[LRflex] Lumix L 1 - Leica D 3 - Oly 330E (Using R lenses)

Hello Listers,
I have both the Lumix L 1 (bought the kit in order to get the Leica D  
Vario-Elmarit 14 - 50 zoom lens) and the Olympus 330E. I use Leica R  
lenses on both 4/3rds bodies using a R > 4/3rd adapter that is  
available locally and costs HK$600 (US$77), If you want to see what  
it looks like please go to Gary Todoroff's Lympa log at <http:// 
www.northcoastphotos.com/Lympa.htm>.
Previously I was using a Canon 5D with a microprism / rangefinder  
Brightscreen and frustrated with the number of focusing misses I  
experienced - especially using wide angle lenses (the R 28 Elmarit is  
one of my favourites and MUCH better in the corners than any Canon  
wide that I have tried).

After reading Gary's log, I went to Shogun Camera in Tsim ShaTsui  
(Kowloon side) - bought the R > 4/3rds adapter and took a bag of R  
lenses to the nearby Olympus show room where I spent a pleasant  
afternoon with a helpful, pretty young sales lady trying R lenses on  
various Olympus 4/3rds bodies and ended up buying a 330E. I bought it  
because the "live view" feature, combined with a 10X magnification of  
the screen let me nail the focus on my R lenses much more frequently  
than with the Canon 5D. This was before the L 1 was available.

The L 1 works in the same way (live view B mode) and has the added  
advantage of letting you choose 4 X magnification or 10X - Olympus  
only has 10X and sometimes (especially with long lenses like my  
180APO) on the Oly a tripod is really needed to get a steady enough  
image that one can focus. Of course, the mirror, which is up in B  
mode, in both cameras needs to come down and up again to measure, set  
and take the exposure so the set up isn't quick enough to catch a  
fast fleeting decisive moment. Still, it feels good to be able to  
focus R lenses on a digital platform with a higher degree of accuracy  
than I was getting before.

Between the L 1 and the Oly 330E, I prefer the latter because it has  
a Live View A mode (from an extra sensor in the viewfinder) which you  
can use with the mirror down and which permits auto focusing if you  
are using a lens with that feature. This is faster then mirror up B  
mode and in consequence more suitable for catching decisive moments.  
The Oly 330E also has the moveable LCD on the back which lets you use  
the camera like an old TLR (I still have a Rolleiwide in my dry box  
and put one roll a year through it) and that is a feature which I  
really, really like (as the Spice Girls once sang).

One attractive feature in the Oly 330E is that as you close down the  
lens the LCD brightens so you don't have to focus at maximum aperture  
and then close down to take the shot.  With the L 1 - the LCD darkens  
more than the Oly does as you close down the lens.

The ergonomics of each camera is different - I prefer the menu  
screens on the L 1 - but don't like that your settings(unless saved  
in a Custom setting and in use when you change lenses) default to  
factory settings when you install a lens without an aperture ring.  
This doesn't happen on the Oly when you install the Leica D Vario.  
There are other incompatibilities as well. Using the Olympus E 1  
extender on the Oly 330E with the Leica Vario zoom is intermittent -  
sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. With the L 1 and the E 1  
extender there is a firmware upgrade available which I have installed  
but not yet tested which is supposed to solve compatibility problems.

I have a replacement Sigma 30mm f1.4 on order (the first sample back  
focussed on both camera bodies) to increase low light capabilities  
and I am looking forward to the 25mm Leica summilux which I saw at  
Photokina, under glass at the Olympus booth, but without any price  
information (ask Leica they said - that means it will be expensive!).  
Leica have said they will also issue a 14 - 150 f3.5-5.6 "universal  
zoom" in 2007 followed by a 50 - 150 f3.5 - 5.6 telephoto zoom and  
then a 45 f2.0 macro lens (I have the Oly 50 f2.0 macro and it is  
superb). All the Leica zooms will have image stabilization (which the  
14 - 50 vario has) and which no Oly lenses have - another reason  
perhaps to go with Leica. These 4/3rds Leica lenses are designed by  
Leica and quality controlled by Leica but made in the Panasonic  
factory in Japan (even though my 14 - 50 Vario doesn't say made in  
Japan anywhere).

Sorry to ramble on at such length but once started it seemed I should  
just include all my 4/3rd experience rather than just answering the  
question about the adapter.

Howard (in Hong Kong)

On 25 Nov 2006, at 3:01 PM, FreeLists Mailing List Manager wrote:

> Date: Fri, 24 Nov 2006 13:10:45 -0800
> From: David Young <telyt@xxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: [LRflex] Re: Question-LumixL1-LeicaD3
>
> Philippe Amard wrote:
>
>> Since I got Panaleicaed over the weekend, I was curious to see if I
>> could get the ring adapter from Leica and use my older lenses on  
>> the newcomer.
>
> Leica have a part number for the adapter, but I do not believe that
> is available, just yet.  Coming soon, to a dealer near you!
>
> There are, however, a number of Hong Kong and Chinese made adapters
> available for Leica-R to 4/3rds mount.   A quick search of Google or
> *bay might put you on to  one.  Perhaps our Hong Kong "secret agent",
> Howard Cummer can shed some light on this for you.
>
>> I visited the Leica site for the reference number and discovered
>> that the instructions for use of the D3 are free for download. At
>> first sight, there ARE differences, in the menu for example; 4 pages
>> or screens instead of three. More options are apparently offered.
>
> Underneath the skin, the cameras are the same.  But Leica do offer
> their own firmware.
>
>> So the question is: can one upgrade a Lumix thanks to Leica
>> software. If so, how to upgrade? and, what are the risks?
>> (I know David, that's three questions, in one ;-) )
>
> Sorry.  My answers are:  I don't know, I don't know, and I don't know!
>
> Anybody else have better information?
>
>
> ---
>
> David Young,
> Logan Lake, CANADA
>
> Wildlife Photographs: http://www.telyt.com/
> Personal Web-pages: http://www3.telus.net/~telyt
>



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