Four Thirds lens adapters on Pocket & BMCC?

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Johan Cramer

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Four Thirds lens adapters on Pocket & BMCC?

PostSun Aug 20, 2017 5:50 pm

My question concerns the adaptability of Four Thirds (not Micro Four Thirds) lenses to Blackmagic cameras. YouTube videos show that there are no issues adapting Four Thirds lenses to the Pocket with Panasonic's official Four Thirds-to-Micro Four Thirds adapter.

However, do forum members here have practical experience:
- using one of the cheap off-brand adapters (Viltrox/Fotga) that also adapt the electronics on the BM Pocket?
- using any electronic Four Thirds lens adapter on the Micro Four Thirds version of the BMCC (which only has a 'dumb' MFT mount)?
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Denny Smith

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Re: Four Thirds lens adapters on Pocket & BMCC?

PostMon Aug 21, 2017 5:46 am

Johan, the Oanny and Olympus Four Thirds to MFat are the only ones that givebfull auto support. I use the Panny version with mt AF100 and birth the Pocket Camera and Micro camera using the Oly 14-35 f/2.0 Zoom and the Panny/Leica Four Thirds lenses (25mm and the Vario 14-50 zoom). The inexpensive third party adapters do not work well from what I have read.

The BMCC MFT mount camera will not work with or support any Panny/Oly native Four Thirds or MFT auto lenses, as the MFT mount on the BMCC is a "dumb" mount, with no electronic connections required for Auto MFT lenses. So a Four Thirds to MFT adapter is not going to work either, no power, no control circuits in the mount. That said, all the manual MFT lenses from SLR Magic, Voightlander and Veydra will work just fine, as will S16 vintage lenses in Arri mounts with the appropriate adapter. These lenses do not require power, or electronic controls.
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Denny Smith
SHA Productions
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Johan Cramer

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Re: Four Thirds lens adapters on Pocket & BMCC?

PostMon Aug 21, 2017 1:58 pm

Denny Smith wrote:The BMCC MFT mount camera will not work with or support any Panny/Oly native Four Thirds or MFT auto lenses, as the MFT mount on the BMCC is a "dumb" mount, with no electronic connections required for Auto MFT lenses. So a Four Thirds to MFT adapter is not going to work either, no power, no control circuits in the mount.

Thanks Denny! - I just wonder whether these restrictions also apply to the PanaLeica 14-50mm/f2.8-3.5, since this lens has a manual aperture ring. (Its optical stabilizer surely won't work on the BMCC.)

Ordered the Panasonic DMW-MA1 adapter and will report my findings here. - In general, legacy FourThirds zoom lenses may be an interesting alternative to Pocket and Micro Cinema Camera owners since their designs are better optically corrected.
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Denny Smith

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Re: Four Thirds lens adapters on Pocket & BMCC?

PostMon Aug 21, 2017 5:00 pm

Yes, yes it does require power and a camera electronic connection. There is nothing "mechanical" about the Panny/Leica zooms, including the 14-50 FT lens. The Iris ring on the front is a "fly by wire" control that only works on some Panasonic camera bodies (it works with the AF100 and GH3/4 cameras) but does not work with any of the Oly cameras or BM cameras. The lens wil work on a Pocket or Micro camera, but the front Iris control does nothing, and the Iris is set with the camera buttons. Also focus is "fly by wire".

You need mechanical lenses (no electronic connections required) for the BMCC MFT. Older Nikon AFi zooms would work with a good MFT/Nik adapter or the BMCC/Nik Speed Booster. The only Four Thirds Zoom that would work, is the Oly 14-35 f/2.0 which would be stuck at f/2.0, but is has real mechanic manual focus (the only FT/MFT lens with it), so you could focus it, and use NDs to control the exposure on the BMCC. That said, used, this lens runs $800-1200.
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Denny Smith
SHA Productions
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Armant

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Re: Four Thirds lens adapters on Pocket & BMCC?

PostMon Jul 06, 2020 8:04 am

So does dmw-ma1 work with pocket 4k?
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Denny Smith

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Re: Four Thirds lens adapters on Pocket & BMCC?

PostTue Jul 07, 2020 7:58 pm

Yes, yes it does. The Pocket 4K has an active MFT Mount. I use the MA-1 with the Panny Leica 25mm FT lens, and have tested it with the PL 14-50 zoom.
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dondidnod

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Re: Four Thirds lens adapters on Pocket & BMCC?

PostWed Jul 08, 2020 12:45 am

I'd be careful in purchasing a Panasonic Leica Elmarit 14-50mm/f2.8-3.5 lens. They had quality control issues with it. I have one where I am unable to change the aperture on the barrel and I am also unable to adjust the focus on my BMPCC 4K. I got it for cheap from a poor fellow student who paid $600 for it a long time ago.

This is what others have reported:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bhphot ... l.html/amp
"I purchased my Leica Digilux 3 with this Elmarit 14-50 mm zoom lens in 2007. I love this camera and lens, and have been completely satisfied with its performance, until 2 days ago, when the zoom froze at approximately 22 mm. I could zoom 22-14, but not past 22 mm. It eventually unfroze, worked fine 22-50 mm and worked for a couple of minutes through the full focal length, then froze again, and again, and again. I eventually started a search for information about repair or replacement, and was shocked to find a review, dated September 2010, describing this exact problem, including the focal point at which it froze and the approximate age of the lens. More reviews turned up with the same problem. I'm heartbroken and depressed;" ...One reviewer noted 3 options: "repair, replace, or scrap the whole system."

The lens I have has the same problem freezing at 22mm. If I turn the lens upside down an wiggle it right it can temporarily get past the 22mm frozen point. Recently, I saw a post where someone said that they had to go through the settings within the Blackmagic camera to adjust the F stop. I was unable to do this on my BMPCC 4K using a cheap smart adapter. I assume that the electronics are fried.

I think I found another guy online complain that it happened on his lens because he left the OIS switch on while removing the lens. Maybe the contacts shorted out and there were no buffer circuits to protect the electronics.

It's a shame because it has good reviews for it's optical performance. I heard that it does not adjust the image in firmware to correct for chromatic aberration like the later Panasonic lenses do.
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Denny Smith

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Re: Four Thirds lens adapters on Pocket & BMCC?

PostWed Jul 08, 2020 5:56 am

The front Iris ring on the Panny Leica lenses, on all of them, only work with Panasonic cameras, like the GH series or the AF100 video camera. The Iris ring does not work on Oly or BMD cameras. This is not a defect, this is how they were designed to work. The other issues, like focus or zooming is down to an issue with that lens. My 14-50 zoom works well, and Francisco has one also, and uses it without any issues.
The only design issue I see is at some focal lengths the lens a very noticeable breathing when pulling a near/far focus pull.
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Last edited by Denny Smith on Wed Jul 08, 2020 4:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Denny Smith
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Johan Cramer

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Re: Four Thirds lens adapters on Pocket & BMCC?

PostWed Jul 08, 2020 8:56 am

Stabilization doesn't work either when the lens is adapted to the Pocket 4K.
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Denny Smith

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Re: Four Thirds lens adapters on Pocket & BMCC?

PostWed Jul 08, 2020 4:37 pm

I do not use the zoom handheld, so have not tried the IS. I will check this one out. Thanks
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Denny Smith
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Yannick Willox

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Re: Four Thirds lens adapters on Pocket & BMCC?

PostWed Jul 08, 2020 8:27 pm

I have a panaleica 14-50 mm lens and a 14-150 with the panasonic 43 to m43 adapter.

OIS does work ! Very well as a matter of fact. AF is awfully slow on the 14-150. Sometimes the AF does not work on the other one. Manual focus works, but only with a ring with electronics of course.

So, to restate, OIS works on both of my 43 lenses on the p4k. Distortion is also way more controlled than on native Oly-pana m43 lenses (at the wide end) as those rely much more on digital correction, which the p4k does not do.

All in all, despite the size, i prefer my 14-50 over my m43 panaleica 12-60mm, with the only excepetion being that the 12-60 is actually parfocal !

So it depends on the situation.

I should have a Viltrox adapter on its way, if they can find it somewhere in their stock. Will report if I ever get it.
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Denny Smith

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Re: Four Thirds lens adapters on Pocket & BMCC?

PostWed Jul 08, 2020 8:37 pm

On some versions of the camera FW, the camera needs to be in Record mode for ID to work.
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Denny Smith
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