OM mount

[droon]

The GH1 for me mostly an exercise in being cheap. I bought it on a Japanese auction site for 85000 yen (bargain!) and now i'm looking to get some lenses for cheap. As fast as possible, because the 14-140: fast it is not.

So last week I walked into a local pro camera shop and asked them what the cheapest second hand fast lens was they had.

They had a OM10 camera for 30 euro's, which came with a f1.8/50mm lens.

So I bought that.

Pretty fast, but REALLY narrow, the smaller sensor means it comes out as 100mm, right?

So then I got a f2.8/28 mm on ebay for €20, which is still a good notch faster then the 14-140, and even after the narrowing, useful as a daily prime.

So.

Conclusion:

OM mount is an orphaned mount, it doesn't fit onto any new camera's, it's pretty under the radar and that f1.8 is a really common lens. It was the default lens on the OM10. Means you can get some nice lenses for really cheap.

Questions:

Because the lens sensor is smaller, you have to multiply the mm's by 2, right? But because less light falls on a smaller sensor, is f2.8 still f2.8?

Would a (hypothetical) OM mount 20mm/f1.7 lens be as fast as the 20mm/f1.7 pancake?

And another question: is there a way to get the focus assist to work with non stock lenses the way it works with the stock lens, you press the shutter half way and it zooms in? The way it is now, clicking the focus button and then clicking ok, is kind of a hassle.

Pictures:
haven't taken the lens out yet, but i figured i had to show something, so here's 2 with the 2.8

 

[deltoidjohn]

Because of the crop factor you need to multiply be 2 to get the "35mm equivelant." The lens will still have the same properties as a 50mm (DoF, Focal lenght, etc) but will only display the centre of the picture giving it the apparent view of a 100mm lens.

F-stops on different lenses will give very similar results. The bokeh will be the same between lenses but you may get very slight variations in the amount of light depending on the quality of the glass, number of elements etc. It would barely be noticable in most cases - certainly not comparable to the light loss between a Full Frame sensor and a micro 4/3rds sensor. Some cinema and larger format lenses use T-stops which are calibrated for light. So any 2 lenses at an equal t-stop will have identical light transmission and bokeh.

 

[Tesselator]

The GH1 for me mostly an exercise in being cheap. I bought it on a Japanese auction site for 85000 yen (bargain!) and now i'm looking to get some lenses for cheap. As fast as possible, because the 14-140: fast it is not.

They're ¥35,000 now BTW. After shipping and tax, and auction fees and everything they come to ¥45,000 but mostly they don't want to ship internationally.

BTW, if anyone runs into that case I'll do it for you for ¥50,000 totally - and also be a proxy for any warrantee claims if Panasonic doesn't support it from your location.

Questions:

Would a (hypothetical) OM mount 20mm/f1.7 lens be as fast as the 20mm/f1.7 pancake?

There's actually more of a benefit. It would be the same as a 40mm f/1.7.
Likewise a 250/3.5 (cheap!) will act like a 500/3.5 (expensive!)

 

[swyzlstyx]

I really like my OM lenses. I don't like using manual lenses on the GH1, but I do have the adapter to do so, and used a 50mm f1.8 at several weddings for some select shots. I just don't care for using manual lenses for live EVENT work...it's a step backwards in technology.

But I love using them on my Olympus OM-G 35mm camera. Using them with the 2x crop on my GH1 is mostly just a novelty for me. Here's a GH1 photo using the Olympus-Zuiko OM 85mm at f2 and a Sunpak 383 flash. (And yes, you can use focus assist with manual lenses...just press the autofocus mode button, set your focus point, the press set to magnify that spot.)

 

[Tesselator]

I was thinking he meant focus confirmation.

I see now I was in errrror.

I have that OM lens too BTW. Definitely one of my favorites! Ultra sharp!

 

[droon]

They're ¥35,000 now BTW. After shipping and tax, and auction fees and everything they come to ¥45,000 but mostly they don't want to ship internationally.

BTW, if anyone runs into that case I'll do it for you for ¥50,000 totally - and also be a proxy for any warrantee claims if Panasonic doesn't support it from your location.


There's actually more of a benefit. It would be the same as a 40mm f/1.7.
Likewise a 250/3.5 (cheap!) will act like a 500/3.5 (expensive!)

The set or just the body? I got the gh1+14-140 set. I do remember bodies going for about those figures. At the time it came to about €700, after shipping and importtax. Still about half of what a store one would have cost me here. and now with the firmware hack, it's even in English! I had a friend in Japan who shipped it over for me (he had to take out the battery at the post office, they wouldn't let him ship it with battery in it.. :/)

Well, tnx all for the responsess!

the focus assist 2 button thing is just something i'll have to get used to, I'd like a one button solution, but it's already going faster, just has to become an automatism.

 

[Tesselator]

Yeah, just the body. Sorry, didn't know you meant the set. I should have guessed tho as that's the going rate - there's always about 8 up at any given time.

That's really weird about the battery tho. Heh, life just gets stranger and stranger...

 

[panystac]

OM mount is an orphaned mount, it doesn't fit onto any new camera's, it's pretty under the radar and that f1.8 is a really common lens. It was the default lens on the OM10. Means you can get some nice lenses for really cheap.

Questions:

Because the lens sensor is smaller, you have to multiply the mm's by 2, right? But because less light falls on a smaller sensor, is f2.8 still f2.8?

Would a (hypothetical) OM mount 20mm/f1.7 lens be as fast as the 20mm/f1.7 pancake?

And another question: is there a way to get the focus assist to work with non stock lenses the way it works with the stock lens, you press the shutter half way and it zooms in? The way it is now, clicking the focus button and then clicking ok, is kind of a hassle.

The OM 50mm F1.8 is still f1.8, with the field of view of a 100mm lens. The largest aperture affects light gathering and depth of field. The depth of field of a "cropped" lens is not the same as it would be on a full frame camera (e.g. Canon 5D Mk II) that had a 100mm F1.8 lens on it!!! however, the light gather capacity of the f1.8 remains the same.

 

[panystac]

The GH1 for me mostly an exercise in being cheap. I bought it on a Japanese auction site for 85000 yen (bargain!) and now i'm looking to get some lenses for cheap. As fast as possible, because the 14-140: fast it is not.

They're ¥35,000 now BTW. After shipping and tax, and auction fees and everything they come to ¥45,000 but mostly they don't want to ship internationally.

BTW, if anyone runs into that case I'll do it for you for ¥50,000 totally - and also be a proxy for any warrantee claims if Panasonic doesn't support it from your location.

I can't find anything like those prices in Japan, for a new GH1. I can only see the GH1 for around 54,000yen with the 14-45mm lens.

Are you sure you don't mean the G1, which sells body only, new for 32,000yen. (on kakaku, or selected shops at Akihabara)

 

[Tesselator]

Yeah, I'm sure.

But you're right... Those deals seem to be gone - at least right now - and I guess when you checked as well.

I watched pretty much everyday for a little over a month straight (from April 20th to about June 10th) and there were always between 4 and 8 brand new GH1 (body only, new in box) auctions with a "buy now" price between ¥31,000 and ¥37,000. I got mine for ¥32,000 plus ¥500 shipping and an auction fee of 2%.

Hmm, I wonder if those deals are gone forever or just a lull?


Edit: I guess it was just a lull as there's one that showed up today.



.

 

[lvlinux]

I really like my OM lenses. I don't like using manual lenses on the GH1, but I do have the adapter to do so, and used a 50mm f1.8 at several weddings for some select shots. I just don't care for using manual lenses for live EVENT work...it's a step backwards in technology.

It may not be your preference, but "a step backwards in technology" it is not. I've had autofocus ruin TONS of shots in video. I prefer manual focus 90% of the time with video. It's just like manual mode as opposed to P mode on a still camera - manual mode is not a step backwards in tech, it just gives YOU control, not the camera.
That's why you find hardly any high end video cameras with AF :grin:

 

[swyzlstyx]

It may not be your preference, but "a step backwards in technology" it is not. I've had autofocus ruin TONS of shots in video. I prefer manual focus 90% of the time with video. It's just like manual mode as opposed to P mode on a still camera - manual mode is not a step backwards in tech, it just gives YOU control, not the camera.
That's why you find hardly any high end video cameras with AF :grin:

It only ruins your shot if you LEAVE it in autofocus. Auto Focus Continuous (like video cameras use) will ruin your shot 100% of the time. Using spot focus on the GH1, especially with the focus assist beam and decreasing the spot focus area to its smallest size, is light years faster and more accurate than I can do manually...especially with the tiny GH1 screen.

High end pro "video" cameras might not have autofocus, but how many still photographers do you know shooting weddings with antique manual lenses? I shoot video in the same style I take pictures. It's just my personal style. At weddings, I typically have a fraction of a second to capture a moment... I'm a stationary tripod shooter...no wobbly steadicams...no follow focus...no dollies...no handheld...etc. Kinda boring but it keeps me from getting seasick watching it on my big screen TV.

 

[lvlinux]

High end pro "video" cameras might not have autofocus, but how many still photographers do you know shooting weddings with antique manual lenses? I shoot video in the same style I take pictures. It's just my personal style. At weddings, I typically have a fraction of a second to capture a moment... I'm a stationary tripod shooter...no wobbly steadicams...no follow focus...no dollies...no handheld...etc. Kinda boring but it keeps me from getting seasick watching it on my big screen TV.

Hehe - yes camera movement is often overdone with wedding videos. I do weddings too, but when I'm shooting stills for a wedding, my style is totally different than video, and I do use autofocus, but I also use manual focus too, especially when shooting medium format (or large format .

I guess it's all just preference - to me there's something organic and natural about turning the focus ring during a shot - I kindof get "in the zone" with it where it's automatic to me - and I don't think that I could do that with pressing a button.