MFT lens and adapter

[hoftwi]

Hi all,

I wanted to get a mirror-less for a while as it is more portable than my D7100. Thanks for the double cash back of Panasonic, husband bought a G7 for me for Christmas But I can't use it until then

Anyway, it won't stop me for look around of stuff I would like to get a wide angle lens but don't want to spend a lot. Quite like the Samyang 7.5mm but unsure whether I would like the fisheye. Looking around for reviews, the Panasonic 7-14mm looks great but the price tag isn't for me. I don't mind 2nd hand or old manual lens, I hope you can give me some suggestions of the choices of lens.

Furthermore, I would like to get a adapter for Nikon F to MFT and vice versa so that I don't have to spend twice to buy lens. Is there any brand you would recommend? Had a look through the auction site, prices vary greatly so I got confused which one I should go for.

It will be greatly appreciated for your reply. Thanks in advance.

 

[HarveyM]

There isn't really a cheap viable option for wide angle on a M4/3 camera. The Panasonic 7-14mm is a pricy lens and it does not have a filter thread and so the use of filters is problematic. A cheaper lens which does take filters is the Olympus 9-18mm but it still isn't that cheap or particularly wide at a minimum of 18mm full frame equivalent. The widest M4/3 lens I own is the Panasonic 12-32mm lens which tends to go around the £100 mark secondhand, actually a very good lens and usefully wider than the typical 14-42 kit lens.

I own an old Olympus WCON-07 adapter, the one I own has a 55mm thread and screws onto the front of a lens using a step up ring. These are very high quality but decided chunky and heavy item. often on Ebay at widely differing prices but I paid £25 for mine. I tried it on the front of a 14-42mm lens with a 46-55mm step up ring, it gives that lens a wide angle of 11mm, or 22 mm full frame equivalent. It works well, no light loss at all but not really a practical real world solution. Panasonic do a wide angle converter which is plastic and light weight but it only fits certain lenses and is over £100 new.

If I need to shoot wide angle, I simply grab my Canon 5D2 and Sigma 12-24mm lens. To get the same shot on my G7 would require a non fisheye 6mm full frame lens, no such lens exists even close to that that isn't fisheye. However, the Lumix G7 does have a Panorama mode which is JPEG only, this works really well for stationary scenes and produces the result in camera.

The only adapter I use is the OM to M4/3 adapter so I can use my old Zuiko manual lenses. Most Nikon lenses will have no manual aperture control on the lens. Some adapters include an iris to emulate the lens stopping down, but it's in the wrong place for optimum picture quality and a guess as to what the aperture might be. For that reason, I have never bothered to try and use my remaining Nikon lenses on a M4/3 body.

 

[hoftwi]

There isn't really a cheap viable option for wide angle on a M4/3 camera. The Panasonic 7-14mm is a pricy lens and it does not have a filter thread and so the use of filters is problematic. A cheaper lens which does take filters is the Olympus 9-18mm but it still isn't that cheap or particularly wide at a minimum of 18mm full frame equivalent. The widest M4/3 lens I own is the Panasonic 12-32mm lens which tends to go around the £100 mark secondhand, actually a very good lens and usefully wider than the typical 14-42 kit lens.

I own an old Olympus WCON-07 adapter, the one I own has a 55mm thread and screws onto the front of a lens using a step up ring. These are very high quality but decided chunky and heavy item. often on Ebay at widely differing prices but I paid £25 for mine. I tried it on the front of a 14-42mm lens with a 46-55mm step up ring, it gives that lens a wide angle of 11mm, or 22 mm full frame equivalent. It works well, no light loss at all but not really a practical real world solution. Panasonic do a wide angle converter which is plastic and light weight but it only fits certain lenses and is over £100 new.

If I need to shoot wide angle, I simply grab my Canon 5D2 and Sigma 12-24mm lens. To get the same shot on my G7 would require a non fisheye 6mm full frame lens, no such lens exists even close to that that isn't fisheye. However, the Lumix G7 does have a Panorama mode which is JPEG only, this works really well for stationary scenes and produces the result in camera.

The only adapter I use is the OM to M4/3 adapter so I can use my old Zuiko manual lenses. Most Nikon lenses will have no manual aperture control on the lens. Some adapters include an iris to emulate the lens stopping down, but it's in the wrong place for optimum picture quality and a guess as to what the aperture might be. For that reason, I have never bothered to try and use my remaining Nikon lenses on a M4/3 body.

Thanks Harvey for the detail response I do realise there isn't much choice with a low budget but still hope for a miracle I think I may give the samyang 7.5 a try as I never shoot with any fisheye effect before,it should be fun.

 

[Gupster]

Thanks Harvey for the detail response I do realise there isn't much choice with a low budget but still hope for a miracle I think I may give the samyang 7.5 a try as I never shoot with any fisheye effect before,it should be fun.

I've had the Samyang 7.5 & Panny 7-14 and both are great lenses. As you'll know the Samyang is manual focus but the DoF is so wide that focusing isn't that much of an issue. You can quite simply de-fish the Samyang in PP as well but you need to compose to compensate for that. It ends up being quite a decent little landscape lens.

I ended up selling both of them to fund the purchase of the Oly 7-14 (for use with an E-M1) but I'll probably get another Samyang at some point - they're great value.

 

[hoftwi]

I've had the Samyang 7.5 & Panny 7-14 and both are great lenses. As you'll know the Samyang is manual focus but the DoF is so wide that focusing isn't that much of an issue. You can quite simply de-fish the Samyang in PP as well but you need to compose to compensate for that. It ends up being quite a decent little landscape lens.

I ended up selling both of them to fund the purchase of the Oly 7-14 (for use with an E-M1) but I'll probably get another Samyang at some point - they're great value.

Thanks Mark for the reply Samyang is on my list now

 

[Stu Meech]

Samyang 12mm (equivalent of 24mm on FX)?