Wide-angle for M43 - sensible or mad?

<p>I've never been happy with wide angle choice for M43. I have the Olympus 9-18, which is tiny and takes filters (good!) but is soft in the corners and has horrid CA. Neither the Olympus nor Panasonic 7-14 zooms appeal at all, due to cost, weight and inability to take filters (yes there are third party adapters to allow filters, but they don't appeal). Also I'd like a prime, as that's the route I've gone for longer focal lengths. There's the Kowa Prominar 8.5 mm (efl 17 mm), but it's big and very expensive. So....<br>

Recently I bought a used Fuji XE1 cheaply, mainly for getting shorter efls from my adapted lenses. Then I realised there was a Samyang (Rokinon) 12 mm f2 lens for Fuji X (efl 18 mm) that is light, sharp and takes filters. So now my 'M43' wide angle prime is a Fuji XE1 with this lens. The combination is much cheaper and only fractionally heavier than the 7-14s for M43, and has the advantages of (a) fewer lens changes and (b) giving me a spare camera body in the event of one failing when out and away. And I use filters a lot, so this is important to me. However, a bit of my thinks that what I've done by mixing formats is crazy, and means that I'll have to be very strong willed not to buy more Fuji X lenses. Anyone else gone through mental or financial hoops to get wide angle on M43? </p>

<p>Yes. Wide angles primes (or lack of) is a big issue in m43 and in the original Four Thirds. You can b=get a 12mm m43 Oly lens that is effectively a 24mm which gas great reviews. They desperately need 9mm or 10mm lenses.</p>

<p>I still shoot film with my UW 16mm, 17mm, & 21mm lenses and have the film scanned. I'm considering a Sony A7II just to use my wide Olympus OM glass.</p>

<p>I have the Samyang 7.5mm prime for m4/3. I think it's a beautifully sharp lens and is very small and light - and it won't break the bank either. There is a good deal of distortion but that can be corrected if you like. The downside for your purposes is that it doesn't take filters.</p><div></div>

<p>Yes, it's a problem. The only lens I really miss from my DSLR kit was the Tokina 11-16. Like you, I gravitate towards the Olympus and Panasonic wide zooms (I don't generally use filters) but then get scared away by the cost.<br>

I don't know if you are aware of it, but there is a Samyang 10mm for M43 mount, though I don't think it can take filters. See <a href="http://www.syopt.com/en/product/photo-lenses-10mm-F2.8-ED-AS-NCS-CS.php">here</a>.<br>

I also have an X-E1 which I got primarily because I liked the images it produces, and which I carry with me almost everywhere. I don't have the temptation to get into Fuji's zoom lenses, but will eventually get the 18mm and the 35mm - and that will be my carry around kit.<br>

Maybe, if there isn't any M43 solution, I may invest in the Fuji 10-24.<br>

<br />Just for the information, I did try adapting the 11-16 to the m43 camera but it was terribly soft, not to mention cumbersome.</p>

<p>Laurie</p>

<p>Owning an Olympus 4/3 mirror camera and a Nikkor 24mm f2.8 with Fotodiox adapter, I then added a .5 lense to bring the EFF back to 24mm. The image was very acceptable though the image was round like the original Kodak from late 19th century! This satisfied my need for wide angle picture taking though it may not be a handy solution for others!</p>

<p>Just curious, as someone who used a lot of filters with film, and has only used a polariser with digital, which filters do you use?</p>

<p>John, my suspicion is that today a good part of the work of a filter can be done in image processing software. Depends on which filter, of course.</p>

<p>Harold, Mukul - four types of filter regularly. Polariser, mainly for glare off vegetation and wet rock; ND for moving water and vegetation; ND grad to (usually) hold back the sky (often in the UK mountains the sky is bright but the foreground sunless and much darker); and soft-focus for dreamy stuff. The first two cannot be replicated in post; the ND grad can be in theory but I don't like the near-clipped digital highlights in eg clouds and much prefer to keep them darker; and for soft focus I sometimes use Gaussian blur or the Orton effect in post, but usually prefer the effect of eg a Nikon soft 2. So I'm stuck as a filter user. Probably my age.</p>

<p>I also like the Samyang 7.5mm. It's cheap, well made and is surprisingly sharp. The lack of AF doesn't matter because 90% of the time you don't need to focus anyway as the depth of field is so great. If I wanted the same field of view from my Canon 5D2 it would cost me a fortune and weigh half a ton.</p><div></div>

<p>Good idea or not,</p>

<p >I have just purchased this full frame film lens on Ebay.</p>

<p >I intend to use it as a 15mm on my Sony Alpha A7R and as 30mm (effectively) wide angle/wide angle shift lens on my EM-1.</p>

<p > </p>

<p >Pentax SMC 15mm f 1:3.5 3.5/15mm K Mount Ultra Wide Angle Manual</p>

<p > </p>

<p > </p>

<p>Harold - please let us know how that SMC-K lens performs - I've a number of SMC-Ks of longer fl and they are very good on the Fuji XE1.</p>

<p>John,<br>

Did you really think I would miss an opportunity to brag, having purchased the rights? Don't hold your breath, as there are not too many subjects I would use it for, even in warmer months. That said, I did get some use out of my Tamron SP 17mm with film and still have it. The idea of a 15mm has been in the back of my mind for many years, the one classic (can't remember details) being well beyond my bank balance.</p>

While I only rented the 9-18mm for 2 weeks and used it on a 12mp m43 camera, my experience with that lens

was quite positive. I just reviewed the files from that trip and looked for CA in all the usual places and only

found about 3 cases of CA out of about 300 images, and all were easily corrected in Lightroom. I also found

the lens reasonably sharp in the corners, actually far better than the corner performance of my Canon 17-40L

at 17mm. The results I found were consistent with the Photozone review of the lens.

 

Perhaps you could try another sample of 9-18mm that hopefully would perform better than the one you have. I

do wish that a good native m43 8mm or 9mm prime, or an 8-18mm f4 zoom were available. For now the

12mm end of the 12-40mm or the 12mm f2 are my WA solutions.

<p>I agree. Wide angle is a weak point of m43!<br />But may be we should wait for Oly f/1.2 Pro series wide angle? 25mm annonced to realease this summer. May be we'll get wide angle this year too?</p>

<p>John, you may also be interested in this recently reviewed lens by Venus (a new Chinese manufacturer). It is a 15mm f4 and available in both Fuji and M43 as a native mount. It also has a built in shift function.<br /> You can see the review <a href="http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/venus-laowa-15mm-f4-wide-angle-macro-impressions-and-samples">here</a>.<br>

EDIT: Sorry, the Fuji and M43 mounts are not native but via adapter.<br>

Laurie</p>

<p>Kenneth - I agree the 9-18 is not a bad lens - but it's not in the same league as the 45/1.8, 75/1.8, or Lumix 20/1.7. I'm after an upgrade!<br>

Laurie - this looks interesting but is not as wide as I want - which is 8 or 9 mm for M43, or 11 or 12 for APS-C. I do like the idea of a full-frame lens with a 'free' adapter though!<br>

Harold - whenever you're ready....</p>

<p>Before I go anywhere with my 15mm I need to supply it with a cap, the front element being very vulnerable. In progress.</p>

<p>John, multiplying your kit with multiple different formats is reasonable to fill holes in your lineup, seeing as you couldn't easily fill the gaps with your requirements. I did the same thing for myself, since mirrorless, despite its advances, doesn't quite replicate what my SLR can do. I actually recommended that a film user do this 4 years ago:<br>

http://www.photo.net/olympus-camera-forum/00aHV5<br>

Buy what works best for you. I'd caution against becoming a photography hoarder, i.e. don't buy a bunch of random crap, but feel free to overcome any shortcomings with other cameras. And keep in mind how unbelievably wide 7mm really is on your m4/3 camera, as well as the immediate capability to zoom as far as 28mm equivalent! I use a Sony a6000 with Zeiss 12mm, but can only imagine how wide 9mm would be!</p>

<p>That reminds me of how tricky my (infrequent) use of 17mm on 35mm SLR was.</p>

<p>now that you're into Fuji, it will be very difficult indeed to avoid the siren call of the X-lenses. i have the 14/2.8 and love it. </p>