page_title: Micro Four Thirds system
section_title: Popularity with adapted/legacy lenses
hierarchical_section_title: Micro Four Thirds system / Flange focal distance and crop factor / Popularity with adapted/legacy lenses
caption_attribution_description: English: Olympus PEN E-PL2 + Zuiko 50mm 1.8 lens (OM mount with adapter).
context_page_description: The Micro Four Thirds system is a standard released by Olympus and Panasonic in 2008, for the design and development of mirrorless interchangeable lens digital cameras, camcorders and lenses. Camera bodies are available from Blackmagic, DJI, JVC, Kodak, Olympus, Panasonic, Sharp, and Xiaomi. MFT lenses are produced by Cosina Voigtländer, DJI, Kowa, Kodak, Mitakon, Olympus, Panasonic, Samyang, Sharp, Sigma, SLR Magic, Tamron, Tokina, Veydra, and Xiaomi, amongst others.
  MFT shares the original image sensor size and specification with the Four Thirds system, designed for DSLRs. Unlike Four Thirds, the MFT system design specification does not provide space for a mirror box and a pentaprism, which facilitates smaller body and lens designs via the shorter flange focal distance of 19.25mm. The short flange distance, when combined with an adapter of proper depth, allows MFT bodies to use almost any lens ever made for a camera with a flange distance larger than 19.25mm. Still-camera lenses produced by Canon, Leica, Minolta, Nikon, Pentax and Zeiss have all been successfully adapted for MFT use - as well as lenses produced for cinema, e.g., PL mount or C mount.
context_section_description: Due to the short native flange distance of the Micro Four Thirds System, the usage of adapted lenses from practically all formats has become widely popular.  Because lenses can be used from old and abandoned camera systems, adapted lenses typically represent good value for the money.  Adapters ranging from low- to high-quality are readily available for purchase online.  Canon FD, Nikon F (G lenses require special adapters), MD/MC, Leica M, M42 Screw Mount, and C-mount Cine lenses to name a few are all easily adaptable to the Micro Four Thirds system with glassless adapters resulting in no induced loss of light or sharpness.
  Adapted lenses retain their native focal lengths but field of view is reduced by half —i.e., an adapted 50mm lens is still a 50mm lens in terms of focal length but has a narrower FOV equivalent to a 100mm lens due to the Micro Four Thirds System 2x crop factor. Therefore, most adapted glass from the 35mm film era and current DSLR lineups provide effective fields of view varying from normal to extreme telephoto. Wide angles are generally not practical for adapted use from both an image quality and value point of view.
  Using older adapted lenses on Micro Four Thirds sometimes leads to a slight losses in image quality.  This is the result of placing high resolution demands on the center crop of decade old 35mm lenses.  Therefore, 100% crops from the lenses do not usually represent the same level of pixel-level sharpness as they would on their native formats.  Another slight disadvantage of using adapted lenses can be size.  By using a 35mm film lens, one would be using a lens that casts an image circle that is far larger than what is required by Micro Four Thirds Sensors.
  The main disadvantage of using adapted lenses however, is that focus is manual even with natively autofocus lenses.  Full metering functionality is maintained however, as are some automated shooting modes (aperture priority).  A further disadvantage with some LM and LTM lenses is that lenses with significant rear protrusions simply do not fit inside the camera body and risk damaging lens or body.  An example is the Biogon type of lens.
  Overall, the ability to use adapted lenses gives Micro Four Thirds a great advantage in overall versatility and the practice has gained a somewhat cult following. Image samples can be found readily online, and in particular on the MU-43 adapted lenses forum.
caption: Olympus PEN E-PL2 with a legacy lens OM Zuiko 50mm f/1.8
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