Gear Talk > What the Nerds Do

Mounting exotic lenses on the new Nikon Z6/7 cameras

(1/4) > >>

Birna Rørslett:
The final version of the Z adapter for my Oude Delft 65mm f/0.75 Rayxar is now completed. The adapter in fact turned out to be much easier to make than I initially thought. Apart from the lens badly needs internal cleaning to get dust off the lens surfaces, it works very well with the Z7. I decided to fix it at a position in which half-length portraits are just barely feasible, and just ignored the concomitant vignetting. With the 45 MPix sensor there is no problem cropping the image anyway.

This is a lens which is fun to play around with. As there is no aperture to adjust and no focusing mechanism, all one has to do is decide on the framing then take the picture -- couldn't be any simpler. Just by moving the lens ever so slightly, the rendered view changes dramatically.

The drawback is of course the massive weight of this lens, which means one has to lift the lens not the camera at any time. This has to be balanced against no need for speculating about getting the sharpest possible image, which is a liberating notion. As evident from the sample image below, veils of conventional concerns and worries simply vanish into thin air.

BEZ:

--- Quote from: Birna Rørslett on December 09, 2018, 23:55:29 ---The final version of the Z adapter for my Oude Delft 65mm f/0.75 Rayxar is now completed. The adapter in fact turned out to be much easier to make than I initially thought.

--- End quote ---

B, If you get time could you post a picture of the mount please?

Cheers

BEZ:
My problem is the fuji X lens mount opening is just too small to slide over the Rayxar rear lens retaining metal shroud. If I remove the shroud as you have previously I don't have anything else to screw down the 52mm step up ring.

I thought about cutting the shroud, but would prefer to keep it intact for future use.

Did you experience vignetting when you had the lens set for the full head portrait you took of your friend?

I realise this is off topic please feel free to remove the post.

Birna Rørslett:
Thanks to the combination of an extra-wide camera mount and a very short register distance (16mm), the new Nikon Z-range offers excellent opportunities for the experimentally inclined photographer with cupboards of strange optics.

Basically, one has the following options


* find a commercial adapter on eBay (doable for most standard mounts)

* cobble bits and pieces of existing adapter/rings
* get a factory mount and rethink everything

I invite all members to share their strategies and solutions.

Birna Rørslett:
To answer some questions myself ....

I have ordered Nikon(S) rangefinder mount-Nikon Z on eBay, am awaiting these to arrive. The adapter allows all RF Nikkors with external bayonet to be attached to the Z camera.

To mount and focus the 50/1.4 RF or any of the 'normals' without focusing helicoid of their own, I have the superbly crafted Amadeo adapter. A pity it is for Sony E, however as the register distance for the Z is 16 vs 18mm for the Sony, I think a conversion is possible. Just need to locate a mechanic with a suitable lathe to shave off the Amadeo.

Leica M to Nikon Z are commercially available. I purchased one with the intention of hacking it later (see story on the Oude Delft 65/0.75 later).

There should be plenty of other existing mount>Z adapters either available now, or arriving soon.

If one can get hold of the spare factory mounts*, a Cokin 58mm ring for their filter system will fit nicely and snugly onto the Z bayonet. Thus, 58mm threads are available. The "conversion" takes 3-5 secs. Use a small rubber hammer to force the pieces together. No glue or screws are required. Many of my exotic lenses carry 52mm threads on their rear, thus a simple 58-52 step ring will suffice to mount any of these lenses in the Z.

First, two Z mounts without (left) and with 58mm Cokin adapter (right).

Second, an Oude Delft 50/0.75 Rayxar on my Z7 using the adapter above.

* I can order factory mounts if required. Just ask by PM

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page