metering on e1 with lens adapter??

roger_michel · April 25, 2005

i've searched the archives and just don't see a clear answer. it's

probably there, but i can't find it.

when you use the e1 with the adapter for older zuiko manual focus

lenses, what meter/AE capabilities does the camera retain, if any.

do people prefer the olympus adapter, or are the after-market

adapters better??

best regards, roger

roger_michel · April 25, 2005

i am assuming stop down metering. is there AE with stop down??

skip_williams · April 26, 2005

With adapter-mounted lenses, the camera works in A & M modes, as you'd expect. All three metering patterns are active.

I haven't known anyone who had both the Olympus adapter and the aftermarket/Kendai adapters to compare against each other.

Skip

peter_a._klein · April 26, 2005

Roger: You can use aperture-priority and manual exposure control. Operation is just like using a (very) old-fashioned manual SLR with no auto diaphragm. The lens is alsways stopped down to whatever the aperture ring says it is. You have to open up for focusing, and stop down for metering and shooting. You can only use ESP or center-weighted metering, not spot.

You will probably find that the metering is a little off at the widest and narrowest stops, and the effect is greater the faster the lens. All you need to do to deal with this is to shoot a bunch of pictures on manual exposure at all your lenses' different stops but the same equivalent exposure. Then figure out the amount of compensation you have to use.

For example, the E-1 with my 50/1.4 lens meters 2/3 stops too dark at f/1.4, 1/3 stop too dark at f/2, and a tiny bit low (but too little to bother with at f/2.8). It's about 1/3 stop high at f/16.

Once you know this, you can dial in a +/- exposure compensation when you use the extreme stops.

I find the use of manual lenses to be easiest in availalble light, when I can just focus at the widest couple of stops and shoot without stopping down. For static subjects in bright light, it's no big deal to stop down. For anything moving, it can be a pain.

You can see some of my E-1 shots here, many taken with OM Zuikos.

http://users.2alpha.com/~pklein/E1/

50/1.4 at f/2: http://users.2alpha.com/~pklein/E1/P2190709Harpo.jpg

at f/1.4: http://users.2alpha.com/~pklein/E1/Pb270206Grac.jpg

100/2.8: http://users.2alpha.com/~pklein/E1/P2190711Footsie.jpg

28/2.8: http://users.2alpha.com/~pklein/E1/P3110765Furry.jpg

50/3.5:

http://users.2alpha.com/~pklein/E1/P4190807Harpo.jpg

http://users.2alpha.com/~pklein/E1/P4190802Laurel.jpg

http://users.2alpha.com/~pklein/E1/P4190807Harpo.jpg (50% crop)

http://users.2alpha.com/~pklein/E1/P4190797blossoms.jpg

50/1.8: