Shooting Yashinon DX 50mm f1.7 M42 with Olympus OM-D E-M10

This lens was part of a large consignment of old photographic equipment I was given.  It belongs to the father of a coworker who no longer wants them.  As a Canon shooter I already has the Canon 50mm f1.8 so never shot with it.  However, I recently purchased a new Olympus OMD EM10.  With it's focus peaking and 3-axis in body stablisation it is the ideal camera to test it out.  With the lens fitted with an adapter here are some images from an afternoon shooting on the street of London.

Yashinon DX 50mm f1.7 mounted to Olympus OMD EM10

It is possible to get some good bokeh from this lens shooting wide open.  The EVF on the EM10  manual focusing was easy even without peaking.  The main draw back was in fact my camera.  Even  with ISO set to 100, on a bright sunny day, I had to stop down to f2.8 to avoid over exposure.

Of course I have no real reason to shoot with this lens at all.  I own the Olympus 45mm f1.8, a small light weight sharp lens.  How ever, I just like the feel of the Yashinon lens.  The focus ring was smooth, well damped and a joy to use.  Here are a few photos shot with this lens.

After checking the photos closely, I can say it is not as sharp as the Olympus 45mm f1.8.  The Yashinon lens is a fun lens to use and manual focus was a lot easier to use using peaking function.  The focus ring was very smooth and lovely to use and good quality photos can be achieved.  If you can get one at a good price then go for it but it is not up to the level of the native MFT portrait lens.  If auto focus is not important to you, adapted lens can be used to supplement native lenses.