Panasonic DMW-MA1 4/3rds Lens Mount Adaptor for LUMIX G Micro System

Comments about Panasonic DMW-MA1 4/3rds Lens Mount Adaptor for LUMIX G Micro System:

After buying the new Panasonic G3 I did not fancy splashing out on the new Panasonic lenses. Having a couple of lenses from my Olympus this seemed the better alternative.
As the other reviewer said,with the 4/3 lenses on it tends to struggle with the auto focus. This is for obvious reasons. The great thing about the G3 is though when I switch to manual focussing I get a nice zoomed in view on the screen allowing me to pin sharp the image. This works great and means I can get some very clear shots using my old lenses.
Overall I'm impressed, I get to use my old lenses and only a fraction of the cost of buying the Panasonic alternatives.

Comments about Panasonic DMW-MA1 4/3rds Lens Mount Adaptor for LUMIX G Micro System:

Purchased this item to use with the olympus 9-18mm micro four thirds lens (which I also bought from Warehouse Express) and both fit and work perfectly. I was a little apprehensive at first, but when you compare the cost of original Panasonic lenses and the Olympus, almost equivalent, there's no contest. The lens mount allows the use of many first class lenses, and believe me, image quality is paramount in my photography.

Comments about Panasonic DMW-MA1 4/3rds Lens Mount Adaptor for LUMIX G Micro System:

The Panasonic DMW-MA1 allows existing 4/3 lenses to be mounted on a micro 4/3 body - it's simply a spacer to restore the original distance from lens to sensor with an electrical pass through. Both the Panasonic and Olympus adapters are identical in terms of functionality however as the Panasonic adapter is currently cheaper and more widely available it's a better choice right now.

Unlike 'dumb' mechnical adapters the DMW-MA1 allows the micro 4/3 camera to communicate with the lens allow it to identify the lens and focal length along with automatic aperture control. Metering/exposure works well through the adapter in both stills and movie modes. Autofocus unfortunately is more problematic, many of the 4/3 lenses were designed long before contrast detect AF implementations appeared in SLRs which means the lenses do not work well with the contrast detect AF used in the micro 4/3 bodies. Panasonic have released a list of lens compatibility, the G1/GH1 support autofocus on the newer 4/3 lenses but on the majority of 4/3 lenses the Panasonic cameras will not autofocus at all, manual focus only. The situation on the E-P1 is less clear especially as I don't have one of these bodies, it seems expected that the E-P1 will eventually be able to autofocus on all 4/3 lenses.

Manual focus on the micro 4/3 bodies isn't too bad though as the useful focus assist which magnifies a portion of the screen does make manual focus considerably easier. In general though many of the 4/3 lenses really don't make much sense on the micro 4/3 bodies as their size and weight are not well suited to the small bodies.

For those considering buying this adapter to take advantage of the 4/3 lens catalogue, there are a few 4/3 lenses worth considering. The Olympus 9-18mm is a solid ultrawide lens at half the price of the Panasonic 7-14mm, the Olympus 25mm F2.8 pancake gives a very compact 50mm effective focal length and the 70-300mm add some decent telephoto range. Both Panasonic and Olympus micro 4/3 bodies can autofocus on all three of these lenses.

Personally I chose the adapter as I have a large collection of 4/3 lenses and wanted to be able to use them on the GH1 and 130 pounds was reasonable for that purpose. The Sigma 30mm F1.4 balances well with the GH1 with a useful wide aperture for shooting in low light and the 35-100mm F2 looks like it will be great for recording live music concerts.

Similarly for those who have an existing 4/3 setup I highly recommend the adapter as it's great being able to play with a variety of lenses on a new body. However for those buying this adapter just for 4/3 lenses check reviews out first to make sure the lens is a good choice for a micro 4/3 body.