Author Topic: Using MF lenses on an E-P1 (Read 1004 times)

Olympionike · « **on:** October 13, 2011, 04:28:39 AM »

Hello,
I'm a newcomer in this forum and I've the following questions :

1.) Is there a possibility to activate the "focus confirmation" green dot and/or the" focusing loupe" when using a non-Olympus manual focus lens on the E-P1 ? The low resolution of the LCD makes it almost impossible to focus the lens correctly.

2.) Did anybody dig out the pin-out and specification of the electrical interface between body and lens ?

Thanks in advance !!!

asterinex · « **Reply #1 on:** October 13, 2011, 04:58:26 AM »

1) The E-p1 has NO focus confirmation green dot.
But is has a focusing loupe/ magnification. Press the info button until a small green rectangle appear in the middle of the screen. Then push the OK button. It will magnify.
Focus on the eyes !

Olympionike · « **Reply #2 on:** October 13, 2011, 07:14:45 AM »

Hello asterinex,

Using the standard kit lens, there appears a green dot in the upper right corner of the display when autofocussing has completed !!!--- In ALL modes.
Thanks for your instruction to activate the loupe---works fine with my adapted PK lenses.
Have a nice evening !

adash · « **Reply #3 on:** October 13, 2011, 08:02:43 AM »

Quote

1.) Is there a possibility to activate the "focus confirmation" green dot and/or the" focusing loupe" when using a non-Olympus manual focus lens on the E-P1 ? The low resolution of the LCD makes it almost impossible to focus the lens correctly.

There is no such a thing like a focus confirmation in E-P1. Almost all dSLRs have, but the logic behind the AF system in E-P1 makes it impossible to have one.
It is however possible to very precisely focus any lens via the magnified view. To activate, press INFO several times, until you reach a green rectangle in the middle of the screen. Then press OK to magnify, and OK again to un-magnify. If you need to access any setting, that requires the arrow buttons, it will not be accessible from here and you will have to press INFO several times again till you reach the initial screen.
The screens that you see when you pump on INFO can be reduced, so that a single press gets you to the magnified rectangle, and another gets you to the initial menu. I think it was Gears menu, but will have to check again.

Quote

2.) Did anybody dig out the pin-out and specification of the electrical interface between body and lens ?

No AFIK. This would certainly be a digital bus with complicated protocol, not just motor contacts.

Well, Ok, I did not see Asterinex' answer on time, so now you have two instructions on how to magnify the screen. Welcome to the forum, BTW.

Olympionike · « **Reply #4 on:** October 13, 2011, 08:35:36 AM »

You may be right, but what is this green dot for? Is it the confirmation that the iris is set correctly? It appears app.
0.5 seconds after pushing the exposure button half-way.
Sorry for these boring questions, but I'm not yet familiar with the camera. It's quite different compared wit my GX10 and the
Sony W7 and it has several disadvantages which I try to find out.

adash · « **Reply #5 on:** October 13, 2011, 09:16:59 AM »

Quote

You may be right, but what is this green dot for? Is it the confirmation that the iris is set correctly? It appears app.
0.5 seconds after pushing the exposure button half-way.

That's to show you that the AF has locked. In low light it may not succeed that fast or at all.

Quote

Sorry for these boring questions, but I'm not yet familiar with the camera.

Don't worry, at least someone will answer them. Your manual is a source of knowledge too.

Olympionike · « **Reply #6 on:** October 13, 2011, 10:04:22 AM »

Hello adash,

That's exactly what I meant with "focus confirmation" !

Digging a bit down :
The decision of "AF lock" is as I suppose, made in the camera electronics---means: maximum contrast is achived. This decision is communicated to the lens to stop the focus motor. This may be done by stopping the pulse train in case of a stepper motor or applying zero voltage to a DC motor. Then, a signal may be sent to the camera telling the electronics that focussing has completed.
Anyhow, the signal after "maximum contrast achieved", whatever form or protocol, must be available within the camera.
It should be a task of writing some lines of S/W to make this visible on the LCD---The green dot already exists !
Let it blink during focussing and continuous when done. Maybe in firmware version 1.5 ?
That would be a great improvement for usage of" foreign" lenses--at almost no cost.
Up to now, the spectrum of original (Olympus) MFT lenses is very small and the "loupe" is only a weak remedy for the low resolution LCD.

Any donations from Olympus for this improvement are welcome.

adash · « **Reply #7 on:** October 13, 2011, 11:08:05 AM »

The high res. LCD on my Pentax K-r is not a remedy to that either. The magnified view is the only remedy for focusing with Live View.
The focus confirmation in K-r is not a remedy either, especially with a shallow DOF portrait lens, for example.

Using MF lenses on an E-P1