Photo of Ron Brinkmann by Scott Bourne made with Nikon 24-70 on an Olympus OMD body w/ Novoflex MFT adapter
I decided to test the Novoflex MFT adapter with my Olympus OMD-EM5. My pal Frederick Van Johnson and I were in Santa Barbara, CA and he brought out is Nikon 24-70 f/2.8 lens. I had the Novoflex Adapter MFT
The longer version.
There are many inexpensive Micro Four Thirds lens adapters on the market. But I’d heard most don’t hold up. I’ve tested some cheap Chinese knock offs that are so loose the lens wiggles on both ends. I decided to try the Novoflex to see if it’s worth the extra money. At first blush, it’s obviously a precision piece of gear, very well made. It’s made out of very sturdy materials and has good heft and weight to it. It’s not cheap plastic like some of the adapters I’ve tried. There is no give or play when it’s connected to the camera and/or lens.
In my short-term test I found it focused well at infinity (something the cheaper adapters don’t do well) and that it passed through some of the electronic information sent by the lens to the camera body.
In the case of the Nikon 24-70 paired with the Oly OMD, I found that although there is no autofocus, the facial recognition system works well. You can use the big blue ring to act like an iris stopping down or opening up to adjust exposure. You set your shutter speed on the camera and you set the aperture on the blue ring. There is no precise adjustment of aperture on the ring. I found it just worked best to use it to gain a good exposure.
It works particularly well with lenses that don’t have aperture rings such as the Nikon “G” mount lenses.
One side benefit is that if you shoot video on a MFT camera, you get the type of iris control with this adapter that serious motion picture camera operators are used to. While it’s not as precise, you can use your eye by checking the Live View mode to see if the exposure looks right. I got a kick out of trying that and think it makes the adapter worth the money even if you don’t use it for stills.
While I’ve linked to the Nikon version, Novoflex makes MFT adapters for Leica M & R lenses, Minolta MD lenses, Canon FD lenses, Sony/Minolta AF, Pentax K and Contax/Yashica lenses. There are also M42, T2 and OM adapters.
_______
This Post Sponsored by:
lynda.com Learn photography anytime, anywhere, and at your own pace—from bite-sized tutorials to comprehensive courses. Try lynda.com free for 10 days by visiting lynda.com/ Photofocus.
The HDR Learning Center Check out new ways to use High Dynamic Range photography to make compelling images. Free tutorials and posts to get results. Produced in partnership with HDR Soft.
The Topaz Labs Image Enhancement bundle. Open up a world of creative possibilities with a seamless, integrated workflow. You don’t need to be a Photoshop wizard to look like one. Click here and use the code photofocus to get a 15% discount.
Gigapan.com. The revolutionary GigaPan EPIC robotic camera mount lets you capture and combine thousands of images into one incredible, interactive panorama. Save 10% with the code PHOTOFOCUS.
Drobo - Not only is Drobo 5D fast, but it’s easy-to-use, expandable, flexible, and protected.
