Can I use old Minolta lenses on an Olympus PEN Micro Four Thirds camera?
Asked 12/28/2011
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I have some older Minolta 35mm lenses from a film camera and I’m considering an Olympus PEN E-PL1 with a Micro Four Thirds mount. Can these Minolta lenses be adapted for use on Micro Four Thirds, or are they effectively unusable? I’d also like to know what limitations to expect, especially with focusing, aperture control, and field of view.
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
14y ago
2 Answers
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There are a number of adapters for Minolta MC/MD to Micro Four Thirds, like this one at Amazon. (If you are talking about Maxxum/Dynax lenses, then look for Sony Alpha to Micro Four Thirds adapters.) The lenses will be all-manual focus and aperture (no automatic stop-down), but you can use them. It's just going to be an old-timey sort of experience in the digital age.
Originally by user2719. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user2719
14y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Yes — Minolta lenses can be adapted to Micro Four Thirds with the correct mount adapter.
Key points:
- Minolta MC/MD manual-focus lenses can be used with a simple MC/MD-to-Micro Four Thirds adapter.
- Minolta AF/Maxxum/Dynax lenses can also be adapted, but they’re more limited because the camera body and lens won’t communicate.
What you give up:
- autofocus
- electronic aperture control
- lens EXIF data
- wide-open metering
With AF lenses in particular, lack of an aperture ring can be a problem, since there may be no easy way to set aperture without electronic control.
Also remember the Micro Four Thirds 2x crop factor: a 50mm lens gives a field of view similar to a 100mm lens on 35mm film, so many of your old lenses will feel much longer than they did on your Minolta body.
So they’re not useless at all, but expect a fully manual shooting experience, and be aware that wide-angle lenses won’t stay very wide on Micro Four Thirds.
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