I have most of the Contax G lenses (21, 28, 45 and 90) and my OM-D seems to be screaming to have them mounted. I bought one of the very first G adapters for use with an EP-1 but gave up on it pretty quickly - that little knob was a pain, especially when the camera was held at arm's length.
I dug the adapter out and could not for the life of me figure out how to connect it ... Neither side seems to fit the lens making me wonder whether I had lost a part , so now I am on the market for a replacement. I went on eBay and was surprised at how many different types there are - the world of mirror less cameras has changed a lot.
Several companies claim their adapters to be compatible with the 21mm, but do not state outright whether this requires cutting of the fins on the 28 or 21- my recollection is that this would always be true ?
The Metabones one looks fascinating, with what looks to be a huge focusing ring, but I have read complaints that they are overly large. The one review I found is more than a couple of years old.
Any opinions on what the current state of the art is to adapt G lenses to mFT ?
From what I've been reading the most popular these days are the Kipon, which are similar to the Metabones in having a focusing ring all the way around the lens mount, but a lot thinner one. On ebay for around $100.
I really wanted to get the 90mm Sonnar, but I'm really weary of how smooth the focusing would be compared to a buttery soft helicoid of a oiled and lubricated traditional lens. If you do get one, perhaps you can let us know how easy and smooth or not it is to focus Contax lenses on a M43 body.
Qwerty... Thanks for the reply. If I do pick up the Kipon I will let you know. I do wonder how well they can work,but my recollection of the tiny wheel I needed to turn on the adapter I do have (jinfinance, no idea if he's still around) was one of pure pain, so anything would be better than that
It's funny because a few years back all the adapter talk was MFT... Now I couldn't find much... I wonder if everyone who wants to do it, already has?
Yes the tiny wheel looks like no fun at all, that's why I think the Kipon with the big wheel and Kipon clones (around $30) seem to be the most common on ebay.
I've also read that lenses like the 21mm may not be the best towards the edge of the sensor. Any lens with a small rear element causes the light to hit the sensor at an angle causing the lack of sharpness towards the edges. The Contax 45mm and 90mm seem to give excellent results.
Where are you in Toronto ? If I get one maybe we could meet up. I did find a thread somewhere where somebody posted some really nice shots with the 21. I know there were some G->mFT threads here, but they seemed to have evaporated into the ether.
I tried a bunch of contax G ton m4/3 adapters, before giving up. The little wheel ones were a pain and the early ones with the large wheel were not that smooth. I have not kept up with these adapters lately, so hopefully they have improved. My recollection was that you had to trim the rear fins. If the adapter was so think that they would not hit things, I can not see how one would achieve focus even over a reasonable portion of the range.
You do not have to cut the fins of Biogon 21 & 28mm if you mount the adapter first on your camera
then mount the lens on the adapter.
Corner smearing of Biogon 21mm is almost same for Paransonic GF1 and Sony NEX-5 (not 5N), normally
you can ignore them, there is no colour shift on GF1 but a little on NEX-5, which is correctable by CornerFix.
