[Clarkey]

I suppose it makes sense and isn't that big of a deal. After all, I can just do it the other way around - use pinpoint AF and enable the "AF+MF" which will switch to manual mode focusing aid as soon as I touch the focus ring. With back button focus it's pretty much the same thing.

Another thing I notice is how much slower the camera is to focus with the pinpoint focus. Again, it makes sense, but it looks like the choice is between quick and sloppy or slow and accurate. One shouldn't expect too much speed from contrast detection, though. For my kind of shooting it's plenty fast enough anyway.

Hi, there. Was playing with the GM5 today; if you set a single focus point and make the point as small as possible, it will then magnify the selected area under the point when you turn the lens focus ring.

My problem is that I haven't figured out how to stop the magnification to recompose once focused the way I want.

[WPRESTO]

My problem is that I haven't figured out how to stop the magnification to recompose once focused the way I want.

Try: 1) tapping the shutter release as if using AF with out firing the shutter; 2) pressing the center button on the 4-way; 3) check the manual to see if you can assign that revert to a handy function button.

[Clarkey]

Try: 1) tapping the shutter release as if using AF with out firing the shutter; 2) pressing the center button on the 4-way; 3) check the manual to see if you can assign that revert to a handy function button.

Thanks! #2 works and makes a lot of sense. #1 started the AF. There's probably another setting for that.

[WPRESTO]

Thanks! #2 works and makes a lot of sense. #1 started the AF. There's probably another setting for that.

FYI: On all three of my MFT bodies, if I'm in camera-body selected MF with enlarged view focus assist, pressing the shutter button halfway returns to normal view. If you're using MF+AF with many Pana lenses, no surprise that pressing the shutter button will also trigger AF because that is precisely what it should do. However, if you're in MF+AF and MF is selected by pulling the the focus ring back, as on some Oly lenses, then as expected the AF will not engage when the shutter is half-pressed, but enlarged focus-assist will cancel.

[Merv-O]

in MF+AF and MF is selected by pulling the the focus ring back, as on some Oly lenses, then as expected the AF will not engage when the shutter is half-pressed, but enlarged focus-assist will cancel.

Walter;
Greetings and salutations....My trusty Leica 4/3 Typ 109 died last week after many excursions of hard service at concerts and events that do not allow interchangeable DSLRs. The fatality occurred at the Peach Music Festival at Montage Mountain in Scranton, PA (Poconos). Unfortunately as a Lumix derivative body, it is not worth fixing. I then looked at some of your Olympus OM Mk II shots and just bought a Olympus OM Mk iii (successor to yours). It came with the 14-42 M.Zuiko EZ lens to start. As with kit zooms, it's slow (f/3.5?), so if I was too use a fixed lens for a concert what would you choose from the current M.Zuiko Oly line (needing 75mm to 120mm in 35mm equivalancy)....

[WPRESTO]

Walter;
Greetings and salutations....My trusty Leica 4/3 Typ 109 died last week after many excursions of hard service at concerts and events that do not allow interchangeable DSLRs. The fatality occurred at the Peach Music Festival at Montage Mountain in Scranton, PA (Poconos). Unfortunately as a Lumix derivative body, it is not worth fixing. I then looked at some of your Olympus OM Mk II shots and just bought a Olympus OM Mk iii (successor to yours). It came with the 14-42 M.Zuiko EZ lens to start. As with kit zooms, it's slow (f/3.5?), so if I was too use a fixed lens for a concert what would you choose from the current M.Zuiko Oly line (needing 75mm to 120mm in 35mm equivalancy)....

It's at the short end of your FL requirements, but the 75mm f1.8 Oly is an outstanding lens. If you were to go back to a zoom, the 40~150mm f2.8 Oly is one of the best zooms available for MFT, but it is expensive. There are some very good after-market prime lenses available for MFT but they are 1) MF and 2) generally available in mounts up to FF (typically Sony FF) which indicates that on MFT you get just the sweet spot from a lens with a FF image circle. That might or might not have IQ comparable to a dedicated MFT lens with a smaller image circle. Among these is the Samyang 85mm f1.4, a really good aperture for your style of photography. The owner ratings on the B&H website indicate a really excellent lens, but it is MF. Current on-sale price is $259 = really cheap for a 1.4 85mm with such a high rating.

And if you are moving to an interchangeable lens MFT, have you had experience with focus peaking? It makes manual focus much quicker and more sure. ALSO with respect to the Oly EM10, I found the following: 1) it's easy to accidentally press the four-way controller with your thumb because the body is so small that you tend to press the base of your right thumb against the back to get a good grip. I have two grips for my Oly; the one made by Olympus is small, fits beautifully and gives a significantly better grip, but you cannot attach a quick-release plate such as the ubiquitous Arca-Swiss units. I also have an after-market grip (I forget the manufacturer at the moment) which is metal (the Oly unit is mostly plastic and therefore lighter). This grip is slightly bigger and has built-in horizontal and vertical Arca-Swiss rails. I removed the vertical-mount rail as I found more annoying than useful. To access the battery and memory card, for the Oly unit you press a lever and remove half the grip which is very quick and easy as is reattaching that piece. The bigger after-market grip has an opening that provides access to the battery-memory card door, but you need a skinny finger to get at the door and the memory card is significantly more difficult to remove and replace with this big grip attached.

I use the Oly grip whenever I expect to hand-hold the camera all the time, but switch to the bigger grip if I intend to mount the camera on a tripod or monopod. If you want more info on the grips, just ask.

[Merv-O]

I use the Oly grip whenever I expect to hand-hold the camera all the time, but switch to the bigger grip if I intend to mount the camera on a tripod or monopod. If you want more info on the grips, just ask.

Walter: than k you so much for taking the time. I was a bit disappointed that Leica expected the cost of the repair to be almost half the price of the camera, and that sweet Summilux f1/7-2.8 lens is now lost to me. Because I was disappointed in the durability of the Leica typ 109, I looked for small cameras that would be acceptable to use at proprietary events and capture decent photos. I had an Olympus film camera in the late 1980's that was outstanding (I liked the quality of their optics) and decided to look into the elfish M10 mk iii. I figured the retractable 14-42mm would be acceptable to tote around with. I like the idea of a 40-150mm 4/3 lens and I will consider it. When I bought the Oly I was thinking, what the heck do I need another kit for? I usually only take one, possibly 2 bodies a t a time, but hopefully, this one will last more than 2 years before it freezes up.
I'll post some shots once the camera arrives.
As far as focus peaking is concerned, I use it regularly on my K-1 and Leica CL digital...I prefer manual in certain situations regardless....Walter: you are a camera savant, no doubt...Stay well.

---

Last edited by Merv-O; 08-05-2019 at 07:07 AM.

[WPRESTO]

Walter: than k you so much for taking the time. I was a bit disappointed that Leica expected the cost of the repair to be almost half the price of the camera, and that sweet Summilux f1/7-2.8 lens is now lost to me. Because I was disappointed in the durability of the Leica typ 109, I looked for small cameras that would be acceptable to use at proprietary events and capture decent photos. I had an Olympus film camera in the late 1980's that was outstanding (I liked the quality of their optics) and decided to look into the elfish M10 mk iii. I figured the retractable 14-42mm would be acceptable to tote around with. I like the idea of a 40-150mm 4/3 lens and I will consider it. When I bought the Oly I was thinking, what the heck do I need another kit for? I usually only take one, possibly 2 bodies a t a time, but hopefully, this one will last more than 2 years before it freezes up.
I'll post some shots once the camera arrives.
As far as focus peaking is concerned, I use it regularly on my K-1 and Leica CL digital...I prefer manual in certain situations regardless....Walter: you are a camera savant, no doubt...Stay well.

Any time, if I feel pretentious enough to think I know the answer or can give good advice. BTW: The superior thing about MFT focus peaking is you can see it through the viewfinder as well as on the screen. Also, the Oly peaking for me has been much easier to see and use than the peaking systems in my K1 and two Panasonic bodies. For performance venues, clubs or any indoor situation, the combination of an Oly body + a Smayang or Rokinon 85mm f1.4 would probably be almost as convenient as AF. The only downside is the size of the lens = much bigger than it looks unless you see it attached to an MFT body.

[savoche]

Hi, there. Was playing with the GM5 today; if you set a single focus point and make the point as small as possible, it will then magnify the selected area under the point when you turn the lens focus ring.

Yes, that part of it works well, but I find that the focus area is too big at times so I want to use the "pinpoint" (I think that's what they call it) focus sometimes - even if the focusing slows down quite considerably.

My problem is that I haven't figured out how to stop the magnification to recompose once focused the way I want.

As Walt mentioned, pressing the 'OK' button seems to be the least cumbersome way. I would like it better if it could just disappear after a (configurable) short time, though.

[savoche]

Another one with the Oly 75-300.

[WPRESTO]

I was saving these images for a different thread, but maybe they should go here. Pana GX8 + Oly 300 f4. The first image is modestly cropped = maybe 30~40% removed. The second is a deep crop from the first. See the tripod with part of me to one side of it? Pretty good IQ for a 600mm FF equivalent lens.

[northcoastgreg]

With the E-M5ii + Pany 12-60:

[UncleVanya]

I'm confused. I thought @Merv-o was asking for 75-120mm in 35mm equivalence. Since the crop factor is 2x I would expect lenses from 35-60mm are what he is asking about. The various 42.5-45mm lenses are fast and sharp. I like the 42.5 f1.7 Panasonic. Alternately any fast 50 adapted might work well. The Panasonic 60mm macro lens is nice and has a great focus limiter. But f2.8 isn't super fast.

[Merv-O]

I'm confused. I thought @Merv-o was asking for 75-120mm in 35mm equivalence. Since the crop factor is 2x I would expect lenses from 35-60mm are what he is asking about. The various 42.5-45mm lenses are fast and sharp. I like the 42.5 f1.7 Panasonic. Alternately any fast 50 adapted might work well. The Panasonic 60mm macro lens is nice and has a great focus limiter. But f2.8 isn't super fast.

Uncle Vanya: you are correct, I was trying to keep it small, but Walter is so on his game that he opened up the event horizon a bit. The 50% 35mm multiplier is a concern because I worry that the basic Oly MD Mark iii may not have the horsepower to handle that type of focal length. Only time and usage will tell the tale...thanks for your input on the Pany lenses.....

[WPRESTO]

Here's another option, but expensive:
Metabones T Speed Booster Ultra 0.71x Adapter for Canon Full-Frame EF-Mount Lens to Micro Four Thirds-Mount Camera

This device is the inverse of a teleconverter = it reduces focal length. A 100mm Canon lens (actual FL) becomes a 71mm lens on an MFT body. It also concentrates light, like a magnifying glass used to concentrate sunlight. Consequently an f2.8 Canon lens effectively becomes an f2 lens when mounted on MFT. The device transfers ALL lens-camera functions BUT, AF will only function with lenses that are physically light-weight because the MFT batteries don't have the power to drive the AF of say a 300mm f4. Also, because the device is actually using more of the lens' image circle, more or less the same amount as is used by an APS-C sensor, BOTH RESOLUTION AND CONTRAST ARE IMPROVED compared to mounting a Canon lens to MFT using a no-lens adapter. Tests by a couple independents have confirmed this is true.

But, the Metabones adapter is expensive. If purchased, however, it opens a world of Canon EF AF prime lenses of modest FL that will mount on an MFT body and retain all functions, including in many cases AF. I use one to use a Sigma 150mm f2.8 macro to MFT. AF does not function, but I have the equivalent of a FF IF-MF 213mm f2 macro.It works!

---------- Post added 08-07-19 at 08:28 AM ----------

If you have followed what I typed above, consider this:

A Canon EF 50mm f1.4 goes for about $270~280 new, about half that for a very clean "previously owned" lens. Mounted on MFT using the Metabones Ultra adapter, it becomes the equivalent of a full-frame 71mm f1.0 (!!) lens. BUT, the Metabones adapter is expensive, about $650~$700. BUT, would you be willing to pay $900 to get a 70mm f1.0 lens NEW?

I just checked two things: At B&H the 0.71X Ultra booster is at about $650. On the Metabones site, the Canon 50mm f1.4 USM is listed as tested and confirmed for AF function and accuracy. If you are considering the Metabones adapter, be sure to visit their site and look through all of the information as there are some restrictions, limitations, caveats.