Nikon F2 / Tamron Adaptall 2 adapter

[Tony Parsons]

This may well be a silly question - if so, I apologise.

I have recently bought a Nikon F2 chrome body with DP2 finder. As I have several Tamron Adaptall 2 lenses which I use on my Pentax bodies, I wanted to get a Tamron Adaptall 2 adapter so I can use them on my new body. Searching on eBay, I have found several adapters that assure me they fit on Nikon F/F2 bodies - however, not all of them possess the characteristic 'Rabbit Ears', which I believe are necessary to interact with the metering head.

Can anyone please tell me whether this type will be satisfactory, or will only the ones with the meter coupling work ?

Many thanks in advance.

[Rick Helmke]

It will be fine with rabbit ears on a DP-2, required actually. That’s a pre-AI camera that uses the rabbit ears to function with the meter. 
 

Rick H.

[John Seaman]

The adaptors will all fit, but you need the ones with the rabbit ears to link to the meter coupling. Without the ears, the meter won't work. I believe the older "eared" adaptors are hard to find.

[ShunCheung]

16 hours ago, Tony Parsons said:

This may well be a silly question - if so, I apologise.

As people say, there are no silly questions. Perhaps there are some exceptions, but there is plenty of truth in that statement.

[orsetto]

You would need the adapter version with rabbit ears for normal, open aperture meter coupling with your F2S DP2 meter prism.

The version without ears can also be used if you don't mind the less convenient stop down metering method, which the F2S DP2 provides to meter with uncoupled old tele Nikkors and the old uncoupled extension tubes. This is the same method employed by many M42 cameras like Pentax Spotmatic.

To activate stopped down meter mode, press the DP2 lens coupling pin upwards into the prism, until you hear a click and the little front window shows "5.6". Mount the uncoupled Tamron lens.

When you want to meter, pull out the advance lever as usual, set your preferred shutter speed, then press and hold in the depth of field preview button with your right index finger (this stops the lens down to working aperture).

While holding down the DOF button, adjust the lens aperture ring to light up both arrows in the viewfinder display (as usual). This sets the correct exposure. You can now let go of the DOF button, compose, focus and release the shutter.

When you swap the uncoupled Tamron with another lens that does have the rabbit ears, your F2S DP2 will automatically reset to normal open aperture coupled metering mode as soon as the lens rabbit ears engage the prism pin (which they should when you rotate the aperture ring from minimum to maximum).

Confirm the coupling has engaged by noting the aperture shown in the front prism window matches the max aperture of the lens (if not, remove and remount the lens).

[bgelfand]

If you cannot find an adapter with Rabbit Ears, I suggest you email John White and ask if he can install his Type C (adding Rabbit Ears) conversion  on the Tamron Adaptall.

 

LINK: AI Conversions for Nikon Lenses: Effective, Fast and Affordable!

 

Mr White did an outstanding job converting my lenses to AI and responds to his email.

[Niels - NHSN]

@Tony Parsons I help out at my local camera store, and noticed today that they had a couple of different Nikon adaptall lenses - shown below for illustration.

With rabbit ears for pre-Ai bodies (your F2) and the Ai adapter without the ears for cameras produced after 1977.

It is not uncommon that you can get a lens with an adapter for less than buying the adapter by itself.

Edited March 6, 2023 by Niels - NHSN

[Tony Parsons]

My grateful thanks to one and all who offered such helpful advice and information - it confirms what I thought, that I need an adapter with 'rabbit ears' for OA metering. I did look at lenses complete with adapters, but the only ones I could find would duplicate lenses I already possess.

Cheers

Tony

[Tony Parsons]

Quick update - just found what I needed on eBay, at a good price, so bought it. Once again, thanks for the help

[ShunCheung]

1 hour ago, Tony Parsons said:

Quick update - just found what I needed on eBay, at a good price, so bought it. Once again, thanks for the help

Excellent. One way or another, those old lenses can't be all that expensive. You may already have some old Nikkors, but it is not that expensive to get some lenses to let you enjoy the new F2.

Have fun.

[Tony Parsons]

Thanks, Shun - I'll stick with the Tamrons for now, but I am watching a couple of Nikkors  .  .  .

[rodeo_joe1]

Many years ago I was looking for Tamron Adaptall 2 adapters with the 'rabbit ear' metering forks. They were like hen's teeth back then, and commanded a premium price because of their rarity. 

My solution was to obtain a couple of bog-standard Tamron Adaptall Nikon-fit adapters and epoxy glue some thin metal home-made forks to them. They worked just fine. 

I had some thin gauge stainless steel sheet that I cut and hand filed to the same pattern as Nikon's metering fork, but a bit longer to allow some bonding area. However, the metering forks don't need much strength, so thin aluminium or plastic sheet would probably work just as well. 

I came across one of those modified adapters recently and the epoxied rabbit ears were still firmly attached.

IIRC I had to scrape a bit of the shiny black anodising off the back of the aperture scale to get the home-made SS forks to stick firmly. 

 

Edited March 7, 2023 by rodeo_joe1

[Tony Parsons]

Thanks, @rodeo_joe1  - I actually found two adapters for less than £30 each, but since I shall only need one at a time, I left the other in case someone else required one.

[mike_halliwell]

10 hours ago, rodeo_joe1 said:

epoxy glue some thin metal home-made forks to them.

Ummm, you're right. Not sure I'd like to drill and tap that thin ring for the 2 little bunny-ear mount screws. What are they? M2?.

Certainly not in situ!

[rodeo_joe1]

8 minutes ago, mike_halliwell said:

Ummm, you're right. Not sure I'd like to drill and tap that thin ring for the 2 little bunny-ear mount screws. What are they? M2?.

Certainly not in situ!

No, the Tamron adapters don't lend themselves to drilling and tapping easily. After one painful adaption - see picture - I ignored that route and just glued my DIY metering fork to the rear of the adapter's aperture ring. No bending, drilling or tapping needed. 

And fitted to the lens - 

[Tony Parsons]

Final update (in case anyone's interested 😄) Adapter arrived, fitted easily to my Tamron 300mm lens, and works on F2. Couldn't be more pleased. Thank you again to all who responded.

 

Tony

[ShunCheung]

Is it annoying to have just one adapter shared by several Tamron lenses? Way back around 1974 or so, I once bought a Tamron 300mm Adaptall lens. At the time I was a Minolta user so that I got the Minolta adapter, but that was the only Tamron lens I have ever bought. Can’t remember the exact year, but I didn’t move to Nikon until 1997 and it was already AI, but not artificial intelligence. 😀

[SCL]

37 minutes ago, ShunCheung said:

Is it annoying to have just one adapter shared by several Tamron lenses?

IMHO not at all annoying. changing it to other lenses just takes a few seconds.

[ShunCheung]

43 minutes ago, SCL said:

IMHO not at all annoying. changing it to other lenses just takes a few seconds.

It has been almost half a century, such that I don't remember how hard it was to remove the adapter. But all I had was one Tamron lens so that the adapter just stayed on that lens permanently. Otherwise, if you need to switch to a native-mount lens, you need to remove the adapter. I would probably go with a few adapters if not one adapter for each Tamron Adaptall lens. But then if the OP needs to swap between Pentax and Nikon, it is a little complicated.

Currently I have multiple FTZ adapters as backups, although there are only a few F-mount lenses I still use on Z bodies.

Time sure goes fast. Nikon AI (auto indexing) had been out for close to half a century also.

[mike_halliwell]

25 minutes ago, ShunCheung said:

multiple FTZ adapters

I only have the original FTZ and seem to have no issues using it with the Z9's battery bulge and many long teles!

I must be doing something wrong....🤣

I've got about 4 Tamron primes, inc a 90mm macro and 135mm f2.5. I've yet to try them on the Z9.

There is a Tamron > Z Mount adapter, but by definition, it's just a dumb 'spacer' tube.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Concept-Updated-Adapter-Compatible-Mirrorless/dp/B09WHL9DNN/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=R3UJJMON8DXN&keywords=tamron+to+Z+mount&qid=1678465364&sprefix=tamron+to+z+mount%2Caps%2C78&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

Edited March 10, 2023 by mike_halliwell

[ShunCheung]

Concerning the FTZ, my first one was fried by my 28-70mm/f2.8 AF-S, about 11-months into my Z ownership. Later on I found out that some old AF-S lenses, the 28-70/2.8 in particular, are prone to damaging the fuse inside FTZ. The reason seems to be the electronics inside those old AF-S lenses (usually with an aperture ring) may have gone bad after some 20 years, and those old AF-S motors are now failing. After that, I tend to keep a spare FTZ just in case. I am also leery about putting very old AF-S lenses on the FTZ now. That FTZ was barely under warranty and Nikon fixed it for free. The right fix is on the lens, but I didn't bother with such an old lens.

Moreover, a few times I have brought an F-mount lens with my Z bodies without any FTZ adapter. Now I tend to keep an adapter on each F-mount lens that I am still using on Z.

In any case, the OP's Tamron adapter is all mechanical so that there is no electronic issues.

[bgelfand]

2 hours ago, mike_halliwell said:

I've got about 4 Tamron primes, inc a 90mm macro and 135mm f2.5. I've yet to try them on the Z9.

For the 90 f/2.8 macro (F017), the lens must be returned to Tamron for the firmware update.

[Update] Notice about compatibility for Nikon Z series with Tamron SP 90mm F/2.8 Di MACRO 1:1 VC USD (Model F017) for Nikon

Read down to the section titled "How to get Support".

The update is provided free of charge under the Tamron 6-year warranty. Although I do not have a Z camera, I sent mine off. Tamron applied the fix in two days and shipped it back to me. I assume it will work on a Z camera. It continues to work on my D750.

[mike_halliwell]

2 hours ago, bgelfand said:

For the 90 f/2.8 macro (F017), the lens must be returned to Tamron for the firmware update.

Nope, it's hardware too. The end stops are mechanical and need replacing.

If you're not the original owner, they want mega £££s.

Been there, done that.....

[mike_halliwell]

For info...

 

 After lengthy research and testing, Tamron have successfully found a solution to enable the Tamron SP 90mm F/2.8 Di VC USD 1:1 Macro (model F017N) to be compatible with Nikon Z mirrorless cameras. 

 

This will however involve more than a firmware update to make the lens compatible and, once available, it will be necessary for Tamron's service department to perform a modification to the lens.

 

Tamron Japan have asked us to find out which owners of the Tamron SP 90mm F/2.8 Di VC USD 1:1 Macro (model F017N) would like to have their lens modified / updated via this solution in order to gain Nikon Z compatibility, in order for them to manufacture the required new components and ship them to Tamron service facilities worldwide.

 

Procedure for requesting the modification & update:

Please use this form (https://application-form-for-modification-update-tamron-sp-90mm-f017n.paperform.co/ ) to inform us that you would like to have your Tamron SP 90mm F/2.8 Di VC USD 1:1 Macro (model F017N) modified.

 

In due course, once the parts for your lens are manufactured and shipped, we will contact you with a request to send the lens to Tamron's service department. Please do NOT send it in beforehand!

 

mike

 

Costs for this modification & update:

For the Tamron SP 90mm F/2.8 Di VC USD 1:1 Macro (model F017N) lenses sold new by authorised UK dealers that are still within warranty, Transcontinenta UK (Distributor for Tamron in UK and IE), will absorb the service cost for this modification + update. The only costs to you will be the shipping costs to the Tamron Service Department (you will receive the address data in due course). Should you need other Service work carried out at this time then a quote can be provided. 

 

Grey/Parallel Import lenses

Please note we are unable to support modifications to Grey/Parallel import lenses via this service and customers will need to contact their supplier directly.

 

Non UK & Ireland customers

If you are not resident in the UK & Ireland, please contact your local distributor. The service we are providing is solely offered on a local basis for UK and Ireland customers who have purchased new lenses through an authorised UK/IE Tamron dealer. 

See the distributor list for other regions at the link below:

https://www.tamron.com/company/tamron_group-europe.html#distributors

 

Time frame modification/update:

We are currently in the inventory phase, and once the quantities are established, and the parts are manufactured, we will send out invitations to send in your lens for the work to be done. Currently we do not have a specific timeframe for this but if you would like to have the modification please complete the electronic form and we will keep you informed.

 

Kind regards,

Alex Cooke

[Tony Parsons]

5 hours ago, ShunCheung said:

It has been almost half a century, such that I don't remember how hard it was to remove the adapter. But all I had was one Tamron lens so that the adapter just stayed on that lens permanently. Otherwise, if you need to switch to a native-mount lens, you need to remove the adapter. I would probably go with a few adapters if not one adapter for each Tamron Adaptall lens. But then if the OP needs to swap between Pentax and Nikon, it is a little complicated.

Currently I have multiple FTZ adapters as backups, although there are only a few F-mount lenses I still use on Z bodies.

Time sure goes fast. Nikon AI (auto indexing) had been out for close to half a century also.

Thanks for this, Shun - although I use the two systems, I only use one at a time, so mount swapping for either is done before I leave on the day, and the Tamrons are used in conjunction with 'native' mount lenses, principally when I anticipate requiring a prime lens with a large maximum aperture (usually 28mm f2.5, faster than any WA zoom I have).