that I spent several hours on Sunday shooting interiors at Fort Point with the Lumix G 14-45/3.5-5.6 OIS lens ... kit lens with the G1 ... on a tripod. </p>

<p>I greatly prefer fast primes for the majority of my work ... whenever I'm shooting hand held ... but an exceptional performing zoom lens is quite handy when lens speed is not an issue. And let me tell you that this little lens, despite being assigned the somewhat disparaging "kit" label, performs very well indeed when put on a tripod and focused critically. </p>

<p>I use AF like I use image stabilization, lens speed, and all the other features on my cameras: as tools to be used in appropriate circumstances. I don't pick fast primes and manual focus purely because of some notion that "that's the way things ought to be done!" ... I pick equipment based on what it does that advances the job I'm trying to get on with. :-)</p>

<p>Thanks for the positive feedback on that kit Lumix lens, Godfrey. I am somewhat drawn to the Lumix GH-1 body description(Haven't seen nor handled it at all out here yet) in the event it gets to be offered with the mentioned lower cost kit lens. I could be tempted to get back into some fun videography with that one. Re some of my online submissions, ah, one generously indulgent friend advised thus, " Gerry, you know you have this "multiplex mind." <strong>Not</strong> a compliment. :-). Some days I re-readmy message submission, start to edit, give up, and,without a flicker of regret, use the good old wipe/delete mouse function. aloha, gs</p>

<p>I had the opportunity to experiment with the GH1's 14-140mm f/4-5.8 lens the other day too. All I can say is that it is a spectacular performer for a 10:1 zoom, and would be especially excellent for the GH1 video capture. Stepless aperture operation, ultra-quiet focusing and zooming, very sharp and contrasty ... There're a few reasons this HD optimized lens is $800 (or something like that). The 14-45 is far lighter and smaller, but it isn't as highly optimized for HD video work. </p>

<p>Of course, to really take advantage of the GH1's capabilities of large-ish sensor and HD video, I'd want a couple of very fast, manual prime lenses too. ;-)</p>

<p>I wonder how my Rokkor 35mm f/1.8 lens would do on that camera or my Canon 50mm f/1.2. I guess ether way if i ever got one i would have to still carry the old note pad around with me still to record the f stop and lens info for the shot taken, like I would do with shooting film. Too bad there was not a way to have that inputed in the camera for each picture. That was my main thinking for an adapter with electrical/mechanical connections, so the camera can record such data as each shot was taken.</p>

<p>I use a Nikkor 20mm f/3.5 AI, Olympus Pen G.Zuiko 40mm f/1.4, Konica Hexanon AR 40mm f/1.4, Pentax-M 50mm f/1.4 and Olympus Pen G.Zuiko 70mm f/2 on the G1 quite a lot. They do a great job. </p>

<p>I don't bother to record the lens info. Actually, the way I use them most is that I set one lens opening and use it almost exclusively in any given session, leaving the camera in Aperture priority AE and Auto ISO. I adjust exposure with the EV compensation control. It operates very predictably and does exactly what I'd do if I were operating the camera in 100% manual mode, at least for the shorter lenses.</p>

<p><em>(Auto ISO on the G1 with a manual lens will always set ISO 100 until the meter suggests an exposure that would be longer than 1/30 second, then it starts to push up the ISO to my instated limit of ISO 800. This is exactly what I'd do with most lenses up to 40mm most of the time ... and if I need something else, I just set the ISO I want and then work the aperture and exposure time.)</em></p>

<p>I usually carry lenses at any given time such that the field of view is different enough to make it easy to distinguish which lens was used after the fact by looking at the FoV. E.g: I'll carry the 40 and the 20, or the 40 and the 70, or the 12.5 and the 40, etc. I apply a keyword naming the lens after importing the images into Lightroom. Since I tend to shoot with one lens for a long stretch at a time, it's usually a matter of selecting all the image thumbnails in LR and just applying the existing keywords as a group. I can do the same for aperture if I wanted ... it's usually pretty obvious when I've changed lens opening. </p>