Nikon & Minolta

<p>Found two Minolta lenses at a local thrift store, did some research and according to everything I read there is a lens adapter I can use on my Nikon D40 SLR body to use the Minolta lenses. I went by a local camera shop, the woman told me they don't carry that adapter but told me it is an MD Minolta adapter and am having difficulty finding the correct adapter I even checked on B&H Photo and am unsure as to which one specifically. </p>

<p>Which brings me to my next question.</p>

<p>Found a KS Super II at the same thrift store, $20 (give or take). It is an SLR. Is there an adapter out there so I can use my Minolta lenses on that as well? The Super II has a K mount, that's about as much as I know about it currently. </p>

<p>The lenses I found are a mirror lens and a telezoom lens,I think that's what the camera store lady had told me. I know she said it is like my Nikon lens, 55-200mm lens.</p>

<p>Any information you can give me, would be greatly appreciated. :-)</p>

<p>Nikons have a greater lens flange to film plane distance so the adapters available must have a correctionlens element in them to allow infinity focusing. The quality will be somewhat degraded. You would also have to shoot in full manual as with the D40 as the MInoltas will not couple with the metering in the Nikon.</p>

I'm not quite I understand what you mean by "infinity

focusing". I'm a novice photographer. The problem in

having is finding the correct adapter for it. I'm not 100%

certain if I found the correct one(s). I don't mind shooting

manually, I've done it before without any major problems.

<p>By "infinity focus" is meant that the lens will NOT be usable <strong><em>except as a close-up lens</em></strong> unless there are correction lenses built into the adapter. The existence of such lenses will usually mean a degradation of the image.</p>

<p>The mere existence of a lens adapter does not mean that the adaptation is a "good idea," as I think Pooh used to say.</p>

<p>I would suggest you forget about this. It's just not worth the hassle and the end result may be disappointing.</p>

<p>When Roger says "full manual" with the D40 he means COMPLETELY manual. You will have no guidance whatsoever from the camera meter to determine the correct ISO, shutter speed and aperture required for correctly exposed photos. Not an impossible mountain to climb, but for a novice photographer it's a restriction that can make a fun hobby frustrating.</p>

<p>http://www.rakuten.com/prod/fotodiox-lens-mount-adapter-minolta-md-mc-rokkor-lens-to-nikon-camera/240534721.html?listingId=239047930</p>

<p>I've used adapters from them for Nikon to M43. Could be fun to experiment with, but don't expect earth shattering results. Not sure how usable it would really be...</p>

<p>http://www.rakuten.com/prod/fotodiox-lens-mount-adapter-minolta-md-mc-rokkor-lens-to-nikon-camera/240534721.html?listingId=239047930</p>

<p>I've used adapters from them for Nikon to M43. Could be fun to experiment with, but don't expect earth shattering results. Not sure how usable it would really be...</p>

<p>It's been a very long time, but I think the K mount is Pentax, so you might need to look for a Minolta to Pentax adapter for the KS Super II, if such a thing exists. You probably know that you will not have auto focus with any of these lenses on the D40.</p>

<p>Note that Zach's adapter does have the optics. Fotodiox is generally pretty good, but this adapter is still not selling for much for "top-quality optics", shall we say.</p>

<p>Michael is right, this is too much hassle unless there is some really good reason (other than "bargain" lenses).</p>

<p>At $35, could be just for fun. But yeah, price is not a good reason at all. For price, you would be better off just getting old f-mount lenses.</p>

I'm willing to take the time to learn how to do it all manually,

ISO and all of that. I'm a fairly patient person and even

though it was a bargin, I'd still like to tinker with it.

<p>By far the best way of using your Minolta fit lenses would be to get hold of an old Minolta SLR camera, for example an SRT or an X700, there are lots available, probably at less cost than the adapters.</p>

<p>+1 .<br>

Wanna tinker? Get an old Minolta SRT for cheap and you have a lot to play with.</p>

<p>Elizabeth, I recommend you not try to use the Minolta lenses on your Nikon body. Either you can only focus on closeups or you have a low-quality lens in the adapter. Not worth it, not fun.</p>

<p>What can be much more fun is to get a digital body with a short flange-to-film distance. Then you can experiment with all these lenses. A four-thirds body (Olympus E-Volt for example) or any of the micro-4/3 bodies would be great. Adapters on eBay do a reasonable job and there are higher quality adapters for all the major lenses.</p>

<p>Canon's EOS bodies, both film and digital, have a short enough flange to focal-plane distance that you can adapt a wide range of lenses to them. Having said that, adapters cost as much as, or more than, the cheap M42 (not M43) Pentax thread or other lenses that you're likely to pick up.</p>

<p>As a matter of fact, eBay prices for various <em>x-mount</em>>EOS recently are often below US$10, and I just have bought one, postpaid from China, for less than $5.<br>

So the cost of adapters for EOS/EF mounts is not something to worry about. It's fun to use the old lenses if you are into that sort of thing, but none of them is likely to be convenient, except perhaps in video work where MF is often or even necessarily used anyhow.</p>

<p>In all honestly, if i were you, I would go ahead and find a used Minolta 35mm camera body on Fleabay or another source to use with these lenses. The results will be far superior than anything you will get by jury rigging it to a Nikon with an adapter. The Minolta XE-7 was an outstanding camera, in fact lot better than most of the Rokkor-X lenses you had available to mount on it.</p>

<p>Instead of buying more Minolta equipment to fit those two old and cheap Minolta lenses from a thrift store, if the OP wants to use some old lenses, why not just get 1 or 2 old Nikon lenses from the pre-AI or AI eras? Old Nikon lenses from those same era are dirk cheap as well.</p>

<p>To me, it makes little sense to spend even more money to save those Minolta lenses.</p>

<p>If you're taking a photo of a friend, say, six feet from you, and there are mountains in the background, well the mountains are at "infinity." The symbol for infinity on your camera lens distance scale is like an "8" lying on its side.</p>

<p>If I am not mistaken, Minolta sold out to Sony and the Minolta Lenses work on the higher end Sony DSLR's. So you could buy an old Minolta SLR on ebay or a newer Sony DSLR. I would not attempt to mount a Minolta lens to a Nikon for many reasons. If you like tinkering you should get a Minolta SLR. I would imagine that you can get them for next to nothing on ebay.</p>

<blockquote>

<p><em>"...and the Minolta Lenses work on the higher end Sony DSLR's."</em></p>

</blockquote>

<p>Minolta <strong>A-mount</strong> (autofocus) lenses will work on Sony DSLR bodies. Older manual focus <strong>MD mount</strong> lenses (as the OP found at the local thrift store) do not.</p>

<p>My advice to anyone in this predicament is always -- "Nikons do not play well with other lenses." If you want to use a Nikon, use lenses that have the Nikon F-mount. Buying cheap lenses that don't fit, and looking for an expensive adapter (if it really exists), is just a fool's errand. That may sound harsh, but as someone that has "tinkered" with many different camera systems and is a long-time Nikon user, I speak from experience. The ONLY time you should use a non-F mount lens is when you are using a bellows for macro, or a reversing ring. <br>

Otherwise, look for some manual Nikkors and have fun with those, or buy a micro 4/3 camera and you can adapt just about any piece of glass ever made. </p>

 

<p>When I was a teenager one could buy well used 1949 Fords for 50 or 100 buks. They were okay cars but tended to have a lot of small, nagging problems. Water pumps went out and cost you $15. Considering you could get a tire for $10, the water pump price was a bit high. Well, I bought one Ford that looked great but it was in the shop soon. My mechanic explained he'd have the car back on the road soon but there was a problem -- some kid changed all the small Ford engine parts with Chevrolet parts. Lord knows why. I think you should try first to put Nikon parts on Nikon, or third-party parts made for the Nikon.</p>