Four Thirds Digital Lenses

Olympus E-series, Panasonic and Leica

• see also my notes:

  • Olympus E digital Four Thirds system main index page

  • Olympus E3

  • macrophotography with 4/3rds system

  • firmware updates for Olympus cameras and lenses

  • photography index

  • digital SLRs compared

  • lenses from various digital camera systems (including Olympus) by use:

    • standard lenses and main zoom lenses

    • macro

    • portrait lens

    • super wide

    • perspective control lenses

    • super tele

  • remote control of cameras including from your PC/laptop

  • Olympus OM film system

• see also my experiments with the Olympus cameras:

  • Olympus E510:

    • lens tests - Canon 1D Mark III vs Olympus E510 - some surprising results!

    • lens tests - Canon 1D Mark III vs Olympus E510 - landscapes

    • a night at the football with the E510 and Canon1DIII

    • urban night photography hand held using Oly E510 and Canon 1D Mark III

    • telephoto reach - image stabilised 600mm f/5.6 on a budget

  • Olympus E330:

    • Olympus E330 page 2 - macrophotography

    • E330 with OM mount lenses - some example pics of mine

    • my comet photos with the E330

    • E330 lens tests 1

  • my Olympus C8080WZ resource page

• see also on the web:

  • Olympus Digital Accessories compatibility page and here and here

  • http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/43/ 

  • Four - Thirds consortium website

    • list of lenses

    • telephotos compared and at Biofos

  • http://www.openphotographyforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4856 

    • the superb Canon EF 200mm f/2.8 only narrowly beats an ZD 50-200mm on an E3

    • the ZD 7-14mm thrashes ANY Canon wide angle lens including their 14mm L lens

The Four Thirds System:

• a consortium of manufacturers including Olympus, Panasonic and Kodak agreed on the development of standards based on a new digital sensor size "four thirds" which has a crop factor of 2 when compared to the 35mm film standard and thus the sensor area is one quarter the size and thus much cheaper to make. Leica has now joined this consortium and plans to offer a range of high quality lenses and cameras in joint partnership with Panasonic.
• The impetus behind development of the 4/3rds standard is production of lenses which are smaller, lighter, faster and cheaper than lenses designed for 35mm film cameras. This is based on the concept that 35mm film camera lenses are needlessly large, heavy and expensive for meeting the needs of digital imaging. Moreover, the lenses designed for the 4/3rds format are "near-telecentric" - which helps avoid vignetting, color fringing, and softness at the edges of the image.
• THUS when a lens is used on a Four Thirds dSLR such as Olympus or Panasonic, the field of view will be similar to that of a lens with TWICE the focal length being used on a 35mm SLR camera.
  • ie. if you use a 50mm lens, it will have the same field of view as a 100mm lens on a 35mm camera because you are only viewing the central half of the image - ie. it is cropped.

Lenses for the 4-3rds mount designed for Four-Thirds digital SLRs:

see also: 

• http://www.four-thirds.org/en/products/lense.html 

• http://www.4-3system.com/modules/lenses/

• Olympus website lenses and here

• Olympus road map for lenses (pdf)

Olympus Zuiko Digital Lenses (ZD):

SWD = Supersonic Wave Drive auto-focus, Olympus' AF system introduced in 2007 to rival Canon's USM AF.

super high grade Olympus ZD:

• ZD 7-14mm f/4.0 

  • unique 14-28mm equiv. lens but ~$A2700 and does not take filters

  • the widest rectilinear lens for ANY cropped sensor dSLR

  • minimal barrel/pincushion distortion, almost zero at 10mm focal length.

  • very sharp; 

  • performs best at f/5.6-f/8.

  • this lens is so good & allows unique creative opportunities, I just had to get one :)

  • perfect for indoor work

  • seems to have an inbuilt polariser-like effect on blue sky - perhaps the Brewster effect?

  • a little purple fringing wide open outdoors at 7mm in high contrast situations at the periphery.

  • flare spots if you allow light sources to hit its convex outer lens.

  • 780g;

  • see my photos using the 7-14mm

  • http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/oly-e/zd-007-014.html 

  • http://biofos.com/esystem/714test.html 

  • http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/showproduct.php/product/36/cat/15 

  • http://www.openphotographyforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4856

    • the superb Canon EF 200mm f/2.8 only narrowly beats an OM 50-200mm on an E3

    • the very good canon EF 100mm f/2.8 macro narrowly beats an OM 50mm f/2.0 macro

    • the ZD 7-14mm thrashes ANY Canon wide angle lens including their 14mm L lens for sharp, distortion-free images across the frame

• ZD 14-35mm f/2.0 SWD (2008):

  • equiv. to 28-70mm lens

  • world 1st standard zoom with f/2.0 throughout zoom range

  • RRP $A3499

  • http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/showproduct.php/product/1137/cat/15 

  • seems that some models have issues with gaining AF lock in low light with the E3:

    • http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1022&message=28744740&changemode=1 

    • http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1022&message=28578354

    • http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1022&message=28735414

• 35-100mm f/2.0:

  • released in 2005, it is the world's 1st lens to give f/2.0 over the entire zoom range

  • now this would make a brilliant available light portrait lens with nice bokeh ~$US2500 or $A4400

  • BUT weighs 1.8kg with tripod lock which is similar to Canon's 70-200mm f/2.8 IS but 1 stop faster.

  • 77mm filter; close focus 1.4m; 

  • http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/showproduct.php/product/43 

• 150mm f/2.0

  • in effect, give the telephoto reach of a 300m f/2.0

  • this could be one of the best lenses for astrophotography as well as high-end work if you can afford it

  • combined with a TC you get reach of 420mm f/2.8 (1.4x TC) or 600mm f/4 (EC-20)

  • plonk this on an Olympus E3 and you have one very light super telephoto system for sports or wildlife use.

  • I presume Olympus will be updating this to a SWD version soon.

  • 1.61kg; 82mm filter; $A4300

  • http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/showproduct.php/product/39/cat/14 

  • http://www.fourthirdsphoto.com/magazine/0103_pavek1.pdf :

    • with EC-20 2x TC it is half the price and weight, and faster focus with more DOF than the ZD 300mm f/2.8 but not quite as sharp, and f/4.0 wide open.

• 90-250mm f/2.8

  • a fantastic lens for action or wildlife photography and unique at 180-500mm equiv. f/2.8 but ~$US6000 or $A10,000 and 3.27kg with 105mm filter

  • the longest zoom made by Canon is their 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS which weighs 1.36kg but 2 stops slower.

  • Canon make a 400mm f/2.8L IS lens but this is 5.3kg while the 500mm f/4L IS is 3.9kg and 1 stop slower.

  • http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/showproduct.php/product/42 

  • http://www.e-fotografija.si/templates/?a=1060&z=93&page=1

  • http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/typepad/ZSjz/~3/146626414/the-olympus-90-.html 

  • http://www.fourthirdsphoto.com/magazine/0103_pavek1.pdf 

• 300mm f/2.8 

  • ~$A11,000

  • a superb lens for birding, etc but is 3.3kg but it's the only way with any camera system to get 600mm telephoto reach at f/2.8!

  • http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/showproduct.php/product/40 

  • http://www.fourthirdsphoto.com/magazine/0103_pavek1.pdf 

high grade Olympus ZD (these tend to be about $A850-1350):

• 11-22mm f/2.8-3.5  

  • practically diffraction-limited optics with some CA but better than Canon 24-70mm L lens

  • 72mm filter; ~$A1400;

  • http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/43/zd-011-022.html 

  • http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/showproduct.php/product/37/cat/15 

• 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0 SWD (mid-2007):

  • equiv. to 24-120mm lens

  • perhaps the BEST standard zoom for Four Thirds (and perhaps better than available for any dSLR) giving versatility and AF speed, a 5x zoom while still retaining excellent resolution comparable to the 11-22mm and 14-54mm at the expense of a little more barrel distortion at the wide end.    

  • some complex distortion at wide angle (thus if doing architecture, consider the 11-22mm lens instead) but overall a superb lens.

  • 72mm filter thread, does not rotate on focus; internal focus; macro to 0.25m; 0.58kg;

  • would combine very well with:

    • 7-14mm, 50mm macro & 50-200mm SWD - a total of 4 lenses that give excellent quality and a focal range of 14-400mm in 35mm terms plus a macro/portrait lens.

  • AF fault identified in those with serial numbers between 230005416 and 230010688 - see free inspection & repair

  • see:

    • http://photocamel.com/forum/blogs/paul-shields/41-big-question-get-12-60mm-sell-11-22mm-14-54mm.html 

    • http://www.fourthirdsphoto.com:80/vbb/showthread.php?t=19665 

    • http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/showproduct.php/product/1138/cat/15 

    • http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/olympus_12-60_2p8-4_o20/page4.asp 

    • http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/olympus_12-60_2p8-4_o20/ - formal lens test

    • http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/43/zd-012-060.html 

  • RRP $A1499

• 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5  

  • a standard zoom equiv. to 28-108mm; some vignetting at f/2.8 in extreme corners but less than the Leica; $A840

  • when compared to the Leica D 14-50mm (see here and open the pdf):

    • very similar performance but Zuiko has less vignetting and better corner resolution wide open at wide angle while the Leica has better corner resolution at wide angle at telephoto.

  • http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/showproduct.php/product/33/cat/15 

• 50-200mm f/2.8-3.5  

  • nice lens but some vignetting wide open; good bokeh; ~$A1400;

  • 1.07kg; 67mm filter; close focus 1.2m;

  • http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/showproduct.php/product/38/cat/15 

  • www.photozone.de/8Reviews/lenses/olympus_50200_2835/index.htm 

• 50-200mm f/2.8-3.5 SWD (2007):

  • similar to older model but adds faster SWD autofocus and improves color blur  property

  • but macro flashes can no longer be mounted as lens hood mount is different

    • see http://www.olympus.co.jp/en/support/imsg/digicamera/compati/e_system.cfm  

  • see some of my photos with this lens

  • matches beautifully with either the TC-14 or TC-20 teleconverters

    • see my photos with the 2x teleconverter giving 800mm reach at f/7

  • RRP $A1599

  • http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/showproduct.php/product/1136/cat/15 

• 8mm f/3.5 fisheye

  • ~$A1400

  • http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/showproduct.php/product/41 

• 50mm f/2.0 macro  

  • a brilliant diffraction-limited lens with almost no aberrations but you can get similar optical performance with a manual focus Zuiko 50mm f/1.4 OM lens if it is stopped down to f/2.8

  • BUT this is one lens you should have for portraiture, general use and macro work - I bought one.

  • hopefully Olympus will update this with a new SWD version with a focus range limiter switch to improve its AF performance.

  • alternatively, OM macro lenses for really close macro work where manual focus is preferred anyway.

  • ~$A850

  • see my photos using the 50mm macro

  • http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/43/zd-50m.html 

  • http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/showproduct.php/product/35 

  • http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/olympus_50_2_o20/ - formal lens test

• telephoto macro planned for 2008

• 1.4x teleconverter - ~$A750

• EC-20 2x teleconverter - ~$A699

  • this is said to be one of the best 2x TC's ever made, and given the telecentric design of Olympus ZD lenses, it can be used on any one of them (unlike the Canon scenario).

• macro-extender 25mm tube - ~$A320

  • see http://www.four-thirds.org/en/products/popup/extension_detail.html for focus range when used on various lenses

  • see also macro for more options

standard consumer quality Olympus ZD lenses (not dust sealed):

• 9-18mm f/4-5.6 ED (Sept 2008):

  • ultra-wide 2x zoom covering 18-36mm effective range;

  • 280g; close focus to 25cm; 72mm filter; 7 bladed iris;

• 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 ED

  • compact budget kit lens with E400/E410/E510; one of the best budget kit lenses around;

  • circular aperture for improved bokeh

  • sharpest at f/8 and 35mm; some CA wide open especially at telephoto and in corners; some vignetting in corners at 14mm;

  • 58mm filter, non-rotating; IF; 190g; close focus to 0.25m;

  • see my photos using the 14-42mm kit

  • http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/showproduct.php/product/1087/cat/15 

  • http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/olympus_14-42_3p5-5p6_o20/ - formal lens test

• 40-150mm f/4-5.6 ED

  • part of twin lens kit; front lens does not rotate; nice and compact;

  • circular aperture for improved bokeh

  • close focus to 0.9m via int. focus

  • http://www.dcviews.com/press/Zuiko-40-150.htm 

  • http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/showproduct.php/product/1086/cat/15 

• 25mm f/2.8 ultra-compact "pancake" lens:

  • announced March 2008

  • only 23.5mm thin & weighs only 95g; min. focus 20cm; 43mm filter thread;

  • http://www.fourthirdsphoto.com/magazine/0102_pancake.pdf 

  • http://www.biofos.com/esystem/pancake.html 

  • http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/olympus_25_2p8_o20/ - formal lens test

• 35mm f/3.5 macro

  • ~$A340

  • http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/showproduct.php/product/44 

  • http://www.biofos.com/esystem/35mc_tst.html 

• 18-180mm f/3.5-6.3 

  • ~$A780;

  • http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/showproduct.php/product/45 

• 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 ED (Nov 2007)

  • equiv. to 140-600mm with 1:2 macro; 127mm long & only 620g;

  • a great compact, light super telephoto zoom lens for bushwalkers;

  • best used at f/8, but is quite good wide open at the long end.

  • be aware though, like any 600mm lens, it takes some skill to use at the long end due to the shallow depth of field and magnification of camera shake.

  • appears to be based on the Sigma APO 70-300mm f/4.0-5.6 DG Macro lens.

  • http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/43/zd-070-300.html 

  • http://www.dpreview.com/news/0706/07062601zuiko70300.asp 

  • http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/showproduct.php/product/1102/cat/15 

  • http://www.fourthirdsphoto.com/magazine/0103_70-300mm.pdf 

  • http://www.fourthirdsphoto.com/magazine/0103_50-500.pdf 

• ultra-wide zoom 8-16mm (16-32mm) planned for 2008

• older non-ED budget kit lenses:

  • 14-45mm f/3.5-5.6 - budget kit lens but better quality than Canon's 18-55mm EF-S kit lens

    • http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/showproduct.php/product/32/cat/15 

  • 17.5-45mm f/3.5-5.6 - budget kit lens but better quality than Canon's 18-55mm EF-S kit lens

  • 40-150mm f/3.5-4.5  

    • part of twin lens kit;  front element rotates; slow AF, a bit soft but minimal aberrations. 

    • http://www.slrgear.com/reviews/showproduct.php/product/34/cat/15 

Panasonic / Leica Four Thirds digital lenses:

• NB. the aperture ring on these do not work fully on Oly bodies and transient mode IS by pressing the shutter button as on a Panasonic or Leica body is not possible, and the Oly can't change the IS modes as this is done via menus on the Panasonic or Leica body.

• NB. XSM is Leica's ultrasonic motor for silent AG.

• LEICA D VARIO-ELMARIT 14-50mm/F2.8-3.5 ASPH:

  • 28-100mm equiv. with Mega O.I.S image stabilisation built in, has aperture ring as well as zoom and focus rings. 72mm filter; 494g; closest focus 11"; $US950 at B&H Photo; 

• Leica D Vario-Elmar 14-50mm f/3.8-5.6 Mega OIS:

  • late 2007; compatible with L10's  Live preview AF; 67mm filter;

• Leica D 25mm f/1.4 (ie. 50mm standard lens) 

  • macro to 38cm; 4 ED lenses; 510g;

  • avail. April 2007 at RRP £749.99

• Leica D 14-150mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS XSM (ie. 28-300mm)

  • late 2007; compatible with L10's  Live preview AF; 

  • XS extra silent supersonic AF; 72mm filter;

• coming in 2007/2008:

  • 50-150mm f/3.5-5.6 OIS (ie. 100-300mm)

  • 45mm f/2 macro OIS (ie. 90mm macro)

Sigma Four Thirds digital lenses:

• Sigma lenses are fixed mount lenses so you need to buy the correct lens for your mount, unfortunately, the lenses are designed for larger sensors and thus do not make the most of the smaller Four Thirds sensor in terms of lens size.

• HSM = hypersonic motor for quiet high speed AF and also full time manual focus;

• EX = superior build & optical quality

• DG = lenses for digital and 35mm

• DC = especially designed for smaller digital sensors

• OS = optical stabiliser

• see http://www.dpreview.com/news/0602/06022611sigma43rds.asp 

• 24mm f/1.8 macro - 77mm filter; £299.99

• 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM - equiv. to 60mm; 62mm filter; 0.41kg; 

  • see John Foster's review here 

• 18-50mm f/2.8 EX DC - equiv. to 36-100mm; 67mm filter; 0.46kg;

• 18-50mm f/2.8 macro - 72mm filter; 0.52kg; £369.99

• 18-125mm f/3.5-5.6 DC - 62mm filter;

• 55-200mm f/4-5.6 DC - 55mm filter;

• macro 105mm f/2.8 EX DG - 58mm filter; 0.47kg;

• APO macro 150mm f/2.8 EX DG HSM - 72mm filter; 0.92kg; 

• APO 50-500mm f/4-6.3 EX DG HSM - equiv. to 100-1000mm! 86mm filter; 1.83kg;

• coming in 2007:

  • APO 135-400mm F4.5-5.6 DG - 77mm filter; 1.28kg; £479.99 or $US810

  • APO 300-800mm F5.6 DG - 46mm rear filter; 5.9kg; £4999.99 or $US7200

• coming in 2008:

  • 10-20mm F4-5.6 EX DC HSM

    • focus to 24cm;

    • 77mm filter; 6-blades; 495g;

    • http://www.sigmaphoto.com/lenses/lenses_all_details.asp?id=3343&navigator=6 

  • APO 70-200mm F2.8 II EX DG MACRO HSM 
    • focus to 1m giving 1:3.5 magnification
    • 77mm filter; 9 blades; 1,385g; tripod mount; 
    • http://www.sigmaphoto.com/lenses/lenses_all_details.asp?id=3344&navigator=3 

• see my photos using the OM 21mm F3.5 on Olympus dSLR and here for use on a Canon 1DMIII
• see my photos using the OM 50mm F3.5 on Olympus dSLR
• see my photos using the OM 50mm F1.4 on Olympus dSLR
• see also Wrotniak's page
• the 4/3rds camera bodies are THE BEST digital cameras to use for legacy manual focus lenses as long as you do not need wide angle as the 2x crop becomes an issue (if this is an issue then full frame Canon EOS cameras utilise the wide angle legacy lenses better):
  • they are amongst the most adaptable bodies as they are thin enough to allow lenses to focus to infinity
    • Nikon cameras in general cannot be used with other brand lenses as they will not be able to focus at infinity.
  • there is usually no issue with the mirror hitting the rear lens element as with the Canon 5D although you cannot use lenses that require mirror lockup.
  • Olympus cameras with image stabiliser built in in effect convert ALL legacy lenses into IS lenses
• exposure may be inaccurate (although consistently so for given lens and aperture at apertures)
  • spot or ESP exposure metering may be unreliable and the centre weighted metering may over-expose up to 2/3rds of an f-stop depending on each lens and aperture with greatest over-exposure occurring at wide open apertures less than f/2.
• the lens aperture will not be displayed in the viewfinder or in EXIF information (neither will the focal length).
• for best results, most lenses will need to be manually stopped down by 2 or more stops otherwise color fringing near bright subjects is in particular a problem, although some lenses work very well even at full aperture.
• avoid fully open apertures as risk purple fringing and internal lens flare - although this may soften portraits nicely.
• avoid apertures f/16-22 if possible as the diffraction limitations will degrade sharpness
• of course, you cannot use auto focus and accurate manual focus may be difficult:
  • the focus distance scale on the lens may not be accurate as the adapter may not be the precise thickness required.
  • the viewfinders are often smaller, dimmer & with no split-image focussing screen to assist MF (the Olympus E3 has a nice big, bright viewfinder though).
  • you may need to resort to live preview with magnified image for accurate MF but this is only for stationary subjects or where you can pre-focus at a spot in expectation your subject will move there.
• the best lenses to consider are:
  • high quality prime (ie. non-zoom) lenses:
    • Olympus OM and OM macro such as Zuiko 21mm f/3.5, 24mm f/2.8, 50mm f/1.2 or 1.4 or 1/8 or the f/3.5 macro, 90mm f/2.0 macro, 135mm f/2.8 or f/3.5, 200mm f/4, 300mm f/4.5, 500mm f/8 mirror and the other OM macro lenses.
      • see:
        • my photos by lens used on Olympus dSLRs
        • E330 with OM mount lenses - some example pics of mine
        • Four Thirds macrophotography

        • Wrotniak's page on OM lenses on 4/3rds

        • John Foster's page on OM lenses on 4/3rds

        • Gary Todoroff's page on 50mm lenses on an E330 - Leica vs OM 50mm lenses for portraits

    • Leica R lenses
      • Gary Todoroff's Lympa website - using Leica R lenses on the Olympus E330
    • Carl Zeiss lenses for Contax/Yashica mount
    • Nikon F lenses:
      • this includes the new high end Carl Zeiss ZF manual focus full frame lenses for Nikon F mount:

        • see http://www.dpreview.com/news/0610/06100103zeissnikonfmount.asp 

        • see Carl Zeiss website

        • Distagon T* 25mm f/2.8  $US824 very sharp, macro to 50mm.

        • Distagon T* 35mm f/2  $US824

        • Planar T* 50mm f/1.4 ~$US650?

        • Planar T* 85mm f/1.4 ~$US1300?

        • the fastest full frame macro lenses available:

          • Makro Planar T* 50mm f/2 $US1124

          • Makro Planar T* 100mm f/2  $US1749

      • this also includes the new Nikon 24mm f/2.8 tilt-shift lens which becomes a 48mm tilt-shift lens in effect on a Four Thirds camera and a 32mm one on a Canon 1D Mark III - see perspective control
      • BUT avoid the latest digital AF lenses (Nikon G) as these do not have an aperture ring on them.
    • Pentax M42 screw mount lenses
    • Pentax K mount lenses
    • T2 mount telescopes (search Ebay for "4/3 T2") and microscope adapters (see LMScope.com)
• possible with some difficulty:
  • Minolta Rokkor lenses
    • you will need to grind down the lens aperture pin by 0.3mm so it doesn't hit the camera's light box baffling.
    • see below.
  • Konica Hexanon lenses
    • these lenses do not need an adapter but they do need significant conversion - personally, I could not be bothered (see Konica Hexanon).
• not possible:
  • Canon EOS as these require electronic coupling
  • Canon FD mount lenses as you can't focus to infinity without optical converters (same applies to using them on Canon EOS cameras)
    • but you may be able to use a lathe and modify the FD adapters - see here and here
  • Nikon G digital lenses which do not have an aperture ring as you cannot stop down the aperture
    • this may change in the future as Nikon G adapters are now available for Canon EOS cameras.

Adapters for Four-Thirds cameras:

• some points to consider:
  • adapter should have a lock system to prevent it continually rotating on the mount making removal difficult.
  • optionally you can buy adapters with an AF-confirm chip soldered or glued to the mount which should allow the camera's AF-confirmation for manual focus lenses to work (availability for Four Thirds seems limited at present but these are available for Canon EOS cameras).
  • avoid the adapters with focal length embedded on their chip which was to allow IS to work but this is now redundant with Olympus' firmware upgrade which allows IS to work on ANY lens with focal length 8mm-1000mm by simply dialling in the focal length.
• see cameraquest adapters usually $US175
• see Cirrus Chinese made adapters on Ebay - usually $US20-50 includes OM, Pentax M42, T mount, Leica R and Nikon F
• see Roxsen based in Hong Kong on Ebay - 
• see French Bague adapters on Ebay 
• AF confirm in MF mode will not function unless you use a AF-confirm chip which can be glued to an adapter
  • with the latest firmware updates, Olympus now makes the focal length feature for IS to work redundant, IS can work on ANY lens, so avoid the chips with focal length information embedded IS will only work on that focal length lens instead of any lens.
  • see Dandelion chips from E. Germany:
    • on Ebay - current focal lengths available are in range of 50-180mm lens ignoring crop factor.
    • http://oly43club.ru/index.php?p=howtobuy 
• Leica R lenses via the Leica adapter
  • see cameraquest adapters, Roxsen HK Ebay ($US86),
  • http://www.northcoastphotos.com/OlympuLeic.htm
  • http://www.virtualvillage.com/Items/005200-019?sck=26690879 $US25
• Nikon F lenses via a Nikon F adapter
  • see cameraquest adapters
  • http://www.virtualvillage.com/Items/005200-013?sck=26690879 $US22
  • BUT newer Nikon lenses such as the DX lenses and AF-S 105mm micro do not have aperture rings and thus cannot adjust aperture.
  • older lenses such as the AF 60mm f/2.8 micro and the MF lenses do have an aperture ring.
• Pentax M42 screw mount lenses:
  • see cameraquest adapters
  • http://www.virtualvillage.com/Items/005200-012?sck=26690879 $US22
• Pentax K mount lenses:
  • see cameraquest adapters
• Rokkor Minolta MF lenses:
  • see http://www.rokkorfiles.com/olympus.htm 
  • check out William's jig he made to protect the lens during grinding: 
    • http://www.pbase.com/sawilliams/image/93613627 
    • he uses a small dremel or other hand grinder and use a power adapter to slow the speed down to grind the pin.
  • 4/3rds is the ONLY digital SLR system that will allow infinity focus for Minolta MF lenses (not even the Sony which use Minolta mount can focus to infinity without a special optical converter which impacts on quality). 
• T2 mount adapter for astrophotography:
  • to attach an E-series camera to a screw mount like a telescope, you need either:
    • the MF-1 adapter AND an OM T-mount adapter available from Celestron or Orion, or
    • a third party 4/3 T mount adapter from:
      • Vixen,  Trawinski in France, Cirrus in China ($US50), or French Bague (35Euro but seem a bit thick)
      • enjoyyourcamera.com (15 Euro);
• Konica Hexanon AR bayonet mount lenses:
  • see Konica Hexanon
• Canon FD lenses:
  • unfortunately the lens-flange-to-film distance is too short even for 4/3rds cameras and so these lenses cannot be used on any digital SLR without modification to the lens via either:
    • milling the protruding aperture control lever then creating an adapter to fit, or,
    • disassembling the rear part of the lens to remove the FD mount part and reattaching a Konica Hexanon bayonet mount which is almost the same as the 4/3rds mount. 
• Canon EF / EOS lenses:
  • unfortunately these cannot be used on any camera except Canon EOS as they require electronic coupling.

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