4-3s, old guy question

<p>Hey Guys, <br /> <br /> I've always shot with good gear, but just felt I should sell my Canon setup (5D, 85/1.2 and 35/1.4) because I've found the only time I use the camera now is on the bike, and it was a huge weight to bear, and very slow (off the bike, into the bag, lens on, etc.).<br /> <br /> That said, I still want to take good pics and want a similar, non-DSLR setup, i.e. smaller! I've been looking at the Olympus E-P1. I don't understand the Four Thirds system. Do ALL lenses for FT fit ALL bodies for FT?<br /> <br /> For example, they make a nice 14/1.7 and Sigma makes a great 50/1.4 with 8 blades (best bokeh for portraits, which in my case is the bike LOL).<br /> <br /> <strong>Can I bolt a Sigma 50/1.4 onto an Olympus E-P1?</strong> Or some kind of adaptor maybe? The Sigma, while no Canon 85/1.2Lii, gets great reviews. <br /> <br /> The Olypmus equiv. is a 7 blade design, terrible for OOF areas. Poopy portraits if you want shallow DoF.<br /> <br /> It would mimic my previous system (no 24" prints obviously lol) and fit into my two coat pockets (no need to get off the bike and pull my backpack off..and with live view even leave the helmet on), leaving my backpack for necessary things like underwear and Happy Meals<img title="Smile" src="http://www.ducati.ms/forums/images/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" alt="" /><br /> <br /> Shawn</p>

<p>An E-P1 is a Micro 4/3rds, not a 4/3rds camera. They have the same sensor size, but different mount system. You can use 4/3 lenses on an M4/3 camera with an adapter. All M4/3 lenses fit the cameras.</p>

<p>Forgot, a Canon EF mount won't work, because you can't set the aperture on the lens.</p>

<p>Not to hype Nikon, but have you looked at a Nikon D60 body, and perhaps the AF-S 35mm f1.8G lens? Not much weight, images are crisp, and packing would be a lot less compared to the Canon arsenal you are now using. </p>

 

<p> I do not have the camera but from reading about it the Olympus mirrorless camera, it will take the micro 4/3rds lenses and the 4/3rds lenses (SLR) with adapter. The EP1 is pretty small at about 4.75 long by 2.7 high and fairly thin. If you bought the 17mm f2.8 pancake lens you would have a pocketable camera for a motorcycle jacket (big pockets). The 17mm would translate to 34mm equivalent in a 35mm camera. The EP2 is of stronger construction it seems. Nikon and Canon may bring out similar camera's sometime if the market will allow it.</p>

<p>Consider a Sony NEX 5 -- just as small as the m4/3; with an adapter, can use just as many lenses as the m4/3 and you get an APS-C sized sensor compared to the miniscule m4/3 sensor.</p>

<p>Thanks for the clarification and responses, guys! I'm reading up on the NEX5 now:)</p>

<p>There are 3 lenses available for it, none appealing to me, but is the adaptor fully-functional with other Sony/Minolta lenses?</p>

<p>As an Olympus E-3 (4/3's DSLR) user, I saw someone using the Olympus E-P1 (micro 4/3's interchangeable lens camera) recently and had a "Damascene moment". I want one, and its sensor is the same size as is in the E-3.</p>

<p>Although the lenses for my E-3 can be attached using an adaptor, when I saw the E-P1 in use I realised that using the new specially designed lenses is the way really to get the benefit of the form factor and low size and weight.</p>

<p>Thanks Andrew. I'm still leaning towards the Olympus. If I get the pancake lens, that's half of it. Will the Sigma 30/1.4 EX DC HSM for Olumpus four thirds fit with the adaptor and be functional? It will make a pretty decent replacement to my 85/1.2, uber quality of the latter notwithstanding...</p>

<p>Camera and pancake in one pocket, Sigma in another, and I'm off to the races (or rather the boonies), if they are compatable...</p>

<p>Ahhh! A fellow Ducatisti! Bravisimo!</p>

<p>My problem is being able to carry all my camera stuff, plus my tripod (landscape) while still not looking like I'd be better off on a, well.. lesser bike.</p>

<p>And remember, just say no to chicken strips.<br>

Shiny side up.</p>

<p>LOL yah, my old setup was like carrying a midget in my backpack, an old, very slow, Twinkie eating midget at that.</p>

<p>I really want to be able to pull over, pull the camera out of my pocket (or unzip jacket and use neck strap with camera) and just shoot, without even taking the helmet off. I've lost so many shots because of "Man I really don't want to completely unsaddle again, I just did this 10 minutes ago" lol.</p>

<p>What Duck do you have?</p>

<p>Here are a few shots (big ugly page, sorry, DSL only probably) of my trip from Toronto to Lake Huron then all the way over to Atlantic ocean, Maine, last summer:</p>

<p>http://avxtc.net/mytrip/pics.html</p>

<p>Was fun, but my ass buzzed for weeks afterwards lol...</p>

 

<p>I have a 5D and recently purchased a E-PL1. mainly because the size of my 5D was a problem for some trips but I will hang onto my 5D. </p>

<p>The 4/3 and m4/3 cameras use the same sensor with a crop factor of 2. Currently most m4/3 cameras have 12MPi sensor. Lens mounts are different bettwen 4/3 and m4/3. However Olympus and Panasonic both make adaptors that alowl the use of 4/3 lenses on m4/3 bodies. These adaptors maintain auto AF and aperture functions,although 4/3 lenses will not focus as fast as m4/3 lenses. Panasonic m4/3 lenses will fit and work correctly on olympus m4/3 bodies. third party manufactures do make adaptors for Lica. Nikon, and probably Canon lenses but with these adaptors you don't have AF or auto aperture. Stop down metering is possible with some lenses but not Canon because there is no aperture control on the lens.</p>

<p>Sigma doesn't yet sell m4/3 lenses. They only sell 4/3 lenses but I would expect to see that change (m4/3 to too popular for them to ignore it). Olympus still sells there 4/3 line of lenses. So there is a good selection of lenses 4/3 lenses available. So at the moment if you don't want to use 4/3 lenses you will have to live with a somewhat limited selection of m4/3 lenses. Olympus and Panasonic both make a normal zoom, wide angle zoom and macro lenses and each sells one prime lens . Currently Panasonic has the only telephoto lens but it looks like a Olympus will probably be releasing a telephoto soon. Currently it looks like Olympus and Pansonic are each releasing about 2 lenses a year. </p>

<p>Olympus m4/3 cameras do not have optical view finders so you must use the screen on the back of the cameras or use an optional electric view finder. Unfortunately the E-P1 doesn't have the connector for the optional view finder. The E-p2 and E-PL1 do. Panasonic sells two cameras with built in electric view finders. Panasonic lenses have IS built in while Olympus puts it in the body instead of the lens. You can turn off the Olympus IS if you are using a Pansonic lens or you can turn off the IS on the lens and use the Olympus IS. </p>

<p>Currently I have no complaints about the image quality of my m4/3. In fact it is better than I expected. Sony NEX is an interesting system but the interface has generated a lot of complaints. Samsung also released a Mirroless APS-C camera this year but not many people hav used it. Canon earlier this year said they would work on making smaller and lighter cameras but at this time they are not planning to go mirrorless. </p>

<p>Thanks Steven, very thorough. You just opened a broad range it seems. I can get an Oly or Panasonic, find a 3rd party adaptor (I'm used to this using Contax lenses on Canons) and mount anything from Oly glass to Leica (or in my case preferably Zeiss)? Are these LCDs good enough to manual focus, and is there any kind of rangefinding assistance (so to speak)?</p>

<p>I'm open to recommendations for a 28-35 and 85-105 equiv. primes, both low light, for either an Olympus or Panasonic then:) And I'll have to scout for adaptors. I've been reading all I can the last couple days, it's just a bit confusing. I saw a lot of images that make me think that except for DoF with my God lens (85/1.2) I sold, I won't miss my 5D until I go above 13x19:)</p>

<p>I'm 66 and in pretty good shape. I have a D90 and a D60 along with a bunch of lenses. I love them all, but after shlepping the D90 and a few lenses for a couple of hours, they start getting very heavy, especially on a hot day. So I'm also thinking of a 4/3 system. I'm just not ready to give up my Nikons yet, but I know that it's just a matter of time.</p>

<p>In the meantime I bought a Fuji HS10 bridge camera. It is the most DSLR like bidge camera and has a 24-720 equivalent lens that is pretty good up to about 500mm. It has in body stabilization that works very well, it has buttons for most frequently used adjustments, and it has a manual zoom ring which is faster and more accurate than a power zoom. Still, it suffers from the problems of a small sensor, especially noise. If I avoid underexposure and don't print larger than 8x10 the noise is under control. Cropping brings up the noise, but with 720mm, I don't have to do much cropping.</p>

<p>I also have a Nikon P6000 for when I want something that fits in a pocket or small belt case. Shawn, have you thought about a good compact like the P6000 or Canon G11?</p>

<p>Just to clarify my previous post, the HS10 is an addition to my D90, not a replacement. I do a lot of shooting on the street, in the parks, and on the boardwalk. The HS10 does that very well. It's also good for family outings. For most other shooting, it's the D90.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>28-35 and 85-105 equiv. prime</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Well the sigma 50mm f1.4 is available in 4/3 mount. In my opinion it is one of the best 50mm on the market. With the adaptor it will be equivelent to 100mm. I have the canon mount version of it and I am having no problems with it. DOn't know how it would look on the Olympus, its a rather lerge prime. Unfortunately I don't see anything in the 15mm range for the 28-35. Panasonic does have the 20mm however both Panasonic and Olympus lautomatically apply lens corrections and many raw convers won't allow you turn that off. Pictures I have see with the corrections turned off show that the 20mm lens to have significant vignetting and distortion. that with the auto correcitons could cause some loss of detai in some casesl. I have not personnally not used the lens, i am just going on the images and reviews I have seen. Olympus does selll a m4/3 17mm. I have not looked into that one. I cannot think of any other primes worth looking into. You might want to look at 4/3 and m4/3 macro lenses don't know what focul lengths are available but 50mm does seem like a logical focal length for a small macro.</p>

<p>Keep in nind you will tend to use lenses with halve the focal length of the lenses you use now. That mens your depth of field will be about twice what you would get with your 85 at 1.2. The widest m4/3 lens available is if I recall correctly is the 20mm Panasonic. I think its widest aperture is 1.4. So to get very narrow DOF you have to get the lens closer to the subject. Getting less DOF in the m4/3 system is harder. Getting more is easier. Keep in mind 3 party adaptor aare manual focus and manual aperture.</p>

<p>To be honest I haven't done any significant manual focusing work with it yet. But that said the LCD can be hard to see in bright light. If it is hard to see the LCD it's going to be hard to focus. The clip on electric view finder would solve that issue. You can zoom in the display on the subject when manual focusing. the focus ring ony my olympus zooms 8-18 and 14-42 lenses is a "focus by wire sytem. Meaning the focus ring has a sensor in it that tells te camera which way to move the lens. Works well but you might find it a little hard to get use to. It does give you an unusual custom function on the E-PL1. You can change the direction to go to infinity. To focus ro infinity you can turn it counter clockwise, change the custom function so that clockwise moves it to infinity. Never saw that before in a camera. Otherwise you can sellect the focus point, manual or auto focus on in in one shot or AI servo and you can set the lens to focus automatically but then allow it to allow manual focus to refine it while you keep the focus locked with the shutter pressed (its called full time manual override and some Canon lenses have it. all that said when you take a photo the screan blacks out. this can make it difficult to impossible to track and focus on a moving object. Mirrorless cameras are generally not a good choice if you are taking pictures of moving subjects.</p>

<p>double post, sorry.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>I can get an Oly or Panasonic, find a 3rd party adaptor (I'm used to this using Contax lenses on Canons) and mount anything from Oly glass to Leica (or in my case preferably Zeiss)? Are these LCDs good enough to manual focus, and is there any kind of rangefinding assistance (so to speak)?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I use Contax SLR lenses on 5D with adapters. Also sometimes M42 lenses. With one EF to M43 adapter these can all be used on an M43 camera, straight from the 5D. Obviously the field of view is reduced, so using a Contax 28/2.8 on M43 feels like using a 56/2.8 on a full size SLR. So getting a fast wide angle lens can be problematic. These lenses are also a touch heavy and the adpater a bit long compared to the camera. For saving weight and space, Leica or Voigtlander lenses might be preferred.</p>

<p>The old C mount TV lenses are tempting, but don't usually cover the format, but there is a Pentax 25/1.8 which is pretty good and inexpensive.</p>

<p>I haven't had a big problem with focusing yet.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>shawn<br>

sweet ride, there. i have a 10 y.o. 750 monster. my best single day was san fran, across the sierras via sonora pass and down to bishop. felt fine, but three more days of riding like that and i was beat when i got back home.<br>

for long rides like that i would bring just my nikon d50 with a tamron 28-300 on it. the full-on kit really needs a car. or someone chasing me in a car.<br>

your site said you're thinking of getting out to calif. give me a shout before you do and i'll set you up with some insane roads.<br>

sorry, i don't have any pix a.t.t.</p>

<p>Hi guys, sorry will respond later, at work, but has anyone tried this lens? It looks incredible!</p>

<p><a href="http://noktor.com/products.php">http://noktor.com/products.php</a></p>

<p><a href="http://www.dpreview.com/news/1003/10030102noktor50mmhyperprime.asp">http://www.dpreview.com/news/1003/10030102noktor50mmhyperprime.asp</a></p>

<p> </p>

<p>I ride as well (nothing as sweet as your bike) and chose the Olympus E-P1 for compactness, the panasonic lumix 20 1.7 is a sweet lens (40mm equiv) and the kit zoom is not terrible for the E-P1 I liked sony's sensor, but went with the oly for the lenses, I also got a tele-zoom from the Oly 4/3 range that came with an adapter to use it on the M 4/3 body, I love it! AF is a little slow with the adapter, but there is a mode for combination auto/manual focus which will get close and then let you fine tune. It does zoom in to either 7x or 10x during MF. The live view is great for leaving a helmet on(even though I keep randomly bringing it to my eye when I'm just out shooting). Keep your iso down and you will have no problems with those 24" prints!</p>

<p>Hi guys, sorry will respond later, at work, but has anyone tried this lens? It looks incredible!</p>

<p>I haven't. Noktor is a new company. The lens is manual focus and manual aperture. The lens has been in production for some time, sold under a different name designed for security cameras and other general uses. Noktor simply purchases the lens, changes the mount and puts there name on it. Its</p>

<p>NICE BIKE.<br>

CAN'T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT OLY OR SONY 4/3 STUFF</p>

<p>Thanks Mike. spent almost $100,000 so far and no end in sight...crazy stuff...</p>

<p>PS that .95 isn't worth buying, but maybe the Voigtlander is...all things considered. I mean 50/1.1</p>