Questions about using generic 4/3 to m4/3 adapters

<p>How well do generic 4/3 to m4/3 adapters (found on Ebay or Amazon) work? Do they generally maintain all the needed electrical contacts for autofocus, lens identification and other electronic information that would be passed on by using an Olympus or Panasonic adapter?</p>

<p>Is autofocus speed affected? I understand that autofocus speed is already slowed by the use of a manufacturer 4/3 to m4/3 adapter, so I wonder if the generics are any worse or better in this regard.</p>

<p>The 'generic' FourThirds to Micro-FourThirds adapters I've seen have no electrical connections. They are designed to be useful for adapting manual lenses that have already been adapted to FourThirds mount onto Micro-FourThirds cameras. </p>

<p>If you want to use FourThirds SLR lenses on a Micro-FourThirds body, buy the Panasonic DMW-MA1 or Olympus MMF-2. They are what you need and are identical in function. </p>

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<p>Ouch. Looks like I will have to put up some serious money then. I did happen to see a kit for the PEN PL-1 that included the Olympus MMF-2 and the 150mm 3/4 zoom, at J&R, but it seems to have vanished.</p>

<p>Olympus does offer the double zoom kit including MMF-2, so the kit should be commonly available.</p>

<p>The generic adaptors existed before the makers got around to it ... however as others have pointed out they do not support Auto Focus.</p>

<p>Some additional magic would be needed for my 1972 model FD lenses to have auto focus.</p>

<p>Why don't you pop over <a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/1084614@N23/"><strong>here</strong></a> and see the sorts of things people are doing ... a little lurking and reading will perhaps reveal much.</p>

<p>with respect to serious money I paid less than $80 for my FD adaptor.</p>

<p><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3602/3506202465_d67070e21c.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="354" /></p>