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Lens adapter to make Nikon lens fit Sony A350.


chris_rowe1

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Well I've run into another question to go along with my many others. My dad owns an old Nikon Film SLR and it

doesn't work anymore and he has a few Nikon Film lenses is there any adapter I can get to allow them to fit my

A350? And if so can anyone tell me where I can get one?

 

Any advice you can give I'm thankful for,

 

Chris.

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There is no risk, no. Just optical adapter's reduce quality & I see no reason to switch and swop between different systems when using one is more than adequate. For the best results, you should always use a lens with an optical-less adapter.

 

Less questions, more photos I say :)

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At that price, little risk. If you don't like the result (very likely you won't), take out the glass and you have a macro

adapter (extension tubes). To use it, you have to use the camera menu to disable the no lens shutter lock default

setting.

BTW: Almost all used Nikkors have a good used market still but that is another new can of worm. I hope my son

doesn't sell some of my Nikkors until I am cold :-)

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The thing is... my dad doesn't use the lenses their just sitting around collecting dust. He wants to keep them but his Nikon Film camera is broken and he's tried to get it fixed but they couldn't fix it. So instead of just letting them sit around I figured I'd buy an adapter and use em.
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Hello, this is one of my first postings so please excuse if I'm doing something wrong.

 

I'm currently using a handmade (myself) adapter that allows using Nikon manual focus lenses on Sony DSLR-A100

(but can be used with any other sony DSLR) if camera is set to "shutter lock - off". The adapter is made by

combining one of the Nikons extension rings with the M42-to-MAXXUM adapters and is about 6mm thick. I'm using it

with the Nikkor 400 F/5.6 ED-IF lens. Since lens is allowing past-infinity focusing and its register is 2 mm

longer than MAXXUM register, the lens and adapter combo is able to focus sharp at least past 20 meters distance,

with is more than enough for my purpose - taking bird pictures. If the object is further away - it will be too

small on the sensor and one needs to use longer glass. I also tried the same adapter with Nikkor 300 4.0 ED-IF

but the maximum focusing distance is too short - around 10 meters. With shorter lenses it can only be used for

the close-ups as it was already stated.

 

Why am I using it, as many of You may ask. I'm a manual focus person (and poor post-doc in one of the US

universities) so adopting a non-Minolta/Sony glass is not a problem, and was looking for a good telephoto in a

range of 400-500mm with ED/LD/APO glass for under 500$. Genuine Minolta 400 AF is way too expensive, while much

cheaper Sigma 400 F/5.6 has somewhat questionable reputation (at least on photo.net) and some of the older

AF-versions of this lens are not fully compatible with never Sony bodies. Both 300 F/2.8 and 400 F/4.0 Tamron

adaptalls are usually more expensive and less portable/handholdable (I have a 300 F/2.8 LD adaptall version too),

so I chose Nikon (paied around 500$ with shipping) and it works fine for me. BTW, I do have Sigma 170-500 APO and

I do not like it - the images that I get with it are much softer than even the images that I get with Tamron 500

F/8 mirror, even using tripod and shutter-lock...

 

I will try to attach the picture of the Silvereye I took few weeks ago in New Zealand with the abowe described

setup, 200 ISO, 1/640 s, F5.6, hand-held. It was resized from 1500X200 to 600X800 pixels.

 

Thanks

 

PS. There was a similar post on August 5 about which Chris knows I think. Also, removing the glass from the

chinese adapter may not bbe reversible. I also had a FD-to-Maxxum adapter by Bower. The one that has glass and

can be purchased online. While trying to remove the glass I found out that it is not only screwed in but the

threaded part is glued. Drilling and cutting tools where very helpful in this case...<div>00QWpa-64703584.thumb.jpg.6df68c96c2f07fcf80a63d70cce53d46.jpg</div>

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Hello Chris,

 

Give me some time - I have necessary parts and I'll make a new adapter and record all stages with images. I was planning to make another adapter this weekend for myself anyway. I do have more pictures taken with this lens and adapter during my last (business!) trip to New Zealand and Australia. I will upload few of those too (may be its time to start my portfolio here), probably tomorrow.

 

I'm not shure though if the Sony's Super Steady Shot (image stabilisation) works properly with non-autofocus lenses.

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There are at least two ways that I tried to make a Nikon-to-Maxxum adapter, that is around 6mm thick. One is

easier and more expencive, the other is cheaper but involves more irreversible modifications. You can either use

Nikon PK-1 extension tube (expensive) or Nikon K-3 extension tube (cheaper) and couple them with M42-to-MAXXUM

adapter (either simple or with AF-confirmation chip).

 

With the PK-1 extension tube You basically have to unscrew the male F-bayonet (keep the screws) and replace it

with M42 adapter using same screws and same threads to put it in. However, first it is necessary to remove

(ground down or cut out with Dremel or compatible tool) the outer protruding ridge of the PK-1 ring, that You

will see after removing male bayonet. Then the trick is to drill the holes in M42 adapter exactly in the same

places as in the remaining part of PK-1 and this can be done in different ways. Remember to drill the holes in

such a way that the cup of the screw will be recessed and will not interfere with the camera body. Put everything

together and try. This combo is almost reversible - You can put back the male F-bayonet and the ring will work

again for Nikon, although it will not look "mint" any more. But since I did not plan to reverse it in the first

place, I used epoxy wenever I thought it is necessary - glued PK-1 and M42 before screving and added some into

the threads... I also had to ground down the tips of the screws a bit, since they were sticking out too far for

the adapter to be put on the A100 body. Now the combo seems to be irreversible and indistructable, but it works fine.

 

The negative part of this combo - if You have to buy PK-1 and M42 it might be cheaper to get the Chinese adapter

with glass and cut the glass out. I'm not completely shure, but I think the Chinese adapter will still be a bit

thicker.

 

The modification of K-3 ring, which is much cheaper than PK-1, is more cumbersome and time consuming, and is

irreversible. I'll share the detailes of this latter case with Chris by e-mail later.

 

PS. I do not accept any responsibility for any damage or inquiry to person or property that can occur when other

person is following my recommendations! That means - read the manual before using tools, and be careful in the

first place. Do not force the adapter on the lens or camera, but try to ground down every protruding part

(screws) that may scratch camera mount!!!

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I just noticed that with the mount on the Nikon FG (my dad's film camera) you have to spin the lens the opposite way of the direction I have to spin my lens to attach it to my camera. And that the lenses are 52mm, rather then 42mm and Olek you suggested M42-Maxxum which is 42mm?

 

I'm a bit confused... Does it all still fit together in the end, please answer ASAP. Thanks.

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Okay... I'm trying to sort through this issue of focus distance being limited with the adapter described. I think I can understand how your doing the adapter... my only question before considering trying it is what the focal distance would be if I put a 50mm nikon onto the 4mm adapter and connect to the sony... and yes I know Sony has 50mm lenses but they don't have 1:1.2 lenses and that's what I'm thinking of trying. Thanks for any info in advance.
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The FOCAL distance of the lens will be the same - 50mm. But putting even 4 mm extension to 50mm lens will make

maximum FOCUSING distance very short. You will lose infinity focusing with this setup and will be able to use it

only for close-up/macro work. I never tried this particular combo myself, but I was refitting cheap Nikkor-H 28mm

F3.5 yesterday for Maxxum mount as a try... Worth saying, that this lens will NEVER be used on Nikon again!!!

 

As I descrbed before, with 400mm F5.6 that allows past-infinity focusing, your maximum focusing distance is

around 20m, with 300mm F4 (no past-infinity focusing) - it's around 10m. With 50mm I assume it will be around

1-2m only, may be a bit more...

 

The only way to use Your 50mm Nikkor on Sony and maintain infinity focusing - is to modify the lens mount itself,

which can be very "destructable" and can be irreversible. You do not want to try it with Your favourite and very

expensive lens!!!

 

Everything depends from what kind of lens are You trying to work with and what kind of maxxum-parts are You using

(maxxum mounts taken from the old lens can be thicker than the M42-to-Maxxum adapters - so You are adding even

more extension to the final product). Usually, the AI-lever will have to be removed since it goes too deep into

the camera body and will crash the mirror of the camera. I can not tell You now about other modifications that

You need to make, as I said - it depends from the particular lens and particular parts that You have at hands.

 

Unless You can modify the focusing mechanism of the lens itself, You may not be able to focus to infinity. I did

not try it with Nikon, but my Minolta MC Rokkor-X PG 1:1.4 50mm lens for instance can be easily adjusted for some

past-infinity focusing without touching any optical parts of the lens - one will have to remove a small part of

the ring which is used to limit the rotation of the focusing unit. This ring stops the lens (in this case, the

entire optical part of the lens) from past-infinity focusing. By removing part of it You allow lens to get 1mm

deeper into the camera body - past infinity focusing. But You still have to take the lens apart to do it. In this

particular case, however, replacing the MC mount with Maxxum mount is completely reversible and very easy...

 

As a conclusion, it is different in each particular case, and if You are not an experenced camera-repair person,

You will not know what to do exactly, unill You take the lens apart (in most cases).

 

My advice - DO NOT TRY IT AT HOME, if You are not psychologically and financially ready to destroy/damage/loose

what You want to modify. You will also need few extra screws as a replacement for the ones You may loose during

Your first lens-dismounting experience... And a magnet...

 

On the other hand - if You are willing to work close-up only - the adapter is relatively easy to make and worth

trying, if You have few spare dollars to spend... .

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