Olympus-OM
[Top] [All Lists]

[OM] Re: olympus OM lenses on Nikon digital body

Subject: [OM] Re: olympus OM lenses on Nikon digital body
From: Moose <olymoose@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 18 Nov 2007 02:06:17 -0800
Matthew Granger wrote:
> Hi guys, does anyone know of an adapter that lets you use OM lenses on a
> nikon digital body?
Nope. Such a thing probably exists somewhere, smiply because people will 
make anything. However, it's not a good idea.

The problem is what's called register distance, the distance from the 
lens mount on the body to the image plane. Lenses made for each mount 
take this into consideration.

Nikon register distance in 46.5 mm and OM is 46 mm. so even with an 
adapter of zero thickness, an OM lens on a Nikon body would not focus to 
infinity. The only solution is an adapter with a negative lens built 
into it. This makes the effective combined focal length of lens plus 
adapter long enough for infinity focus.

I really acts like a weak teleconverter. Not a terrible idea, but is 
does introduce an additional lens into the system. So in the old days of 
manual focus (MF) there were some such adapters. I don't know about OM 
to Nikon, but I once tried an M42 to OM. The cheap ones use a single 
element lens that was clearly not multi-coated. The whole business is 
bound to introduce some image degradation.

So the answer is:

1. If you want to use your OM lenses on a DSLR, go Oly(4/3) or Canon. 
Both have shorter register distances than the OM mount, so there is room 
for an adapter with no optical elements. That is one significant reason 
for several of the Canon DSLRs owned by list members. Although I now 
mostly use AF lenses, I started out with a Canon 300D, mount converter 
and OM lenses.

2. If you decide that Nikon DSLRs are what meet your needs, just get 
Nikon mount lenses for them, current AF or old MF. Forget the OM lenses 
for that mount.

Moose

==============================================
List usage info:     http://www.zuikoholic.com
List nannies:        olympusadmin@xxxxxxxxxx
==============================================

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Sponsored by Tako
Impressum | Datenschutz