Trying something fun with the Olympus Pen

[melek]

As I mentioned, I finally bit the bullet and picked up an adapter that would allow me to use Rolleiflex QBM lenses on a digital camera.

First off, a comment on the adapter. While it maintains infinity focus and lenses mount correctly, they allow the lens to rotate in the accessory mount. I guess you get what you pay for. I think this adapter really works best with normal to telephoto lenses. You can use wide angles, but with the 2X crop factor of M4/3, an exotic 18mm turns into a pedestrian 35mm.

I thought that I would try something different.

This is the body with the QBM adapter, a Rollei-branded 2X teleconverter and the 200mm Tele-Tessar. So, it comes out as an 800mm lens, once you factor in the 2X crop factor.



This was extremely difficult to hand hold because of both the 2X teleconverter and the 2X crop. Even tiny movements seemed huge. Also, the camera is so front heavy that you can't mount it on a tripod. You need either to rest the lens on a beanbag or rest it on your knee or rest it on a post or rest it on something to provide a stable focusing platform.

I boosted the ISO to 800 so I could get a decent shutter speed. That raises the digital noise factor.

Enough of that, I found the camera very easy to focus. With the EVF, objects snapped in and out of focus easily. I was shooting mostly at f/8.

In this photo, the stop sign is about 100 yards away.



Because of the 2X crop factor, I'm only capturing the center of the photo, so any problem with the edges being unsharp never make it into the image.

In this photo, this tiny flower is about 1 inch wide (2.54 centimeters) and was about 15 feet away.



More later with the 60mm Makro-Planar.

[PFMcFarland]

Get you a clamp-on tripod mount for the lens, and a mono pod, and you'll be set, Mike. You did well with those shots, especially the clover flower. Does the camera have in-body vibration reduction?

PF

[jamesmck]

Nice experiment and results, Mike. You could nicely do a Jimmy Stewart "Rear Window" thing with that setup.

[Philip]

That clover shot is especially impressive.

I'm interested, too, in the in-camera stabilisation. My E-P2 has an annoying menu selection for stabilisation where you have to tell the camera how long the lens is. Even with its own Olympus M-Zuiko lenses, it isn't smart enough to know by itself. I end up setting the stabilisation in my camera for, say, the 17mm pancake lens, and then changing to a 100mm lens and *forgetting* to change the setting. So the stabilisation doesn't work.
Mike, is yours like that too?