Using odd lenses on Micro 4/3rds cameras

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

Thank you as always!

Abbazz · Joined: 23 Jun 2007 Posts: 1098 Location: Jakarta

There was a monkey raid on the local market during my lunch break. Fortunately, I was there with the Cooke Kinic. Here's the full report:

Cheers!

Abbazz

JerryMK · Joined: 16 Apr 2009 Posts: 98

Wow what a nice serie and great images this Cooke F1.5 produces! Are they shot wide open?

Abbazz · Joined: 23 Jun 2007 Posts: 1098 Location: Jakarta

apicius9 · Joined: 03 Nov 2009 Posts: 74 Location: Hawaii

Thanks for posting these great pictures - and for the background info on the Kinic lenses. I have an older uncoated one that is currently out for cleaning (with a few others) and seeing your pics, I can't wait to get it back and play. I have tried a few dozen c-mount lenses, and this one really stands out with the swirly bokeh.

Stefan

poilu · Expire: 2019-08-29

wow! super monkey Kinic Very Happy

Abbazz · Joined: 23 Jun 2007 Posts: 1098 Location: Jakarta

Thanks Stefan and Poilu for the kind words, I feel very honored.

Now for a different lens, here are some pictures taken with the Pentax 25/1.4, also in C-Mount. This is a lens for CCTV and video surveillance cameras, which doesn't quite cover the 4/3rds format, leaving some dark corners, even when stopped down. Here's how the image looks like, at F/5.6 and with the default aspect ratio of 4/3:

You can see that there is a very good contrast and that the center of the frame is very sharp (also when the lens is used wide open), but the borders are blurred and the image circle doesn't reach the corners of the frame. By using the 1/1 square aspect ratio, the black corners are cropped away and most of the image becomes sharp:

Same for the 16/9 aspect ratio (wide open):

The bokeh is a bit swirly when shooting close up and wide open, but much more policed than on the Cooke Kinic:

There is also a lot of distortion (F/5.6):

Sometimes, the vignetting can be a real nuisance:

But on some pictures, it is hardly apparent (F/5.6):

Cheers!

Abbazz

kds315* · Expire: 2021-03-09

Well Sebastien,

you with your impressive results were the last thing needed to push me "over the edge" towards trying the mft system - and I got me a Lumix GH1 kit. Embarassed

Well now the hunt for good adaptors in on...to see how many of all my lenses can be used on that new system. I expect quite some surprises Wink

Congrats again to the wonderful presentation here!

Abbazz · Joined: 23 Jun 2007 Posts: 1098 Location: Jakarta

kds315* · Expire: 2021-03-09

Thanks Sebastien for that "confirmation" - I needed that!! Very Happy

Sure will I report about my findings, sourcing good adaptors right now.

Which c-mount adaptors could you recommend? There seem to be different ones on the market.

cheesegears · Joined: 16 Feb 2009 Posts: 15

Abbazz · Joined: 23 Jun 2007 Posts: 1098 Location: Jakarta

kds315* · Expire: 2021-03-09

I just got a nice 1" Cooke KINIC (Petzval design) lens for my GH1, too.
Thanks Sebastien for bringing that to our attention!

LucisPictor · Expire: 2013-12-03

Abbazz · Joined: 23 Jun 2007 Posts: 1098 Location: Jakarta

Abbazz · Joined: 23 Jun 2007 Posts: 1098 Location: Jakarta

Olympus has christened its new E-P1 "Pen" but, before being a marketing gimmick, the Pen was a wonderful half frame point-and-shoot camera launched in 1959. This cheap little camera was an instant success, leading Olympus to develop the concept over the years. The most famous camera in the series, the Pen-F, launched in 1963, was an original half-frame SLR -- at that time, Olympus qualified it of "Single Frame Camera," by reference to the 35mm movie image size, which caused the Leica at its debuts to be called a "double frame" camera. The Pen-F had many unheard features, including a rotating blade shutter offering full flash synch up to 1/500 sec. and a Porro mirror viewfinder.

This incredible camera also had incredible lenses. The Zuiko lenses developed for the Pen series were great lenses, which all had a very good optical quality, a sturdy construction with smooth operating rings and were also capable of focusing very close. As the image circle required for half frame was smaller than for full frame 35mm, the Pen lenses were more compact than their 35mm counterparts.

For example, the fast normal 42mm F/1.2 was about half the size and weight of the comparable Canon F/1.2 lens. Here it is, mounted on the diminutive E-P1:

This lens, although being soft and having a low contrast when used wide open and being very sensitive to flare when highlights are present, is very sharp and has a rather pleasant bokeh. On a Micro 4/3rds camera, it becomes an useful 84mm portrait lens. As softness is a quality in portrait photography and contrast is very easy to enhance in post production, this lens has become one of the most sought after portrait lenses for the Micro-4/3 cameras.

Here are a few pictures taken with this lens, first, wide open:

Then, at F/5.6:

Cheers!

Abbazz

Abbazz · Joined: 23 Jun 2007 Posts: 1098 Location: Jakarta

The Summitar, launched in 1939, was a development of the optical formula of the 1933 Summar, with an additional element and a larger diameter front group in order to reduce vignetting. The bokeh of the Summitar is a bit less nervous than the Summar's but the Summitar will still exhibit some swirly highlights occasionally. The newer lens is also less sensitive to flare than its predecessor and vignettes less wide open. Sharpness is in the same ballpark IMHO, which means the Summitar is no Summicron.

Here are a few pictures taken with the Summitar, mostly wide open and converted to black and white, with some toning/grain/vignetting added in post processing:

Cheers!

Abbazz

LucisPictor · Expire: 2013-12-03

Abbazz, these b/w shots are amazing.

I want to have a GF1!!! Shocked

But �1000,- ??? Crying or Very sad

kds315* · Expire: 2021-03-09

I really like the b/w toned shots Sebastien! very nice series
of shots!

Abbazz · Joined: 23 Jun 2007 Posts: 1098 Location: Jakarta

Thank you Klaus for the kind words.

apicius9 · Joined: 03 Nov 2009 Posts: 74 Location: Hawaii

A bit late to the party, but here is another dizzying Cooke Kinic 25/1.5 shot with the G1, fully open. This is the older uncoated version. I love this lens.

BTW, Sebastien, I love the b&w shots with the old Leica lenses. I was born in Wetzlar where the original company seat was and half my family worked for Leitz/Leica at some time or another, I would love to get my hands on some of the old lenses.

Stefan

JerryMK · Joined: 16 Apr 2009 Posts: 98

Very nice shot. I wonder but never seen explained, What causes the effect of a swirley bokeh?

Abbazz · Joined: 23 Jun 2007 Posts: 1098 Location: Jakarta

Abbazz · Joined: 23 Jun 2007 Posts: 1098 Location: Jakarta

I just got a PM from user rbelyell asking a few questions about C-mount lenses. As I think the answer may be of interest to others, I'd better post it here. This way, the whole MFLenses community may also be able to contribute or to correct any error in my post.

apicius9 · Joined: 03 Nov 2009 Posts: 74 Location: Hawaii

Excellent summary Sebastien! I was fortunate enough to get my hands on a larger lot of c-mount lenses, just before the prices went totally bananas, and fully agree that 25mm is the cut-off point. Some wider lenses are not bad if you crop out the center part of the picture, but, of course, then they are not really wide angles anymore... It is fun to play with these lenses if you get them for a reasonable price, but I have started reselling most of the wide ones in the meantime, planning to keep only a few that I like for their unique effects (like the Cooke Kinic) or the few that at least show good illumination (and almost coverage) and bring additional benefits, like the Angenieux M1 25/0.95. If you don't mind me linking to my own post on getdpi, I did a quick and dirty comparison between some 25mm c-mount lenses reg. sensor coverage and vignetting here: http://forum.getdpi.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8410 . Not all lenses were optimally clean and the light was awkward, but you get an idea about the usefulness. Sometimes a bit of vignetting in the corners can add to a picture IMHO, but in many cases it may be just distracting.

That said, there are some excellent longer c-mount lenses out there that make very nice, very small and very light primes. This definitely includes the Kern-Paillards. They have gone up in price quite a bit but you may still find a 75/2.8 Yvar lens for a reasonable price. I find that the Schneider c-mounts are underrated on ebay, and the 150mm and 100mm tele-xenotars are excellent lenses - a bit heavier because of the metal construction, but still small compared to other lenses of that length. The old Kodak cine lenses also have quite a bit of charme, especially the 63/2 is great on the m4/3 system (well, on my G1 at least). The 40/1.6 and the 50/1.6 cine Ektars are also nice, but the 40mm is hard to find. The 50mm even has a macro mode which supposedly works very nicely - ask me again in a few weeks when mine comes back from servicing... My overall favorite, so far, is the Kern Switar 75/1.9 macro, but I wouldn't buy it anymore for the current prices, you pay less for a Summicron 90/2 these days Shocked

Sorry, I have been spending more time shopping for lenses than taking pictures recently and my job is crazy right now, but I'll try to find a few pics to upload...

Stefan