A few more comments about adapting OM lenses to digital. As Jim says
below they are adaptable to Olympus and Panasonic 4/3 (four thirds) and
micro 4/3 digital cameras and Canon APS-C and full-frame (35mm size)
digitals. A 35mm film frame is 36x24mm and full-frame digital cameras
have sensors that are the same size. The 4/3 cameras have sensors that
are 17.3x13mm or approximately 1/2 the width of a 35mm film frame. The
Canon APS-C size sensors are 22.3x14.9mm.
Since these digital sensors are smaller than the film frame your OM
lenses were designed for they produce a narrower angle of view from any
given lens. This has the effect of introducing what's called a "crop
factor" or a multiplier of the lens focal length. For the Olympus and
Panasonic cameras the crop factor is 2. For the Canon APS-C cameras the
crop factor is 1.6. For the Canon full-frame cameras there is no crop
factor since the sensor size is the same as 35mm film.
What this all means is that, on an Olympus or Panasonic digital your
50mm lens acts as though it's a 100mm lens (2X). On a Canon with APS-C
size sensor a 50mm lens acts like an 80mm lens (1.6X). This is great if
you have a telephoto view of the world since your 200mm f/4 Zuiko will
act like a 400mm f/4 on Olympus or Panasonic. On the other hand, your
very expensive, very wide angle 18mm f/3.5 Zuiko will act like a much
more pedestrian 35mm f/3.5.
Now comes the bad news. You will lose automation of the diaphragm on OM
lenses adapted to digital. That means manually opening the diaphragm to
get good light for focusing and then closing down the lens to taking
aperture for metering and shooting. That's like backing up to the
camera technology of 50 years ago. You will also discover that the new
digital cameras are really designed for autofocus. The viewfinder is
smaller and dimmer and without the focusing aids you find in your OM
viewfinders. Manual focusing can be done but is more difficult.
In my own case I bought a full-frame Canon 5D in order to use my OM
lenses with their full field of view but, in practice, I find them not
so easy to use. I use the wide angle prime lenses for landscapes using
hyperfocal focusing methods. I also use the macro lenses where the
camera is on a tripod and photography tends to be slow and deliberate.
For everything else I have added Canon mount autofocus zoom lenses.
Chuck Norcutt
JTimpe@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
>
>> Hello! Are there any digital camera bodies compatible with my old
>> lenses? What is the market like for OM camera bodies? Any help is
>> appreciated. Thank you!
>
>
>
>
>
> Welcome. To anser the first question, all digital Oly bodies are
> compatible with your old manual Zuikos with the 4/3 adapter that
> Olympus sells. Around $100 and well worth it. Canon bodies can be
> made to accept them as well with adapters made by some third party
> independant makers.
>
>
>
> The market for OM bodies is probably as soft as the market for most
> other brands. Certain models retain their value better than others,
> but by and large most dropped off a cliff years ago. If you happen
> to have an OM-3Ti body, all bets are off.
>
>
>
> Some on this list have taken to jettisoning some of our old
> collections to other list members, for $$ or gratis in some
> circumstances. Keeping them in the fold perhaps.
>
>
>
> Again, welcome and enjoy the list. It's a great source of
> information and comeraderie.
>
>
>
> Jim in Seattle
--
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