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using Olympus lenses on Panasonic body's


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I am new to m43  technology. Planning to buy one camera. My main purpose is video. 

My doubts are pandsonic gh4 or g7 work with OlympusOlympus pro lenses like 8mm or new 7-14mm 2.8 and few more from them. Do they work like Panasonic native lenses aperture and focusing ? etc.

Thank you all.

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To my knowledge you have no image stabilization in the Oly lenses. On Panasonic cameras you need native lenses to get that.

​You are right on this indeed. IS on on Olympus Body while Pana lenses comes with IS. 

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Now those Olympus PRO f/2.8 7-14mm, 12-40mm and 40-150mm... they would make an awesome trio (perhaps just not very budget friendly).

But first... Panasonic has to give me the GX8 that does in-body stabilization during video recording. An E-M5II if you will, but then done the Panasonic way...

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I have the Oly 12mm and 17mm primes.  They work on my GM1, BMPCC (and worked on the GH4 when I had one).   They are FANTASTIC lenses and make a huge difference, IMHO.  I experimented a lot with other lenses on focal reducers, etc.  There is nothing like a prime designed for a specific sensor size.

What I like the most about the Olympus lens design is you can physically push/pull a ring to go between auto focus and manual focus.  AND they have the distance markings on them.  Yes, they don't have IS, but you can get that through a stabilizer.  BTW, I also tried the Olympus EM5.2 (I write about it here: http://maxotics.com/?p=443) In a nutshell, I find stabilization using a gimbal a 1,000 times better than the in-camera IS.  On the EM5.2, when I panned, the image stuttered.  

I just remembered my blog entry didn't have my video footage.  Frank wrote A600, it should be A6000

 

 

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But for the times you don't swing around your camera, it would be nice to just have stabilized footage whilst being fairly stationary. I mean, what is the use of a small camera with a small lens, if you go and put it on a stabilizer? You shouldn't be needing a stabilizer to get footage that's not handheld shaky... you get a stabilizer to get fluid motion when roaming around.

I agree though. From what I've seen the E-M5II is only impressive at times... it has a tendency to go really warpy and flippy on you once you start to push it. If you're run 'n gunning, there's no 'ah, this 6th take was perfect, let's move on to the next scene'. You miss the moment, or don't get it right the first time, it might be gone forever...

Then there's the hybrid shooter such as myself that would love in-body stabilization for stills as well. So... I'll just repeat my wish for the GX8 that manages to get it just right. ;) I do prefer Olympus glass to Panasonic. I don't mind full manual lenses (with or without adapters), but some native electronic controlled lenses are very welcome too.

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I have Panasonic G6 and GH4: no problem on both with Olympus 12mm, 17mm, 25, 45. 
I choose to sell them to buy other gear I needed (a BM Pocket, some old primes...) but I regret that, because they were amazing, especially for stills, where AF is a must.
For video I'm happy with old manual lenses, but if you shoot both video and photos Olympus are just great!

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m43 lenses here from both Pan & Oly.  

They work fine between different bodies.  For example, I have Gx7, GM1, Pany 20mm, Oly 12-40mm, Oly 45mm, and Oly 12mm.  Used to own a GH1 and the EM51, Pany 14-140mm, and Pany 100-300mm ... Lots of legacy glass with dumb adapters too, just for fun.

FWIW, I recently bought the EM52 for a video production with a specific client.  The EM52 works great for me, btw.  Ergos aren't the best, but I've learned to adjust.

I'm using the EM52 to quickly shoot documentary style sequences.  Mostly I just handhold static shots for 4 or 5 seconds and then jump to another angle.  The flexibility of the EM52 in this regard is a huge value.  Imagine getting shots that look like they're acquired from sticks, but not having to swing a tripod around.  Very very practical.

--Not to mention that a little tai-chi body drift can easily simulate a decent slider shot, it all adds up to a nice shooting rig.  IQ is inferior to my Pany cams, but that 5-axis stabilizer is worth the tradeoff.

Normally, I would shoot video manual focus only, but I've found the Oly auto focus in video mode is doing a reliable job, so I've learned to adapt it to this style of shooting.

Bottom line, the Oly lenses work quite well.  My Oly 45mm @f2 creates a very nice cinematic look, I think.  The focal length, sharpness, and DOF at that f-stop has some nice mojo going on.

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Guest Ebrahim Saadawi

I have the Oly 12mm and 17mm primes.  They work on my GM1, BMPCC (and worked on the GH4 when I had one).   They are FANTASTIC lenses and make a huge difference, IMHO.  I experimented a lot with other lenses on focal reducers, etc.  There is nothing like a prime designed for a specific sensor size.

What I like the most about the Olympus lens design is you can physically push/pull a ring to go between auto focus and manual focus.  AND they have the distance markings on them.  Yes, they don't have IS, but you can get that through a stabilizer.  BTW, I also tried the Olympus EM5.2 (I write about it here: http://maxotics.com/?p=443) In a nutshell, I find stabilization using a gimbal a 1,000 times better than the in-camera IS.  On the EM5.2, when I panned, the image stuttered.  

I just remembered my blog entry didn't have my video footage.  Frank wrote A600, it should be A6000

 

 

​Thanks. EM5 stabilization looks really bad. 

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Guest Ebrahim Saadawi

It is bad if you don't control the camera. You can't swing it around willy-nilly and expect it to behave. 

I'll testify, however, that if you respect its limitations it will reward you with very useful footage. 

​Can you share good looking results fuzzy or are they still un-released? Just a scene...

I am genuinely curious on IBIS technology but it's just in every single test I've seen, optical IS is SO much better and introduces zero artefacts. One would find it extremely un-assuring to work knowing there ''may'' be artefacts in your final footage.


PS; it seems to look worse at wide angles and better at long shots, would you say that's true since you're the one who used it?

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Stabilization is a fascinating and complex subject, to say the least.  I learned a lot configuring a Nebula and trying to fix a friend's broken gimbal.  The same PID principles work for in-camera sensor stabilization and explain why the Olympus EM5.2 is not good, in my experience, with any kind of panning shot.  

The best analogy I've found is driving and stopping a car.  When you see a red light and have to stop your brain sends a command to you foot to press the peddle.  Once you do that, your senses send a signal if you're stopping to fast, or too slow, so you make an adjustment in your foot pressure.  It's a complex feedback loop, adjustments happening every fraction of a secion.  You're always risking stopping to short at the end (jarring), or stopping to quickly and then having to step on gas.  

The EM5.2, seems to favor risking stopping too fast over stopping to slow.  In photography, you want stopping too fast because the goal is complete camera stillness when you take a shot.  In video, your goal is to track the subject.  So, as FuzzyNormal says, if the camera is more or less pointed in one direction, the stabilization works very well because it's stabilizing the 5 axis.  When it pans, however, it doesn't know what axis to TRACK, instead of fixing itself in the original vector.  So it tries to fix them all and, ONLY when you have moved far enough in one axis, does it say, Okay, I need to stop at a point ahead so basically steps on the gas to get to the new position.  So you get that weird effect, or I did.  

Again, complex subject.  BTW, I also believe the Sony A7II has the same exact issue, which Andrew noticed.

 

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​Can you share good looking results fuzzy or are they still un-released? Just a scene...

I am genuinely curious on IBIS technology but it's just in every single test I've seen, optical IS is SO much better and introduces zero artefacts. One would find it extremely un-assuring to work knowing there ''may'' be artefacts in your final footage.


PS; it seems to look worse at wide angles and better at long shots, would you say that's true since you're the one who used it?

The shots will warp short or long if you move the cam around too much aggressively. 

As I say, I mostly use it for static shots without a tripod. No complaints there.

I guess I could upload a clip...the corporate stuff I do with it is pretty lame though; not exactly the product I like to share, y'know?

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Guest Ebrahim Saadawi

Even if it's a shot of your kitchen I don't mind. Just 100% technical geek analysis here and zero percent art analysis. 

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Just 100% technical geek analysis here and zero percent art analysis. 

​In that case, here's the first project I shot with it.  Didn't do the color grade, just the shoot/edit:

https://vimeo.com/125415659

Also, I uploaded a home movie clip the 1st week I got the camera here:

https://vimeo.com/122338262  

For some reason vimeo failed to sync the audio correctly, but if you're analyzing video, no problem..

Anyway, there you go.  For some stuff the EM52 is an ideal tool; not saying it's perfect, but it's allowing me to shoot some projects in a simple and easy fashion, so I'm liking it for what I demand of it.

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Guest Ebrahim Saadawi

Actually that's very good. The corporate piece is lovely and energetic and I would expect they love it, it meets the image quality expectations of that kind of work. The idea that you could shoot this with a mirrorless in your hands is very appealing. 

Btw was it shot in 25p and slowed down even further in post or am I seeing things? It does give a feel to it though. 

One thing I came to love is shooting everything at 30p and slowing it down to 25p, gives that subtle creamy look that's not real-time yet not slowmotion. 35p to 24p is also lovely, a very cool look for filming people walking/playing/speaking and syncing audio with care can be done. 

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