Theoretically speaking

roxics

roxics

Veteran
If someone built a Canon EF lens adapter that made contact with the lenses and GH1 contacts, could a future version of this hack enable autofocus and image stabilization of Canon EOS lenses?
 
An adapter currently exists which allows aperture and focus control electronically. They demo-ed it on an AF100 at NAB 2011.
 
I was under the assumption the adapter itself had controls on it for those features and didn't use the camera controls.
 
roxics said:
I was under the assumption the adapter itself had controls on it for those features and didn't use the camera controls.
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That's a different adapter to the one CColton is referring to. The real thing will be very expensive and has value only for higher end cameras. For a GH1 it will be overkill unless you are really, really married to the idea of using modern Canon lenses.

The one I think you are talking about puts an aditional manual aperture mechanism in front of the camera. Not sure how great an idea that is.
 
roxics said:
If someone built a Canon EF lens adapter that made contact with the lenses and GH1 contacts, could a future version of this hack enable autofocus and image stabilization of Canon EOS lenses?
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BTW, the hack would have nothing to do with that.
 
stoneinapond said:
BTW, the hack would have nothing to do with that.
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Correct.

Also, there are adapters which have an aperture inside the adapter. These are much less expensive than the full-control one (which I think was around $700, so definitely overkill), but don't electronically control anything; they just make up for lack of aperture control by having an aperture of their own. I'd be interested to hear from someone who has used one of those.

Also, Canon FD lenses are full manual lenses produced for Canon's manual film SLR line, and they are excellent glass which is amazingly inexpensive due to lack of demand. I have a few and they work well for me. Primes usually sell for less than $100 and adapters are $30 or less.
 
I don't think you guys are on the same page I'm on. I'm talking about controlling the EOS glass with the GH1 itself. Change the aperture in the GH1 with the dial and it changes the aperture on the canon lens. Press the shutter button down half way and it autofocuses, etc. I would assume you would need to hack the camera to communicate properly with the canon lens.
 
roxics said:
I don't think you guys are on the same page I'm on. I'm talking about controlling the EOS glass with the GH1 itself. Change the aperture in the GH1 with the dial and it changes the aperture on the canon lens. Press the shutter button down half way and it autofocuses, etc. I would assume you would need to hack the camera to communicate properly with the canon lens.
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No, you are not on the same page. The camera issues orders to a compatible lens and it speaks "Panasonic". A Canon lens does not understand that language. The expensive Berger adapter basically translates the Panasonic language into something that a Canon lens understands, namely in Canonspeak.

You're dreaming if you think that the hack can suddenly make a Panasonic camera speak Canonese.
 
I'm not dreaming, I'm asking. That's why the name of this thread is Theoretically Speaking. Just wondering if a hack could do that translation.
 
Unfortunately the hack is indeed incapable of changing the way the body talks to lenses, stonebat is correct.
 
roxics said:
Well. That's no fun.
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You know, I owe you an apology. We weren't on the same page. It felt like someone asked why monkeys can't fly and I gave a technical explanation based on an assumption of basic knowledge, only to figure out the the questioner had no concept of what flying was in the first place.

Your question was fair enough but displayed a lack of understanding of certain fundementals. Now you know.

Just to add to your woes, even if you could get a panasonic camera to output canon lens commands, you have the problem of contact alignment - those are the little metal thingys you find on modern camera bodies and lenses that allow electronic communication. So you would still need a relatively complex adapter that would connect the right pin on the body to the right pin on the lens. Not a cheap proposition to start with.
 
stoneinapond said:
Just to add to your woes, even if you could get a panasonic camera to output canon lens commands, you have the problem of contact alignment - those are the little metal thingys you find on modern camera bodies and lenses that allow electronic communication. So you would still need a relatively complex adapter that would connect the right pin on the body to the right pin on the lens. Not a cheap proposition to start with.
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Tat's why many of the adapters for other lenses are basically a mount and a manual aperture control. As basic as it sounds, it still works well for me. My hand is already on the lens anyway - just takes another finger to rotate the aperture ring.
 
OK, I have a GH1 and a Zuiko 50mm f2.0 Macro 4/3 mounted via the 4/3 to M4/3 adapter (the Panasonic one). It does not auto focus but it does use the manual focus zoom assist. The curious thing is that there are a few other Olympus 4/3 lenses that will auto focus using this configuration - but not this one. Anyone have any idea why and whether it is a firmware thing?
 
BJMarsh said:
OK, I have a GH1 and a Zuiko 50mm f2.0... It does not auto focus but it does use the manual focus zoom assist... Anyone have any idea why and whether it is a firmware thing?
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It's a firmware thing. Panasonic has established a rather spotty track record of auto-focus support for legacy Four Thirds lenses with its Micro/Four Thirds cameras. There have been at least four generations of Panasonic cameras with varying degrees of auto-focus support, detailed at the following links:

http://panasonic.jp/support/global/cs/dsc/connect/index.html
http://pro-av.panasonic.net/en/af100/lens_compatibility.html

A Quick Summary of Panasonic Auto-Focus Support:

L1/L10 - full AFS and AFC support for all Four Thirds lenses
G1/G10/GF1/GH1 - full AFS support only for certain Four Thirds lenses
G2/GF2/GH2 - full AFS support for nearly all Four Thirds lenses
AF100 - partial AFS support only for certain Four Thirds lenses
 
Has anyone ever tried to add support for lenses? Any idea how difficult it may be to do that? I am would think that it is totally unrelated to the video hacks.
 
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