Kbose

First- I am new to photography. About 3-4 years ago I bought an Olympus OM-D E-M10III. That is when I found this website.

I use this camera to take photos of hair (I'm a hair stylist) & salon related things and sometimes photos of my dog. But that is it. I'm not a pro by any means. I still don't understand all the things on my camera... I turn things and press things until the hair through my camera looks like the hair through my eyes.

I tell you all that so that you understand that I am a dumbass when it comes to this stuff.

My mother has given me her dad's (my papaw's) Minolta XG-1 camera.
She believes the lenses are interchangeable.

The Minolta has a MD135 F2 lens and a Kiron 28-105f/3.2-4.3 lens.

I tried, not very hard bc I don't want to break anything, to put the Kiron lens on my Olympus. The Kiron manual does say it is compatible with the Olympus but, I mean... there's 35-40 year difference between my camera and my papaw's.

So, my very uneducated questions are as follows: (and yes, I could google this, but I don't know what is good and trustworthy info and what isn't; that's why I'm here asking yous)

1) Can I use the Minolta & Kiron lenses on my Olympus? Is there an attachment for it?

2) The very little that I have read about the Minolta camera and lenses, it seems like people are still using this camera or at least the lenses.... Is the photography world still using film camera? Like I said, I am a dumbass in this world. I barely dabble in this world.

3) Can I use the Minolta? Where do I buy the film? How do I do the film development?
Is there a way to not use film? (I am going to assume the answer is "No" to this question, but I'm asking anyways)

4) I also have a Canon Video recorder---- is there a way to attach the Minolta & Kiron lenses to it? I have not tried this... I just thought about it.

Thank you for helping me.
I hope you got a little giggle out of my uneducated photo related questions.

BebuLamar

1. You can't use the Minolta and Kiron lenses on your Olympus as is. You could use it with an adapter like this. https://fotodioxpro.com/products/md-mft. It will be only manual focus and I am not sure if the meter in your camera would work. The Kiron manual might said it's compatible with Olympus because they made the same lens in differrent mounts and you need the Olympus version of the lens but still that won't work because it's the film Olympus and not the M43 mount as your camera has.
2. Yes people are still using the Minolta XG-1 and the MD lenses. There are people who still use film camera but the number is small.
3. You can use the Minolta. You can buy film from B&H etc.. as it's hard to find film locally. You can send film to some online labs like the Darkroom.com and they can send back to you prints or scans or both. You can shoot blank with the Minolta (as I often do) but really there isn't a real way to use the Minolta and not using film. Strictly speaking there is such a thing as digital back you can attach to the camera and use it as digital camera like this one https://imback.eu/home/ back it's more like a joke to me.
4. Without knowing which Canon Video Recorder you have I have to guess that you can't use the lenses on it as Video Camera with interchangeable lenses are quite the high end and not popular.

StanMac Loc: Tennessee

My first reaction to your post was why are you trying to use another lens other than the one you have with your current camera? Using an old, film era lens on your digital Olympus camera means you will have to go to manual adjustments of your lens for focus and exposure, which may be beyond your current skill level and beyond your desired needs for the purposes you are using your camera.

Stan

Kbose

Thank you!
I figured I couldn't use them. Do you find the adapter that will allow me to use the Minolta & Kiron lenses on my Olympus to be worth it? Is there a way for me to see what the meter in my camera is?

I really appreciate the websites you linked. They will be most helpful. I think I will get some film and go from there.


The canon video recorder thingy I've got isn't high end... and honestly- even if the Minolta and Kiron lenses were to fit on it- I would be afraid they would be too heavy on the camera.... It's just a starter thing we got about 4-5 years ago. My husband thought about starting a youtube channel and didn't want to spend a lot of money at the time on a camera. It does the job. It isn't a potato camera. But it also isn't high end. It's a good starter.

Once again, thank you very much for your help, knowledge, & opinions!

BebuLamar

For $24 I think it's worth it to get the adapter. I still don't know if the meter would work but I know there will be no S or P mode. If the meter works perhaps you can use A mode. Using the camera without the meter isn't difficult. Most video cameras for the consumers do not have interchangeable lens (of course if you use your Olympus as video camera then it does have interchangeable lens)

Kbose

Honestly, my mom thinks they are interchangeable and wants me to use them. I think it is more of a keeping her father around since he passed 13 years ago.

I didn't think I could interchange them but if I could, I'd like to see the difference with them. I only have 2 lenses for my Olympus and being able to use that Kiron one would be interesting to me.

I do use the manual thingy on my olympus- but I have everything set to where I don't have to do too much adjusting at work. And by "manual thingy", I have the knob thing set to "M". I do believe I somehow messed up my settings and am having a hard time figuring that out.
You are right- having to do more manual adjusting is probably way beyond my skill level.


**If you want a good laugh- I had to email olympus about how my camera wouldn't focus when in video recording mode... turns out I had to turn the thingy (pro term lol) on the lens to manually focus it. I use all my smarts for hair and not much else hahaha**

In all seriousness- based on the info I've given you, what do you think I should learn and be able to troubleshoot first in my photography learning?

Kbose

Another uneducated question: I use my Olympus in M mode... would the adapter work in that mode too?
Also, what do you mean when you say "meter"? I don't know this term. I haven't heard this term.

Thank you for your patience!

BebuLamar

Is the Minolta lens the 135mm f/2 or f/2.8? If it's the f/2 lens it would be quite valuable.

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

If I were you, I would be very careful about using a different brand camera lens on your camera. You may be able to put those lenses on your Olympus camera, but they were designed to mount on and work with a film camera and you run the chance of damaging the lens mount on your Olympus. If you want to use those lenses, use them on the Minolta, shoot film and learn a lot about using a camera in the full manual mode. It will broaden your knowledge of photography. Stick with what is made for your camera. And yes, a lens adapter may allow you to use the Kiron and Minolta lenses on your Olympus, but, as Bebu Lamar stated, your Olympus, if it works with those lenses, will likely be all manual and you may have to guess at the exposure settings since there won’t be an electrical connection between lens and camera.

BebuLamar

I am sure with the adapter it would work in M mode. The meter tells you how to set the exposure by indicating over and under exposure. If it doesn't work then you simply have to guess at your setting. It's not that hard believe me.

Kbose

No idea. I'll put what the lens says:
Kiron 28-105mm f/3.2-4.5 MACRO 1:4 then a 0with a / through it 67 MC 36312360

The Minolta Lens says:
Minolta MD 50mm 1:2 JAPAN the0with/ 49mm

Is any of that helpful?

Bohica Loc: SE Coast of NC

Hey! BH is good but you can buy film and have it sent out for processing at about any drug store.

BebuLamar

Oh that the 50mm f/2 which is a very common lens. In your original post you said it's the 135mm f/2 which is quite rare. The 67 and 49 are the size of the filter.

Kbose

Thank you!
I think I will do just what you and everyone has said... keep the lenses with the right camera. I don't want to ruin my own camera or my papaw's camera or lenses.
He kept everything in pristine condition & I don't want to ruin anything or risk him coming back from the dead to have a talk with me...

Wingpilot Loc: Wasilla. Ak

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