Using micro four thirds lenses on old OM film bodies

HI,

 

I am curious if this is possible. for example, it is possible to use the 12-40 PRO lens on an Olympus OM-4Ti body. Just wondering, as I do have an old OM-4 and I'm thinking o f buying the 12-40 and wonder if it would work on this as well as my new OMD.

 

Thanks,

Jonathan

If you manage to find (or make) an adapter that you can mount the lens you would be able to shoot only close up and with severe vignetting.

It will not mount without an adapter and does anyone make one? I believe focus is done via the built in AF motor even when you use the manual focus ring, and the OM would have not way of powering that feature. Same for the aperture, except some adapters do have a built in iris for that function. Finally, the 12-40 (which I own) is designed to cover about 1/4 of the area of a 35mm full frame image, so any resulting negatives (or slides) will result in a circular image with a whole lot of blank space around it.. And as BeBu points out above, the distance between m43 mount and sensor is much, much shorter than the OM system and as such, the lens could only focus close up. Edited June 3, 2017 by Ken Katz

Pointless to try. Remember the old concept of image circle. You can fit a pint into a quart jar. You cannot fit a quart into a pint jar. That is why the OM lenses will work with adapters on micro four thirds or four thirds. And is why multiple companies have marketed adapters. Beyond this, I recommend looking up the micro four thirds standard and see how it compares with the 35mm image circle. Big difference. Sorry, no possibile..

I suppose a micro 4/3 lens could fill the frame on an Olympus Pen (half frame) but still would have the other limitations (no way to power the focus or aperture)

If you want to use the OM4 there are loads of used lenses out there, often at bargain prices.

If you want to do it just to do it then prepare to put a lot of work and money into it for very poor results.

If you just want lenses to use just buy the OM lenses. The OM-4 is a valuable camera and deserves good lenses. While the OM-4 is relatively expensive compared to a lot of other 35mm SLR, OM lenses are not.

Until you start trying to run down some of the really high end f2 primes, like the 21, 90, or a 50mm f1.2, etc. The faster, high-end stuff still commands a pretty good premium.