Nikon and vintage lenses

[Derrel]

Look into the 100-300 f/5.6 Ai-S Nikkor + reverse-mounted 6-T on the front, as an _amazing_ macro tool. I own the combo. Amazingly good performance. Seriously. Look into this combo in Bjorn Rorslett's "subjective lens evaluations". The 6-T s a great, 2-element closeup lens. The pairing of this obscure zoom and the 6-T is amazing. The 6-T fits on several 1970's-1980's zooms.

 

[Derrel]

Bjorn R. wrote :" The real surprise of the 100-300, however, comes when you put a close-up lens onto its front threads. I employed my standard Nikon 6T (reverse-mounted) and was absolutely floored by the high quality close-ups produced by this combination. High image sharpness and contrast, perfectly flat field, and virtually no CA are features you associate with an expensive Micro-Nikkor, not a makeshift combination of a achromatic attachment and a consumer zoom lens. Food for some real thoughts."

 

[unpopular]

...........If longer focal lengths are your thing, then maybe even medium format adaptors and lenses might be an option. Never looked too much into that. Certainly more expensive than M42. But might have some interesting options - maybe even T/S?

That's be one helluvan adapter.

They exist, But tend to be kind of expensive even without t/s

 

[Derrel]

Adapter prices have plummeted in this age of e-Bay, Mad in China, and mirrorless cameras. Adapters have never been as popular as they are now. LOTS of adapters are for sale. Fotodiox sells a lot of them, and has its own brand. Somewhere I have a Leica 39mm thread mount to M42 thread mount super-slim thread adapter i bought from them some years back.

 

[unpopular]

I have quite a few Fotodiox adapters, and for the price nothing beats them. They're really nice.

I did just buy a Kippon M42 adapter, just to see what a $15 M42 adapter is all about

(eta:the adapter I thought was Fotodiox was actually "Fotasy")

 

[LiquidLasagna]

Look into the 100-300 f/5.6 Ai-S Nikkor + reverse-mounted 6-T on the front, as an _amazing_ macro tool. I own the combo. Amazingly good performance. Seriously. Look into this combo in Bjorn Rorslett's "subjective lens evaluations". The 6-T s a great, 2-element closeup lens. The pairing of this obscure zoom and the 6-T is amazing. The 6-T fits on several 1970's-1980's zooms.

haha that lens isn't obscure to me

 

[cgw]

haha that lens isn't obscure to me

Try checking the dates(2019) sometime! Stone cold dead thread. Enough already.

 

[petrochemist]

Hi all

I recently picked up a used Nikon D300 (which is now my favourite thing in the world!) along with a functional AF 70-300m lens. So far, although I’ve a lot to learn, I’ve taken some reasonable shots as I get to learn how this camera works.

One of the reasons I decided to dive into photography now is a fascination with old lenses and the potential to link old (good) glass with more modern kit, especially if it can be picked up on a budget.

Now, because of the mount, I accept that Nikon isn’t necessarily the best option for trying vintage lenses but when I ordered the camera, I also sourced a mint Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 135mm, thinking that a cheap adapter (without glass) would be fine. Although I’d no sooner ordered before doing some further research which suggested that wouldn’t quite be the case....

Anyway, the lens and adapter arrived and I prepared for the worst.....Wow! I was wrong - the detail and colour is incredible, a huge step up on the more modern (but basic) Nikon zoom I’d also purchased. I knew that the lens wouldn’t talk to the camera and that I’d be manually focussing but, close up, this thing is a revelation!

So that leads me to some questions which I’m hoping you knowledge folk can help with:

1. Of course the Zeiss lens won’t focus to infinity, so there are limits to what I can shoot, but is this ever likely to cause a problem?
2. As the lens isn’t talking to the camera, how do I best set the non-cpu data? Is it worth using whatever aperture setting I’m using at the time?
3. As a newbie, P mode is a big help, but with this lens I may be better served with A, S or M mode - any tips here would be very welcome.
4. Is it worth going for other M42 lenses (Helios for example)?

Any help here would be very gratefully received!

Nikon DSLRs are the worst of popular SLRs for adapting legacy glass, as the body has an unusually long rear flange distance. Mirrorless cameras are generally best for this as nearly all have flange distances below about 20mm (leaving room for an adapter) SLRs are typically 42-46mm.

1. Adding an uncorrected adapter to the Nikon effectively gives you an extension tube for any adapted lens.
As you have found this is not an issue for closeup/macro, how drastic the effect will be depends on the focal length of the lens being used, it is much more severe for short focal lengths.

You will find landscapes impossible but might be able to manage portraits.

2. Some adapters have a chip that can be programmed to tell fixed info to the camera, but I normally just edit the EXIF if I'm going to do anything

3. The camera has no control of the lenses aperture so A or M are the usual modes. If you allow autoISO you might be able to use S but you'll have to watch the values it goes to...

4. Definitely! M42 lenses are generally cheap & fun to play with but avoid any zooms.
Most of the long telephotos are disappointing & ultra wides (under 24mm) are IMO not worth trying Wider lenses will have issues with your system but might make interesting macro options, focal lengths of 50-200mm are your best bet.

Among legacy lenses there are also T2 & Tamron adaptall lenses where the rear mount can be changed to any SLR mount. Some of these are very good, and they should have no focus issues with Nikon.

Note there are M42-Nikon adapters that include a built in teleconverter to get around the flange change. Most of these are poor optical quality, but they should allow infinity focus.


I've not used a Nikon DSLR with adapted lenses, I started off adapting with Pentax SLRs (film & then digital) these are ideal for M42 & PK legacy lenses, awkward (but usable via freelensing) with Nikon lenses & have focus issues with most other SLR mounts.
I also adapt lenses to a whole range of mirrorless bodies (Sony FF & APSC, MFT, Nikon 1, Pentax Q)
All of these focus to infinity with SLR & rangefinder lenses, more modern bodies have focus peaking and all allow magnified view. My Nikon J2 refuses to show peaking or meter if it cant see a lens so a chipped adapter is highly preferable, none of the others have this programming quirk.

If you continue with your love of old lenses I suggest you look at some used mirrorless bodies. All mine are at least 9 years old now, so these needn't be too expensive, only my A7ii cost more than £300 when I got it.

 

[petrochemist]

Try checking the dates(2019) sometime! Stone cold dead thread. Enough already.

Oops, I think I may have spotted this in the past & not posted because it was an old thread, when it crops up in recent posts I don't check dates. At least one of the other forums I'm on gives an automatic warning if the thread is old (but allows posting if desired)
If the software used here allows that it would IMO be a benefit.

 

[cgw]

Oops, I think I may have spotted this in the past & not posted because it was an old thread, when it crops up in recent posts I don't check dates. At least one of the other forums I'm on gives an automatic warning if the thread is old (but allows posting if desired)No worries
If the software used here allows that it would IMO be a benefit.

No worries. Most of the posters no longer inhabit TPF-land. The poster who revived this 2019 thread has a trollish penchant for these zombie posts anyway. Most need locking down.