Any down sides to using lens adapters?

humberklog

I've some lovely Rokkors for my Minoltas (oooh matron- ahem) and thought I might buy an adapter so that I can put them on a Nikon F3.

It'd be a shame not to be using these perfectly good lenses but I've never used adapters before and was curious if there were any issues I might want to know about before buying one.

Any experiences?

davyjose

Manual focusing would probably be the biggest downside. (I'm still trying to master autofocus )

DaireQuinlan

chances are you won't get infinity focus for a start, unless you buy adapters with glass whizzbangs inside them, which (depending on the price of your adapter) can have a detrimental affect on your image quality. I used to shoot a Helios 44 on my nikons, M42 mount, with an adapter, and lost infinity focus. The F-Mount film->flange distance is, I think, one of the longest of all the various mounts hence the problem.

In addition you'll probably also lose auto aperture so you'll have to stop down to your taking aperture manually to meter and shoot. This can be surprisingly annoying.

I'd shoot your rokkors on your minoltas, and start ogling new lenses for your oh so shiny F3. You've got a 35mm ? Then start looking for a 105 f/2.5. Lovely yoke. If you want to go crazy look for the later MF 85mm f/1.4 or the AFD version. Oh and avoid any DX lenses (designed for crop factor digitals) or G lenses (they don't have aperture rings). I think everything else is good on the F3, like my F4 I think you can snap the aperture tab out of the way if you're mounting pre-AI lenses ...

Loki98

I've used one to mount a Minolta 50mm lens on a Canon EOS body. To say you loose infinity is a bit of an understatement, the furthest it will focus is about 300mm in front of the camera. Manual focus can be a bit difficult when stopped down because the viewfinder is so dim.

DaireQuinlan

Loki98 wrote: »

I've used one to mount a Minolta 50mm lens on a Canon EOS body. To say you loose infinity is a bit of an understatement, the furthest it will focus is about 300mm in front of the camera. Manual focus can be a bit difficult when stopped down because the viewfinder is so dim.

Yeah I'd get maybe 4 feet or so max out of the helios mounted on the nikon. The constraints made for some interesting shots though. Eventually I just got a spotmatic to mount it on. And then another. And then a Fujica M42 body, and then another spotmatic, and then ... and then ....

I used to roughly meter for the scene every few minute or so at the taking aperture, then focus wide open and quickly stop down before taking the shot. That was with the Helios/nikon (at least before I broke the aperture mechanism ). Thankfully all the spotmatics have auto aperture (though most of them still have stop down metering)

humberklog

Thanks, the adapters I was looking on eBay were priced about 30 quid and had glass which according to the ads tells ya you can focus to infinity.

Now me being a little dopey started to worry that you only focus to infinity, not so?

I don't like buying on line and buy Irish (or at least Irish shops) so took myself off to enquire in Camera Exchange and Gunns.

Padraig in CE said camera shops don't stock them as there are issues with them getting stuck on the equipment. Other than that they were a good option.

I've a 28mm on the f3, it's nice. And while I'm going to be buying the proper equipment during the year I thought that for 30quid an adapter would give me some financial bridging time by using my 135mm f2, 50mm 1.8 and 24mm.

So would that make sense? 30 quid now and use the f3 in a more versatile way before splashing out on some quality lenses?

brokenarms

Funny you should bring this up now. I just got this adapter in the door this morning.

Little jupiter 8 50mm lens on my Nikon. Not much use though. You have to be 6" of the subject for it to work.

Apature and focus is manual


Untitled by gsxr100, on Flickr

humberklog

brokenarms wrote: »

Funny you should bring this up now. I just got this adapter in the door this morning.

Little jupiter 8 50mm lens on my Nikon. Not much use though. You have to be 6" of the subject for it to work.

Apature and focus is manual

Did the advert ay it'll focus to infinity though?

I'll try and link to the ones I was looking at.

Don't mind stepping down on the ring and never shoot with autofocus so that's not a bother for me.


For e.g

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Minolta-MD-MC-lens-to-Nikon-F-Mount-Adapter-DSLR-Infinity-D4-D800-D3200-D5100-/180938061758?pt=US_Lens_Adapters_Mounts_Tubes&hash=item2a20bfb7be

brokenarms

humberklog wrote: »

Did the advert ay it'll focus to infinity though?

I'll try and link to the ones I was looking at.

Don't mind stepping down on the ring and never shoot with autofocus so that's not a bother for me.


For e.g

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Minolta-MD-MC-lens-to-Nikon-F-Mount-Adapter-DSLR-Infinity-D4-D800-D3200-D5100-/180938061758?pt=US_Lens_Adapters_Mounts_Tubes&hash=item2a20bfb7be

Yeah it said it would not focus to infinity. It was cheap as chips and I just want to try it for fun .
here it is. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251021719573?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
Its fairly unusable

humberklog

Cheaper than the chips in my local chipper:D!

Did you click the one I linked too?

Will work out about 30snoots but to free up those lenses I think it's worth it.

@DQ- Yeah I'm not not going to use my xg's again but I'm travelling abroad early this year and would like to travel with something other than cameras in the trunk:pac:.

humberklog

@Brokenarms...your camera pic looks like a big fat man with a little stubby willy:pac::pac:.

brokenarms

humberklog wrote: »

@Brokenarms...your camera pic looks like a big fat man with a little stubby willy:pac::pac:.

Its all about the girth

brokenarms

this is the only distance it will work at. It really sucks.. lol

DaireQuinlan

brokenarms wrote: »

this is the only distance it will work at. It really sucks.. lol

oh right, I was wondering why your minimum distance was so bad, I originally thought it was an M42 jupiter 8. It's an M39 jupiter 8 though, designed for rangefinders, LTM. < 30mm FF distance IIRC, so it was never really going to work well. F-mount (nikon) is 46.5mm. Minolta is 44.5 so while the problem won't be anywhere near as bad it'll still be 2 millimetres out, that'll ensure max focusing distance will be somewhere around the 2m mark I'm guessing with an adapter with no glass corrective lenses.

DaireQuinlan

Actually, just looking there, there are two types of minolta mount ? Is there a pre-AF and and an AF version ? The pre-AF one has a FF distance 1mm shorter again.

Wylie Luke

I bought (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AF-Confirm-OLYMPUS-OM-Lens-to-CANON-EF-Mount-Adapter-/110539497368?pt=UK_Photography_CameraLenses_Lens_caps_hoods_adaptors_ET&hash=item19bcaadf98) for my Canon to use some old Olympus mount lens' I got cheap (£15) from Ffordes in Scotland!. Haven't lost infinity focus but I'm not getting quality focus from them at all. Could be the old glass, though they're in top condition, or it could be the adapter, im not sure (Heaven forbid it's me!) This is with the 300mm OM mount Hoya HMC:

Little Egret by thenakedchickenreturns, on Flickr

dacogawa

Did you think about converting the mount yourself ? that way you can focus to infinity. I found a thread (below) that someone has done it on Nikon but if you get bored of it as a Sony user I'd give it a good home & take it off your hands for a bag of chips & a can of coke

http://forum.manualfocus.org/viewtopic.php?id=11163

humberklog

dacogawa wrote: »

Did you think about converting the mount yourself ? that way you can focus to infinity. I found a thread (below) that someone has done it on Nikon but if you get bored of it as a Sony user I'd give it a good home & take it off your hands for a bag of chips & a can of coke

http://forum.manualfocus.org/viewtopic.php?id=11163[/QUOTE]

Would they fit a Sony? Not that the lenses are going anywhere not even for a bag of chips:).

Nah, wouldn't be bothered attempting to make my own.

Had a good look about and other than spending 300+ on serious adapter and not wanting to spend a fiver on one so I can focus on a beermat less than a foot away I'm going to spend 30quid on something a chinaman tells me is the dogs balls. I think they eat those.

Turns out that the cheap ones with no glass are like Mr. Magoo and the 300+ (with no glass) are like the Hubble and the 30quid ones (with glass) are a bit like a raffish Terry Thomas.

Or at least that's the way I'm reading it.

dacogawa

Yes, after changing the mount they work on the Sony/Minolta mount, that's why they went from being the price of a bag of chips & can of coke to the price of a can of chips & bag of coke lol

So if the Terry Thomas doesn't work out you could try to adapt it, 2 people I know have done it (1 Canon & 1 Sony) both of them say it's never far from the camera & the pics I've seen look great

Would love to see some of the pics when you get the €30 adapter please & If the adapter is pants at least you know you're a weekend project away from being able to use it anyway

DaireQuinlan

no point screwing up an otherwise perfectly good lens to bung it onto another system. If you're going to go to those lengths you may as well just flog them on EBay and use the proceeds to fund native lens purchases.

humberklog

Yeah I'd rather Dr.Frankenstein it than attempt a Dr. Joseph Mangele.

Won't touch the lenses to do that. I like my xg's anyway, really like'm.

Was just hoping to travel light. For 30 quid it's gotta worth a go.

And I'll get something in the post too which is quite exciting in itself.

DaireQuinlan

humberklog wrote: »

And I'll get something in the post too which is quite exciting in itself.

That's for sure. Sometimes I think my incessent EBay-ing isn't so much about the end result as the giddy thrill of getting a cardboard box in the post.

humberklog

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

That's for sure. Sometimes I think my incessent EBay-ing isn't so much about the end result as the giddy thrill of getting a cardboard box in the post.

I did find this nice site http://fotodioxpro.com/index.php/, doesn't have what I'm looking for but does have an adapter for a Bronica etr lens to an Nikon F body. I can't for the life of me think why that's a good idea but I think it's got to be done. (When I've more money than I need to spend on things I need).

brokenarms

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

That's for sure. Sometimes I think my incessent EBay-ing isn't so much about the end result as the giddy thrill of getting a cardboard box in the post.

Hate when that happens. I suffer from the same credit card dept. :pac:

Slidinginfinity

Can't wait to see what you get. Been debating the same thing for far too long for the cost.

humberklog

Slidinginfinity wrote: »

Can't wait to see what you get. Been debating the same thing for far too long for the cost.

Have deciided on splashing out 30 quid on the glass version JD and when it arrives I'll do a comparison between the Nik3 with the adapter and the same settings with the same glass but on the Minolta.

Hope all's good with you and yours in Seattle.

Slidinginfinity

humberklog wrote: »

Have deciided on splashing out 30 quid on the glass version JD and when it arrives I'll do a comparison between the Nik3 with the adapter and the same settings with the same glass but on the Minolta.

Hope all's good with you and yours in Seattle.

Excellent!

Doing great these days! Finally had that kid and she is cute as a button.

chisel

I've used a few of these, some with glass for infinity focus (mc or md on eos ef) and without (m42 and om to eos). They all work, but you need to be comfortable or at least willing to work with manual focus and aperture. A key thing is to get one with AF-confirm. Since your modern camera won't have a split screen for focussing, the "beep" from AF confirm is very useful.


Fran

DaireQuinlan

chisel wrote: »

I've used a few of these, some with glass for infinity focus (mc or md on eos ef) and without (m42 and om to eos). They all work, but you need to be comfortable or at least willing to work with manual focus and aperture. A key thing is to get one with AF-confirm. Since your modern camera won't have a split screen for focussing, the "beep" from AF confirm is very useful.


Fran

Luckily HK's camera is far from modern so I doubt it'll be a problem :-D

humberklog

chisel wrote: »

I've used a few of these, some with glass for infinity focus (mc or md on eos ef) and without (m42 and om to eos). They all work, but you need to be comfortable or at least willing to work with manual focus and aperture. A key thing is to get one with AF-confirm. Since your modern camera won't have a split screen for focussing, the "beep" from AF confirm is very useful.


Fran

Ah yeah, as DQ said though the camera it's going on is a 35mm Nikon F3 (but that's kinda new for me...it takes batteries and has an lcd-ish bingbong).

I'll link to the one I'm ordering (when i find it again) and when it arrives I'll shoot the same shot in same setting but one on the Minolta and one on the Nik to juxtapose the results. I'll post them up here.

humberklog

I got the adapter in the post during the week. Posted from England and cost about 30 all in.

It won't go to waste but it really isn't an acceptable solution to using good lenses and expecting a small percentage of diminished ability.

But there's a window of usage for them if you pack away expectations.

The adapter fits nicely onto the lenses and the body and feels quality made.

Where you really notice the loss is in scope. For e.g my 24mm lens is moved out to about a 40mm, the 50mm is out to about 70mm and the 135mm lens is out to about 175.

I haven't been able to measure the downgrade in aperture but I'm sure there's a rough enough correlation to be derived from the scope loss.

With a glass half empty attitude it means my lovely 24mm really is only going to make sense on a body it's made for as I've got a good enough lens for the Nikon that covers that range (40mm).

However with a glass half full attitude it means that I've a nice 70mm lens (it is a 50mm, 1.7). Regardless of loss of ap. on that it's still very fine glass with a body I like and it gives me a good enough 170mm lens (135mm, f2).

So is it worth it? For me it is in that I enjoy a bit of fooling about and I really don't get too hung up on achieving excellence through equipment. If I'm enjoying myself then I can take pictures I like and I enjoy using the adapter so I can use the lenses I like- regardless of loss of their 100% ability.

But I am still buying lenses that are made for the Nikon. I just bought a nikkor 105mm which I'm looking forward to using, I already have a 28mm 2.8 and a 35-70(but I'm not mad on variable focus).

But I am looking forward to having a good play with the adapter, which is well worth 30 quid.

DaireQuinlan

humberklog wrote: »

I got the adapter in the post during the week. Posted from England and cost about 30 all in.

It won't go to waiste but it really isn't an acceptable solution to using good lenses and expecting a small percentage of diminished ability.

But there's a window of usage for them if you pack away expectations.

The adapter fits nicely onto the lenses and the body and feels quality made.

Where you really notice the loss is in scope. For e.g my 24mm lens is moved out to about a 40mm, the 50mm is out to about 70mm and the 135mm lens is out to about 175.
.
.
.
But I am still buying lenses that are made for the Nikon. I just bought a nikkor 105mm which I'm looking forward to using, I already have a 28mm 2.8 and a 35-70(but I'm not mad on variable focus).

But I am looking forward to having a good play with the adapter, which is well worth 30 quid.

Oh right, didn't realise the lensed adapters actually acted like a teleconverter as well. What 105 did you get ? a f/2.5 ? If so you won't be disappointed :-D

humberklog

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

Oh right, didn't realise the lensed adapters actually acted like a teleconverter as well. What 105 did you get ? a f/2.5 ? If so you won't be disappointed :-D

Yeah the f2.5 non ai and it's all black with the nice metal groovy focus ring. 70 quid off Adverts. It looks very lovely and I'd researched it quite a bit and like The cut of its jib.

DaireQuinlan

humberklog wrote: »

Yeah the f2.5 non ai and it's all black with the nice metal groovy focus ring. 70 quid off Adverts. It looks very lovely and I'd researched it quite a bit and like The cut of its jib.

ooo is that the early sonnar version ? I have the later AIS gauss version. I've been tempted more than once to get a copy of the earlier one as well. For completeness sakes don'tchaknow. Also 'cos it'd be another little box in the mail...

humberklog

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

ooo is that the early sonnar version ? I have the later AIS gauss version. I've been tempted more than once to get a copy of the earlier one as well. For completeness sakes don'tchaknow. Also 'cos it'd be another little box in the mail...

Not the Sonnar, the Nikkor one. Tried to link it but the ads already down.

I did love opening the package for the adapter. It was just as lovely a feeling as I had anticipated- which in itself has got to be worth something.

humberklog

But here is a pic of one of my Sonnar lenses...



:pac:

DaireQuinlan

humberklog wrote: »

Not the Sonnar, the Nikkor one. Tried to link it but the ads already down.

I did love opening the package for the adapter. It was just as lovely a feeling as I had anticipated- which in itself has got to be worth something.

yeah, it was made in two variants though, the earlier sonnar type and a later gauss type. Just describes the number and configuration of lens elements, like 'tessar'. Doesn't matter overly much, the two are meant to have quite a similar look.

JayEnnis

I've experience with M42>F-mount & M42>EF mount.

All I'll say is if you're using F-mount it's really not worth it. At the moment I'm using Pentax Super Takumar lenses exclusively on my 1D with a microprism installed. I love these lenses and the character they have. If you have your shutter set to adjust in 1/3 stops you don't need to stop down meter. So say you're focusing wide open at f/2 and you want to shoot at f/4 all you have to do is over-expose a stop on your meter and when you stop down it will be correct. Rinse, lather repeat.

I've a few examples of the Pentax super takumar 35 f/3.5 over in this thread if anyone wants to look.

Link

Slidinginfinity

humberklog wrote: »

I got the adapter in the post during the week. Posted from England and cost about 30 all in.

It won't go to waste but it really isn't an acceptable solution to using good lenses and expecting a small percentage of diminished ability.

But there's a window of usage for them if you pack away expectations.

The adapter fits nicely onto the lenses and the body and feels quality made.

Where you really notice the loss is in scope. For e.g my 24mm lens is moved out to about a 40mm, the 50mm is out to about 70mm and the 135mm lens is out to about 175.

I haven't been able to measure the downgrade in aperture but I'm sure there's a rough enough correlation to be derived from the scope loss.

With a glass half empty attitude it means my lovely 24mm really is only going to make sense on a body it's made for as I've got a good enough lens for the Nikon that covers that range (40mm).

However with a glass half full attitude it means that I've a nice 70mm lens (it is a 50mm, 1.7). Regardless of loss of ap. on that it's still very fine glass with a body I like and it gives me a good enough 170mm lens (135mm, f2).

So is it worth it? For me it is in that I enjoy a bit of fooling about and I really don't get too hung up on achieving excellence through equipment. If I'm enjoying myself then I can take pictures I like and I enjoy using the adapter so I can use the lenses I like- regardless of loss of their 100% ability.

But I am still buying lenses that are made for the Nikon. I just bought a nikkor 105mm which I'm looking forward to using, I already have a 28mm 2.8 and a 35-70(but I'm not mad on variable focus).

But I am looking forward to having a good play with the adapter, which is well worth 30 quid.

DaireQuinlan wrote: »

Oh right, didn't realise the lensed adapters actually acted like a teleconverter as well. What 105 did you get ? a f/2.5 ? If so you won't be disappointed :-D

Wow if they work like a TC then I don't need one. I wanted to use it on both film and a crop sensor DSLR. On the DSLR that would make a 50mm in to a 150mm!

humberklog

Slidinginfinity wrote: »

Wow if they work like a TC then I don't need one. I wanted to use it on both film and a crop sensor DSLR. On the DSLR that would make a 50mm in to a 150mm!

For some reasong these adapters are popular with people using them for Sony digital cameras. For the few quid JD it might be worth a punt just for kicks?

@JEnnis, thanks for the reply. I'd kinda be a lot more easy going on snapping. Just gonna put a few rolls through and try remember roughly what I was shooting. Mind you this weather's making it easy:pac: