Older 4/3 SLR lenses, autofocus on OM-D?

[Peter Klein]

I have the original Olympus 4/3 40-140mm f/3.5-4.5 SLR lens, which I really like. It was manufactured before the second series of 4/3 SLR lenses. So it does not have provision for contrast detect autofocus built in.

The question is, will it be able to autofocus, even slowly, on an OM-D? Or will it be manual-focus only?

These older lenses can autofocus in live-view mode on the more recent Olympus 4/3 DSLRs, but that involves some mirror flapping to use the regular E-series autofocus mechanism. But micro-4/3 is mirrorless and doesn't have phase-detect autofocus. So I doubt it can autofocus on the OM-D, but I'd love to be proven wrong.

Thanks!
--Peter

[Peter Klein]

Bump. Anybody know the answer to this?

[ptomsu]

I could AF all my 43 glass on the EP2 and EP3, so I would not understand why this would not work on the OMD. You need to use the right adapter - best the Oly one.

Issue is that AF with 43 lenses is ugly slow on m43 cameras. This is the tribute to CDF on a lens which was designed for PDF. So I finally gave up and do actually not want to get ever back in that useless adventure.

I rather hope that Olympus will over time come up with some of their 43 lenses in a m43 version which is then optimized for that really rocking AF in the OMD.

[dhazeghi]

Originally Posted by Peter Klein

I have the original Olympus 4/3 40-140mm f/3.5-4.5 SLR lens, which I really like. It was manufactured before the second series of 4/3 SLR lenses. So it does not have provision for contrast detect autofocus built in.

The question is, will it be able to autofocus, even slowly, on an OM-D? Or will it be manual-focus only?

Except for a few of the older Sigma 4/3 mount lenses, they can all autofocus. But it is slow - 2-3 seconds at least. And with the longer lenses, it will occasionally fail to lock focus even in good light.

Any of the Olympus or Panasonic adapters will do (functionally they are identical - all they do is pass through the signal from the camera to the lens and vice versa).

DH

[pikme]

My experience is a little different. I've used the 40-150 (second version) on my EP2 and thought it worked pretty well. It is slower than on PDAF camera, but I tended to forget about it after a few minutes as it really wasn't bad. It isn't that much slower than some of the earlier m4/3 lenses. My experience was outdoors in good light with strong contrast, so best conditions.

You do lose C-AF ability, which isn't much of a loss on m4/3 anyway.

The m4/3 version is so small and cheap ($99 on frequent sales) that I bought one. It does focus faster and I prefer it for the size and simplicity of not using the adaptor. I do like its rendering qualities, but it is noticeably less sharp at 150mm compared to my regular 4/3 version.

[br8grave]

For me,it's the right one too.

[RichA]

I liked it better than my 50-200mm 4/3rds lens. I had one with the E-1. I just ordered another copy. The focusing with the older 4/3rds lenses takes longer than the new lenses, but odder still, the focus confirmation signal (visual and audible) happen after focus is achieved!

[Peter Klein]

Thanks to everyone who responded.

I just got a reply from Olympus America. They said that with the Panasonic 4/3-micro 4/3 adapter I have, the lens should communicate fully with the OM-D body, and that autofocus is fully enabled. I was concerned because the lens does not autofocus on my Panny G1.

There are two versions of the DG 40-150mm "standard" 4/3 lens. The original, which I have, is f/3.5-4.5. This version was not designed for contrast AF. The second version, smaller but not quite as sharp, is f/4-5.6. It was designed with contrast AF in mind. So assuming that what the Oly rep says is correct, the older lenses can still autofocus. It's probably some long, iterative process, but for what I use it for, that may be enough. So it's worth a try.

--Peter