Micro 4/3 Question!!! Help on Lens!

Karen Cole

Regular
Location
Los Angeles, CA
I just purchased the Olympus 50mm Ed Macro F2.0 and have the Panasonic adapter for 4/3 to micro 4/3rds. I just came home put the adapter on the camera and then the lens..everything is lined up perfectly. The problem..the lens does not auto focus at all. Shouldn't it? Isn't that the point of the adapter?

I've gone on Amazon and gone through the reviews on the lens seeking others who have used it on a Panasonic micro 43 and on an Olympus micro 43...all like the lens a great deal..says it works well..auto focus may be slow..but it auto focuses.

Do I have a defective lens..or am I just assuming that it should auto focus? When I turn my camera on with the lens attached it tells me to switch to manual focus..that has never happened before even when using legacy glass and not 43 or micro 43.

Any info greatly appreciated. I can return the lens if defective and get another.
 
Hi Karen,

I'm making the assumption that the camera in question is a Panasonic GF1 as used in your other recent post.
This chart Compatibilities of DMC-G1, DMC-GF1 and DMC-GH1 | Compatibility | Digital Camera | Product Support | Support | Panasonic Global indicates that this lens will only function as a manual focus lens when used on the G*1 series panasonic cameras.
This has been my experience with other 4/3 lenses on both a GF1 and a G1.
If your main requirement for the lens is it's macro capability then manual focus is no real drawback IMHO, however you might feel differently.

Barrie
 
I think Barrie may be correct although I seem to remember that the latest firmware was supposed to improve this position. When I sold my 4/3 kit I kept my 50mm but it was slow to focus on my E-P2. I went for the PL 45mm and am very happy with it.
 
I have a 50mm f/2 macro also. It will autofucus very slowly, and I mean incredibly slowly (we're talking several seconds in some cases here) on Panasonic m4/3 cameras after and including the G2. It doesn't AF on the G1, GF1 or GH1. The AF speed on the later Panasonic cameras is almost exactly the same as on Olympus m4/3 cameras, i.e. very slow. I'm not joking when I say that I can focus it faster manually than use the AF on my GH2 most of the time. It also makes a very unnerving noise when it does AF. Certainly if you are planning to do macro work on m4/3 using it, you will need to manually focus anyway, as you'll literally be waiting minutes for it to focus, if it ever does! The one advantage is that as soon as you touch the focusing ring the magnified view should appear in the viewfinder or on the screen, which is why I said I can focus it quicker using MF.

I gather there's no likelihood of firware updates to fix this either.

Its a wonderful lens but incredibly frustrating to use and I know you don't want to hear this but I've given up on it for m4/3 and use it on a Panasonic 4/3 L10 camera instead. For m4/3 I've bought a 45mm f2.8, which is virtually identical in terms of IQ and works very well on the Panasonic cameras.

If you can perservere with the Olympus 50mm, you will get incredible quality from it. Dpreview said in their review of it - "Certainly in terms of the studio results, it's the nearest we've yet found to a technically perfect lens." But they also said - "Of course there's no such thing as a perfect lens, and the 50mm F2 is not without its faults. Probably our biggest issue is with the focusing system, which is something of a let-down especially when compared to the internal-focus ultrasonic designs offered by competitors. The focus motor is relatively slow and noisy, and the lack of a focus range limiter switch can be a distinct irritation when shooting portraits. We're no fans of the electronic 'focus-by-wire' manual focus system either, as it's simply not as positive and precise as a well-designed mechanically-coupled focusing ring; overall this means the lens can sometimes be frustrating to use."

If you're interested, I've got several blog pieces on my "adventures" with it. If you go here - Soundimageplus scroll down to the INDEX on the right and click on:- Olympus Zuiko 50mm f/2 macro you'll see my posts on it, including some tests and comparisons with other lenses.

Its literally one of the best lenses optically ever made and one of the worst for handling. A mercurial beast. If you give it the love and attention it requires, it will reward you. Just don't expect it to do so easily!!!




I just purchased the Olympus 50mm Ed Macro F2.0 and have the Panasonic adapter for 4/3 to micro 4/3rds. I just came home put the adapter on the camera and then the lens..everything is lined up perfectly. The problem..the lens does not auto focus at all. Shouldn't it? Isn't that the point of the adapter?

I've gone on Amazon and gone through the reviews on the lens seeking others who have used it on a Panasonic micro 43 and on an Olympus micro 43...all like the lens a great deal..says it works well..auto focus may be slow..but it auto focuses.

Do I have a defective lens..or am I just assuming that it should auto focus? When I turn my camera on with the lens attached it tells me to switch to manual focus..that has never happened before even when using legacy glass and not 43 or micro 43.

Any info greatly appreciated. I can return the lens if defective and get another.
 
I agree with soundimageplus. I have this lens and used in verrrry slowly on my EP2. After I sold the EP2 I recently bought and EPL1 body purely so that I would be able to continue to use this lens. I am really disappointed in the way it works even on this newer body and I think I'm just going to cut my losses and sell out of the micro four thirds system altogether. I still have an Olympus E420 (my daughter has "borrowed" it) and this will have to be the one to use for this lens.
 
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