Adapting 35mm film P&S lenses to M4/3

Bob Atkins , Jan 01, 2012; 03:32 p.m.

I've been thinking about adapting lenses from old 35mm film P&S cameras to M4/3. A lot of the old film based P&S cameras gave decent results and were pretty thin. The distance from the lens to the film was short, maybe 25mm or so, but that's fine for M4/3 which has a back flange distance of around 20mm I think.

I'm thinking of a lens like the 35/2.8 used on the Olympus XA for example. It's way, WAY, smaller than any other decent quality 35mm focal length lens, it is optically good and it has more than enough coverage for M4/3. I'm sure there are other such cameras with a single focal length lens. The Yashica T4 comes to mind, as well as the Olympus Stylus

Obviously the trick is (a) getting the lens assembly out of the P&S, (b) figuring out a focus mechanism, (c) opening up any "between the elements" shutter and (d) if possible controlling the iris, though that's not a huge deal. I can live with a fixed aperture f2.8 or f3.5 lens.

None of these are impossible, though I suspect that iris control could be tricky. Once the lens is prepared, attaching it to some commercially available modified M4/3 adapter would be easy. It could just be glued into one if necessary.

My questions are (1) does anyone know of any documentation from anyone else who has tried this and (2) Can anything think of a reason why this wouldn't work? The main concern might be that the lens wouldn't be telecentric (one of the features that Olympus claims for their lenses) and that might lower image quality. However most adapted lenses aren't telecentric either so maybe it's a non-issue.

I tried a Google search but either there's nothing out there or I didn't use the right search terms. Lots of stuff on adapting SLR lenses. That's easy.

The object is to minimize the size of the camera+lens combination of course. Suggestions of which cameras might make suitable donors would also be welcome (along with offers of dead ones to experiment with!).

Responses

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paul wheatland , Jan 01, 2012; 04:31 p.m.

The easiest way to use odd lenses is an adapter of your choice coupled to a bellows for focusing purposes and any lens out there including a plus ten diopter for Diana-Holga type photography. It's my theory that using a P&S lens requires inordinate calculation and extensive labor to put it all together. Whatever you decide, good luck and have fun!

Bob Atkins , Jan 01, 2012; 05:20 p.m.

Since my goal is minimum size, lenses with bellows isn't going to work. Might as well just stick an SLR on there. I've got lots of old SLR lenses and adapters which work fine, but aren't exactly small.

Once the lens is extracted from the P&S, it shouldn't be a whole lot of work to mount. Not much calculation needed since focus can easily be tested and adjusted by "trial and error".

In theory lenses from old 110 format film ameras should have enough coverage for the 4/3 sensor, but it's getting hard to find 110 film cameras these days plus I'm not sure if any of them had decent lenses.

Dieter Schaefer , Jan 01, 2012; 06:29 p.m.

Wouldn't the interchangeable lenses from the Pentax Auto 110 be the easiest ones to try this out with? That was an SLR though, so the lenses may not be as small as you like them to be.

Dieter Schaefer , Jan 01, 2012; 06:41 p.m.

Might also be useful to look for those P&S cameras that had lenses that needed to be manually focused - Rollei 35 and the Minox 35 series come to mind - very decent glass too. Can't recall any others - but am sure there were more.

Tommy Lee , Jan 01, 2012; 07:52 p.m.

May be harder to find and is kinda pricee, check out the Olympus Pen-F 38mm f2.8 pencake. The adpater is almost bigger then the lens. But then it would have been be too easy.

Alan Klein , Jan 02, 2012; 01:10 a.m.

I use a Fotodiox adapter that allows me to use my Nikon lenses on an Olympus E-PL1 M4/3. It was 30-40 dollars, I forget. I use the same adapter with my Nikon 50mm f/2 and with other lenses that fit my Nikkormat. Fotodios has adapters for all lens and m4/3's so check their web page. There are other manufacturers as wel. Nothing special.

Bob King , Jan 02, 2012; 04:54 a.m.

A friend of mine wanted to adapt his medium format Contax lenses to his EOS DSLRs. He did it by cutting a neat hole in a body cap to fit the lens - he said it worked well. You may be able to do the same with m4/3 and making it permanent by gluing the lens to the cap.

Cheers, Bob

Claudio Cortes , Jan 02, 2012; 09:09 a.m.

You can check this link and contact the guy. He uses NEX cameras but maybe has already made the experiment. Type "glue" in the search box.
http://oldlenses.blogspot.com/

Alex Shishin , Jan 02, 2012; 02:58 p.m.

Bob, if you can find them, try old Pentax 110 lenses. They are tiny and have only one f-stop (2.8). Adapters are readily available.

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