I am considering this lens as my first foray into adapted lenses on Micro 4/3. It is marketed under a range of brand names and is available in Canon, Pentax, Nikon and Olympus versions. Which should I go for? Does one or other of the relevant adapters generally work better? Apologies if this is covered in some other thread - I haven't found it.
I would choose Canon or Nikon mount. Larger user base, and most likely greater resale value if you decide to sell it later.
thanks... ...that is certainly a relevant factor - other considerations that interest me are whether any of the adapters has a mechanical/technical advantage, and whether there is better availability and price/value of lenses for any of them. The Olympus lens isn't for 4/3 cameras, so I am assuming it would have no advantage over the others when used with an adapter - is that correct?
Opteka, Samyang, Bower, etc lenses are completely manual with no electronic connections, so there should be no functional difference between the versions made for each lens mount.
If you can get one that fits some of the older manufactureres that aren't really around anymore (Minolta MC/MD, Yashica/Contax, etc.), you'll find a wealth of other reasonably-priced legacy lenses that'll also fit the same adapter. If your choices are just the ones that you listed, I'd probably go for Pentax for that purpose, just because there's less demand (and, consequently, lower prices in many cases) for their lenses.
Not true! They do make a Nikon version with the metering chip{they have two different lenses for the Nikon mount , with and without the chip!}. It wouldn't be of much use if you adapt it but great if your a Nikon user. The Olympus version is four thirds , full 4/3 not micro 4/3. The 85mm on a m43 body would be a 170mm equivalent to a full frame which makes it a medium tele. Get a good quality adaptor because this lens is not a light one.
A quick check on ebay makes that sound very plausible - lots of interesting pentax lenses at prices which incline me to think again about the Opteka.