My £32 25mm f1.2 lens

[ukaskew]

One of the benefits of the Micro 4/3s system is a staggering range of customization. With the right adaptor my little Olympus Pen will accept just about any lens ever made, even if it wasn't made for a stills camera.

Exhibit A is my impossibly small CCTV lens, 25mm with a maximum aperture of f1.2...at £32 from eBay it really was too cheap not to have a play with.

And a few quick unprocessed samples out in the garden the other evening (most of these were taken in pretty dark conditions)

Wide open it gives crazy circular bokeh which I imagine would look great in the right circumstances, it has a proper 'toy' lens feel to it and would be great for replicating Holga type shots. Very soft around the edges but the sweet spot in the centre is properly sharp. I'm sure it will be getting a lot more use over the coming months...

 

[Brazo]

Wont the M4/3 make it a 50mm lens with the 2x crop factor?

I use cheap old lenses on my Sony NEX, far sharper, better bokeh that the kit lenses and much cheaper.

Sony have recently introduced 'peaking' for manual focus which makes manual focus easier imo and faster than af!

 

[ukaskew]

Yep it's a 50mm through the PEN. There is an 11mm f1.4 CCTV lens which I'd like to get hold of, that one doesn't seem to be as common though.

 

[James172Cup]

Slightly off topic, but with you two in the thread seems an ideal time, are the Olympus PEN and Sony Nex 3 similar cameras? I'm looking to upgrade from point and shoot but don't want to spend £500 upwards an a dslr. Should I make another topic?

 

[Brazo]

Well the NEX undoubtedly has the superior APS-C sensor, some 60% larger than the M4/3rds system. However the amount of native lenses for the M4/3rds system is far and away superior which is why I am using legacy lenses and manual focus! I think the Pen has an EVF too? Which the NEX is crying out for imo.

Either will be a great upgrade from a point and shoot. If you want a dslr entry level ones come in at around £300.

 

[ukaskew]

As above really, Sony has the bigger sensor, Micro 4/3 has far better lens support. The Olympus E-PL1 would be a good choice, about £230 new. I only use my DSLR for motorsport now, everything else is shot with the Pen.

 

[Andy.]

How good is the image quality from the Pen? On par with the D90 or is there a significant difference?

Looks like a fun camera to own if you can do a certain amount of DIY on it.

 

[ukaskew]

How good is the image quality from the Pen? On par with the D90 or is there a significant difference?

Looks like a fun camera to own if you can do a certain amount of DIY on it.

Not a massive difference, but I've always had top notch lens' on my D90 so it will be hard to say until I get the Panasonic 20mm 1.7 (THE lens for Micro 4/3s), the D90 handles higher ISO better, although the PEN is by no means bad. One area the PEN does win is the colours straight from the camera, pretty much always spot on without the need for processing.

Main thing is the size really, I was using my iPhone so much for photography it made sense to get something decent that would easily slip in my pocket and go everywhere with me.

Worst thing is wide angle stuff, the 2x crop factor isn't so good when you want sweeping vistas. There are a few lens that go pretty darn wide but they are mega bucks.

 

[DB.]

Nice snaps there!