Michael
Mu-43 Regular
Having been a long time user of Canon FD (film) equipment I still maintain an interest in what is going on in that sphere. Last night I read this interesting post from Jodie (Yahoo Canon FD Users group) that I think many m4/3 users would also like to consider...
"Using FD lenses on FourThirds does not double the focal length! Since the
FourThirds sensor is smaller, the angle of view is reduced:
AOV = 2 * arctan (D / (2 * F)
where D is film / sensor dimension, and F is the focal length.
While it is true that using converter to mound FD lenses on a microFourThirds will not diminish the image quality of the lens it does not mean the lens will perform well on microFourThirds. The experience of people I have talked with who have used FD lenses on microFourThirds matches my experience using Olympus OM lenses on FourThirds. Wide open the results are disappointing, with low contrast and center sharpness, very low edge sharpness.
Stopped down 2 or three stops things improve considerably, but aren't any better than the Olympus digital lenses, at least not any better than lenses like the 14-54mm f2.8-3.5 zoom. Add to that not having autofocus and having to manually stop down the aperture and I have simply given up on the notion of using vintage manual focus lenses on FourThirds."
Regards,
Jodie "
While this may be the case for many average legacy lenses, some of the results I have seen with L series FD lenses, some Nikon primes and Leica R lenses have been simply stunning and exhibit all the fine qualities that they did with film. There is a lot more to be learned here...
"Using FD lenses on FourThirds does not double the focal length! Since the
FourThirds sensor is smaller, the angle of view is reduced:
AOV = 2 * arctan (D / (2 * F)
where D is film / sensor dimension, and F is the focal length.
While it is true that using converter to mound FD lenses on a microFourThirds will not diminish the image quality of the lens it does not mean the lens will perform well on microFourThirds. The experience of people I have talked with who have used FD lenses on microFourThirds matches my experience using Olympus OM lenses on FourThirds. Wide open the results are disappointing, with low contrast and center sharpness, very low edge sharpness.
Stopped down 2 or three stops things improve considerably, but aren't any better than the Olympus digital lenses, at least not any better than lenses like the 14-54mm f2.8-3.5 zoom. Add to that not having autofocus and having to manually stop down the aperture and I have simply given up on the notion of using vintage manual focus lenses on FourThirds."
Regards,
Jodie "
While this may be the case for many average legacy lenses, some of the results I have seen with L series FD lenses, some Nikon primes and Leica R lenses have been simply stunning and exhibit all the fine qualities that they did with film. There is a lot more to be learned here...