NikonGear'23
Gear Talk => Camera Talk => Topic started by: Zang on April 23, 2020, 21:24:36
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I know people replace lens bayonet mount to cross-over lenses and bodies from different systems. Has anyone heard about changing the camera lens mount?
With old cameras available for so cheap, I am thinking about buying and old Nikon DSLR, remove the Nikon F lens mount and replace it with (maybe 3-D printed) C/Y mount with adjusted thickness to fit my old C/Y lenses.
Would it be something doable?
Cheers,
Zang
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C/Y has shorter register than Nikon, means the flange for it is nearer to the sensor. This might cause to take off some material from the camera and will decrease its stability and accuracy in the flange area - test it with an old D xx for € 60.- if you want to spend a lot of time. There are Nikon F flages as exchange for C/Y lense from Leitax available. As most people in the meantime switch to mirroless cams with shorter register, there should be a market with used flanges for your lenses - the 2nd best way in my opinion. The best is to buy a mirroless, f.e. a Sony Nex 6 with the same sensor as Nikon D7000 (16MP and good Iso capability) which you get for less than € 150.-
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I know that a kit existed for the Sigma SD SLRs with Foveon sensor so Leica R lenses could be used like this:
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/2213966
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Swapping lens mounts is entirely doable. I have several such modified cameras myself. For example, Panasonic (GF1, GH2) with M42 thread mount instead of the bayonet, likewise Sony NEX3 also with M42. The reason for swapping out the native camera bayonet is the need for mounting exotic lenses, which very frequently have a short, sometimes even minimal, register distance.
The problem using a Nikon camera is that few brands have still longer register distance, thus most non-native lenses will not focus to infinity. Better to start with something having a much shorter register distance, for example, among the m43 models.
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Zang, where in the world are you located? I think somewhere in my barn I have one or more dead Yashicas, and could perhaps dig one up and slip a mount into an envelope and mail it. This probably would not work very reliably outside the US and maybe Europe, but one could try.
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Micro Four Thirds is a handy system but it does have a thick sensor filter stack. That can matter for adapted lenses as discussed here (https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2014/07/sensor-stack-thickness-part-iii-the-summary/). An alternative with a thinner sensor filter stack would be a Sony FE-mount camera (or for a more affordable camera, a Sony E-mount). C/Y lenses were designed for film, so no filter between the lens and film was anticipated in their optical designs.
BTW, I tried to use my C/Y lenses (28mm f/2.8, 85mm f/2.8 ) on a Canon 6D and found the mirror would catch on the rear of the lens. It should be possible to use these lenses on Canon EF-S cameras because those have smaller mirrors. However, manually focusing lenses on a DSLR isn't a very precise process (though the Df is better), so a mirrorless camera with focus peaking may work better.
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Focus peaking is strongly overrated in my view. Better using the EVF magnifier, provided the lens is relatively fast, not too wide, and there is light enough. Or fall back on say a Df with split-image screen :(
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Zang, there was a guy that used to post a lot on the old NG site who had equipped his D40X with an M42 mount.
IIRC, he was into UV and IR work and used older lenses with simple coatings that allowed UV transmission. I think that he was also into fishing as well as photography. I will keep searching for his ID and images of the converted camera.
Anyone else remember him?
EDIT: This is the guy: https://www.flyfishinginnh.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8161&page=2
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Might be Reed F. Curry. He's active on our 'sister' site, ultravioletphotography.com.
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Thank you Birna - it is indeed Reed F. Curry.
I have posted this link to him below: https://www.flyfishinginnh.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8161&page=2
Might be Reed F. Curry. He's active on our 'sister' site, ultravioletphotography.com.
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There was a conversion kit that turned a Nikon SLR to an M42 mount camera, which is essentially an M42 mount made to fit a Nikon body with the F-mount removed. Unfortunately, the kit was short-lived and has long been discontinued...
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Wow, I woke up with tons of wonderful feedback! Thank you guys for that.
To keep things on topic, I will post multiple responses.
Cheers,
Zang
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C/Y has shorter register than Nikon, means the flange for it is nearer to the sensor. This might cause to take off some material from the camera and will decrease its stability and accuracy in the flange area - test it with an old D xx for € 60.- if you want to spend a lot of time. There are Nikon F flages as exchange for C/Y lense from Leitax available. As most people in the meantime switch to mirroless cams with shorter register, there should be a market with used flanges for your lenses - the 2nd best way in my opinion. The best is to buy a mirroless, f.e. a Sony Nex 6 with the same sensor as Nikon D7000 (16MP and good Iso capability) which you get for less than € 150.-
Hi Thomas,
I am aware of the flange distance differences. A mirror-less camera would probably be an easiest and most economic option. I am just looking for some fun project. I read about Leitax. Their adapters look great but they are pretty expensive. The cost will also multiply with the number of lenses you want to convert.
Cheers,
Zang
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Swapping lens mounts is entirely doable...
Birna,
So either I am not crazy or I am not the only one LOL. Yes, M3/4 would be a much easier option, but the sensor gets a bit smaller at the same time.
Cheers,
Zang
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...
BTW, I tried to use my C/Y lenses (28mm f/2.8, 85mm f/2.8 ) on a Canon 6D and found the mirror would catch on the rear of the lens. It should be possible to use these lenses on Canon EF-S cameras because those have smaller mirrors. However, manually focusing lenses on a DSLR isn't a very precise process (though the Df is better), so a mirrorless camera with focus peaking may work better.
Hey Bill,
How did you like the result from Contax lenses on digital? I have fond memory about them back in the film era. My concern is, despite their wonderful mechanical quality, they may be outdated in term of optical quality nowadays.
Cheers,
Zang
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Zang, there was a guy that used to post a lot on the old NG site who had equipped his D40X with an M42 mount.
IIRC, he was into UV and IR work and used older lenses with simple coatings that allowed UV transmission. I think that he was also into fishing as well as photography. I will keep searching for his ID and images of the converted camera.
Anyone else remember him?
EDIT: This is the guy: https://www.flyfishinginnh.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8161&page=2
Hey Hugh,
Thank you for sharing. I had a look and it does not seem the guy shared the technical details of the conversion.
Thanks,
Zang
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There was a conversion kit that turned a Nikon SLR to an M42 mount camera, which is essentially an M42 mount made to fit a Nikon body with the F-mount removed. Unfortunately, the kit was short-lived and has long been discontinued...
Thanks Akira,
It is good to hear I am not alone with this crazy idea :)
Thanks,
Zang
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Zang, where in the world are you located? I think somewhere in my barn I have one or more dead Yashicas, and could perhaps dig one up and slip a mount into an envelope and mail it. This probably would not work very reliably outside the US and maybe Europe, but one could try.
Hey Matt,
Thank you for being so kind to offer me the give-away! I am located in Toronto Ontario. I would love to get the mount and I can IM you my address.
However, please do not send me if you find any use for the camera. I do hang a non working Canon over my desk right now for instance :)
Thanks again for your kindness,
Zang
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Here is a link: https://www.ultravioletphotography.com/content/index.php/topic/264-reed-curry-bio/page__hl__%2Bd40+%2Bm42__fromsearch__1
I have seen an image somewhere of the converted camera - just cannot find it for you as yet. Old age and senility is my excuse for my failure to find it! ;D
Hey Hugh,
Thank you for sharing. I had a look and it does not seem the guy shared the technical details of the conversion.
Thanks,
Zang
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Here is a link: https://www.ultravioletphotography.com/content/index.php/topic/264-reed-curry-bio/page__hl__%2Bd40+%2Bm42__fromsearch__1
I have seen an image somewhere of the converted camera - just cannot find it for you as yet. Old age and senility is my excuse for my failure to find it! ;D
Thanks Hugh!
Cheers,
Zang
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Hey Matt,
Thank you for being so kind to offer me the give-away! I am located in Toronto Ontario. I would love to get the mount and I can IM you my address.
However, please do not send me if you find any use for the camera. I do hang a non working Canon over my desk right now for instance :)
Thanks again for your kindness,
Zang
Do IM the address, or you can email me directly. My last name here, at shoreham dot net.
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Hey Matt,
Thank you for being so kind to offer me the give-away! I am located in Toronto Ontario. I would love to get the mount and I can IM you my address.
However, please do not send me if you find any use for the camera. I do hang a non working Canon over my desk right now for instance :)
Thanks again for your kindness,
Zang
Hey Matt,
I have received the mount! Thank you so much again, Matt!
In the meantime, I decided to buy Sony Nex 6, so my job with the adapter will be much easier as I have more space to work with :) I will send pictures upon the progress.
Cheers,
Zang
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Glad it came OK. Three cheers for the postal system.
Good luck.
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Hey Bill,
How did you like the result from Contax lenses on digital? I have fond memory about them back in the film era. My concern is, despite their wonderful mechanical quality, they may be outdated in term of optical quality nowadays.
Cheers,
Zang
Zang, sorry for my late response. It's hard to say since I stopped almost immediately because of the mirror clearance issue. I'll have to see how these lenses work on the Z6, something I've been meaning to find out.
"Obsolete" is a relative term. While I really like some of the newer lenses now available, some older lenses that might be viewed at technologically obsolete in terms of optical design and coatings can still be very worthwhile. This will depend on how they're used and what your goal in using them is. You may not get the absolute highest resolution, highest contrast, and least amount of abberations compared to newer lenses, but you may still very much like the results. Some of this will come down to personal preference.
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Thanks @Bill
I have printed out a tube with E-mount male bayonet. I heat-sink 3 paper clips to replace the tightening springs into the plastic then place the mount from Matt on top. Everything fits nicely and the springs hold the lens pretty well. The only challenge I have now is to find 4 3-millimetre head screws :)
Cheers,
Zang
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I was able to file the screw heads down to 3mm to fit the holes. Everything is ready to go. I also printed out a nice rear cap :)
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Also melted in some red marks...
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And a sample picture with 28mm.
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Sorry but I seem to have missed this thread ;) Congratulations on your success with this contraption!
We have a whole board on subjects like this;
- NikonGear »
- Gear Talk »
- What the Nerds Do
https://nikongear.net/revival/index.php?board=11.0 (https://nikongear.net/revival/index.php?board=11.0)
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Sorry but I seem to have missed this thread ;) Congratulations on your success with this contraption!
We have a whole board on subjects like this;
- NikonGear »
- Gear Talk »
- What the Nerds Do
https://nikongear.net/revival/index.php?board=11.0 (https://nikongear.net/revival/index.php?board=11.0)
Thanks Erik!
Initially, I just wanted to ask a question. I learnt basic Auto Desk just last week. Never thought I would start this project but Matt Currie inspired me by sending me the bayonet (thanks Matt again) :)
Cheers,
Zang