NikonGear'23
Gear Talk => What the Nerds Do => Topic started by: Kim Pilegaard on January 01, 2023, 10:18:08
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Just with a little help of some old Nikon rings and a couple of step-up and step-down rings an old Novoflex belllows can be given new life for Nikon Z.
This also works with old Nikon bellows. The essential part is the Novoflex Retro Adapter, which transmits all information between lens and camera.
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Nice work Kim.
I did not realise that one could buy the Novoflex Nikon Z end pieces on their own. With the latest Novoflex bellows they look to be very expensive - some $1,500+ in Australia.
Just with a little help of some old Nikon rings and a couple of step-up and step-down rings an old Novoflex belllows can be given new life for Nikon Z.
This also works with old Nikon bellows. The essential part is the Novoflex Retro Adapter, which transforms all information between lens and camera.
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The small yet versatile Novoflex belllows isn't that expensive to get second-hand. If one can forego automatic functionality of the bellows lens, the required adapters are inexpensive as well. As most used optics on a bellow would be enlarger or dedicated bellows lens heads, not much in terms of features would be lost anyway. I normally use a short adapter with a CPU chip at the camera side so as to get the basic EXIF embedded in the RAW files, but keeping running notes with paper and pen or audio notes (a feature now on the Z6) serves the same purpose.
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For those who do not care about the details of how a picture was created, Exif data has no use, so I happily use any lens or adapter and only watch the results.
Admittedly, not a very scientific method if one wants to reproduce or improve on results, i am also among those who regard glowing technical info in the viewfinder and a phletora of camera buttons as unwelcome and sometimes destructive distractions. A neo-luddite can save mountains of time and cash by simply ignoring such frippery.
p.
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EXIF can be very useful in some instances, in particular if one does specialised photography or fine-tunes the outcome. If the metadata isn't required it doesn't matter of course.
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Agree especially for iterartive methods,
but for snappers who merely like to have a pictorial record it can easily become another costly and unneccesary addition to a basic device for supplementing memory.
Although one has to input the focal length for stabilization each time one changes a lens (if the light is not entirely brilliant), installing chips merly to be reminded which lens one used, that the camera chose another speed or that one did not stop down a step or two, is over the top.
p.
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EXIF can be very useful in some instances, in particular if one does specialised photography or fine-tunes the outcome. If the metadata isn't required it doesn't matter of course.
I also find EXIF data very useful. For lenses without chips, I use the LensTagger Exiftool Lightroom Plugin to add the additional information.
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Thank you for the tip, Kim. I do not have a great need for EXIF data with my manual lenses but my inner nerd loves the idea.
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Anything that helps with the task of documenting ones photos has surely got to be of benefit - regardless of whether they are taken indoors or outside (where I geotag my photos). Long live EXIF data! ;D
Thank you for the tip, Kim. I do not have a great need for EXIF data with my manual lenses but my inner nerd loves the idea.
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Does the geotagging also show in which direction the camera pointed (like a compass can do)?
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I don't think so, unless I've missed details of how my cameras record GPS. There are subtle differences between camera models regarding how GPS information is stored. However, there is a GPS/EXIF field for this purpose if memory serves thus the information can be added later if required. Failing the existence of such a field, you might define a custom field for the information.
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Does the geotagging also show in which direction the camera pointed (like a compass can do)?
I don't know of any cameras that have a compass built-in, which is a requirement as GNSS does not have any way of ascertaining orientation. But I do know of people who tether off-camera GNSS units with compass information, such as the Garmin GPSMap. How exactly it is done, however, I don't know. In fact, it appears I don't know much :-). I have one, so perhaps I should just try.
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See this https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-bearing-in-gps-1683320 for a discussion of the concepts.
There apparently are a lot of obscure GPS navigation fields. Search the GPS documentation for more details.
For my own purposes the latitude, longitude, and altitude fields are what my software extracts and stores in the database. If such information is not present in the file, there are quick routines to set the fields by dropping the image onto a map (Google Maps or equivalent), quite similar to what e.g. Flicr offers. I do have the option to define the accuracy of the location and/or assing the image to any geometric shape such as a polygon.
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There are some camera-mounted GPS units that record the pointing direction of the camera. The inexpensive Aokatec units (now apparently discontinued) that I have mounted on the 10-pin socket of the D800's do this.
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For those who do not care about the details of how a picture was created, Exif data has no use, so I happily use any lens or adapter and only watch the results.
Admittedly, not a very scientific method if one wants to reproduce or improve on results, i am also among those who regard glowing technical info in the viewfinder and a phletora of camera buttons as unwelcome and sometimes destructive distractions. A neo-luddite can save mountains of time and cash by simply ignoring such frippery.
p.
"Frippery"? No! What may be unessential to your workflow can be tantamount to getting-the-job-done for others. In my case, let's just say I'm instrument rated and with good reason. I can cite several examples in science, evidentiary presentation, and industry - even the armed forces - wherein too much information and/or controls (in every sense) is rarely deemed enough. But why bore you? Truth be known, I'd rather not be burdened by any of this incessant record-keeping. At heart, I'm lazy as hell.
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I agree completely with record keeping where useful, but in my case as reckless snapper, only the result matters and I do occasionally look at exposures in case Iwish to take another one.
Ad Novoflex, it is woth noting that they still produce adaptes for 60years old equpment. I recently bought one to fit the BAL-U on my Z.
p.