Author Topic: OMG! all I want is an adapter!? (Read 1416 times)

species · « **on:** August 23, 2011, 11:06:12 AM »

Sorry for the rant - I have to hold my hands up, I'm a Canon man, but I have recently bought a e-pl1 for walking about, which I love.

I really want to get a macro lens for it, and I think the Olympus 35mm F3.5 Zuiko Macro would fit the bill (albeit slow I believe).

I realise that I need an adapter to take it from 4/3 to 4/3 micro, and have checking out Ebay, but dear lord how many adapters are there??! It's nice to know that just about any lens will fit the camera, but now I have a headache trying to find the one I want.

I can see the really expensive Oly one for £100+, but was kind of hoping there might be a cheaper option.

If anyone had any ideas on this, or on a better macro lens, I would be very grateful.

Kind regards and thanks

adash · « **Reply #1 on:** August 23, 2011, 12:08:18 PM »

Hi and welcome to the forum!

The adapter you need is 4/3 to m4/3, the GBP100+ Oly adapter will work (assuming that you mean MMF-1 or MMF-2) but the Panny adapter of the same function can be obtained a bit cheaper: Panasonic DMW-MA1.
You can check the officially compatible adapters here:
http://www.four-thirds.org/en/microft/accessories.html

Autofocus will be much slower than anything you've seen so far, I recommend that you test the combination at a store before you buy.

BTW, the kit lens is able to focus pretty close, 24cm from the sensor plane, I think. Surely that will not be sufficient for inspecting insects' eyes, but for a bee on a flower, butterflies, etc, it can be enough.

Centauri27 · « **Reply #2 on:** August 23, 2011, 12:31:25 PM »

Welcome to the forum, species. I agree with adash--I've been quite impressed by the close-focussing abilities of the kit zoom. Great for photographing flowers and other small items.

I would recommend that you look into other legacy lenses for macro, assuming you don't already own the Olympus Zuiko one. You didn't say what Canon you had, but if it's an older film camera, you can buy a nice Canon FD 50mm macro on ebay for cheap, and the adapter for that is very inexpensive (around $20). You can then use that lens on your Canon.

Having no AF for macro work is fine, because you'll want to manually tweak the focus anyway to make sure it's focussed where you expect.

species · « **Reply #3 on:** August 23, 2011, 10:17:49 PM »

Hi - I need it for small tree frogs. I found that whilst the kit lens did do a good job, it didnt get quite close enough for my needs.

I understand that there is a macro screw on filter/lens type affair. Does anyone have any experience with this at all?

I dont expect it to be great quality but would be interesting to see how it does.

Kind regards

adash · « **Reply #4 on:** August 23, 2011, 11:28:31 PM »

Quote

I understand that there is a macro screw on filter/lens type affair. Does anyone have any experience with this at all?

Not me. It is for the 37mm lens thread of the second version (non-rotating front element) of the kit lens. It will fit on the previous with an adapter, but that is not recommended by Oly due to the added weight on the front element that rotates when focusing.
About quality - it should be a bit better than generic close-ups, but I am not able to testify for that. Find a shop that has it, go there with your camera and test it.

species · « **Reply #5 on:** August 24, 2011, 09:17:04 AM »

Mmmmm.. I have the mark 1 lens too.

Perhaps i'll take a stab at this and see how I get on (at least I can use it with a stepping ring with a variety of systems);

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Raynox-RADCR-0250-DCR-250-Macro-Attachment/dp/B000A1SZ2Y/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I2PL0LBFNTZAVU&colid=2SQDYFTRBLF5E

Thanks for all your help guys - much appreciated.

adash · « **Reply #6 on:** August 24, 2011, 11:53:46 AM »

The Raynox will probably be too heavy for the rotating front element of the mk.I kit lens. Never tried it, but I have bitter experience with LED rings for macro light. Try extensively before you buy.

Centauri27 · « **Reply #7 on:** August 24, 2011, 02:18:13 PM »

I say stick with an inexpensive legacy macro lens and a cheap adapter. Even if the Mark I lens works with the Raynox, it will undoubtedly cause additional strain on the lens' focussing motor, possibly leading to premature malfunction.

cosinaphile · « **Reply #8 on:** August 24, 2011, 07:32:53 PM »

ALSO A NIFTY 50 NON MACRO AND a 15 dollar set of 3 extension tubes [usable singly or in combination] and as was said a 20 dollar adapter for the legacy lens you choose [for canon a fd to m4\3, for olympus manual slr om to m4\3
and so on

it one way to go , and its not expensive extension tubes offer excellent macro ability without the image degredation of close up filters

E-M5 Pete · « **Reply #9 on:** August 24, 2011, 07:41:55 PM »

for under $100.00, you can get a Pre-Ai Micro Nikkor 55mm f/3.5 + Nikon Adapter, and you get a damn sharp protract lens too..

OMG! all I want is an adapter!?