I have been using adapters and Roxsen or Viltrox focal reducers with M42, Nikkor F and Canon FD vintage glass for years on M4/3 mirrorless (from the Lumix GX1 and OLY EM-10 to my current GX9 and G81 bodies). Recently, I also purchased a RiseSpray (aka 7Artisans) 35mm/f0.95 for US$180 from AliEx. I was extremely impressed with the quality of this modern manual lens, as well as its performance. My favorites, in addition to this modern manual lens, include the Helios 44-2 (58/2), Jupiter 3 (50/1.5), Jupiter 9 (85/2), Pentax Super Takumar 50/1.4, Auto Sears (Tomioka) 55/1.4, Porst 55/1.4, Canon FL 55/1.2, Nikkor (non-Ai) 55/1.2, MIR-24N 35/2, Mayer-Optik Gorlitz Oreston 50/1.8, Nikkor (non-Ai) 28/2, and Canon 135/2.5. Each has its use case and special character. All are terrific in their own way.
"Bob, as they say, is your uncle." Thank you my man. Just now getting into lenses and you cleared any confusion I had up. How much fun to throw a Nikon lens onto a Pentax body, or whatever to whatever! I can't think of another technology that is so inclusive to old equipment.
This was so informative! I come from a film world. Digital has not interested me because it did not feel like film and I could not use my lenses. But I am looking at acquiring a Fujifilm camera for this purpose. Your video on the Fuji cameras was also spot on! 🙌🏼
Good Morning, Nigel Mirrorless Lens use 101 - for the new vintage lens to mirrorless camera user this must be the first video they watch. Packed full of information, hints, tips and great advice. This will certainly get the new user well on the road to using, and buying, vintage lenses, so if you are an experienced vintage user expect to see old lens prices go up yet again. My advice? Buy as many vintage lenses as you can while they are at this price lol. Great video yet again.
now you've done it, I'm going to have to buy a mirrorless camera and speed boosters and adapters to use with my vintage lenses to see how they compare with the dslr photos...
@@dustysprockets1505 Good luck with your new old camera. I picked up an X-T1 a while back and loved it so much that I’ve added an old X-PRO1 to the mix too.
I love my speedbooster, it let's more light in and I'm pretty sure it only has the 1 element, it's never off my aps-c canon m50! Sharpness is uniform throughout, using my Pancolar, Penracon 135mm and Takumars. I have not taken my helios 44-2 out with it yet. Keep us the great work!
@@flavioserci6046 a pixco, I needed to spend 10 minutes or so adjusting it with an Allen key so get it to focus to infinity, but it's been absolutely fine.
There are a few articles on focal reducers. I think generally you get what you pay for. When I researched, I found the best appeared to be the Metabones Speed Booster. Which is what I bought. I use this with my CONTAX AX kit (Zeiss and fast TANRON lenses). The Metabones is sharp edge to edge. Happy to show you some results. Now I only shoot using my X-H1 and Metabones
You do of couse lose electrical contact, therefore full manual, focus peaking may help, Olympus do a converter with contact,s for earlier lenses, which are very cheap and a good alternative to latest expensive primes.
My favourite vintage lenses to use on MILCs are those off rangefinders cameras. On my Canon RP, I use a Summilux f1.4/50 off my Leica M3. The adapter is so thin, it makes the Canon easy to carry around! Older lenses off my Leica IIIg are equally good. They only need a very thin adapter for the M mount, practically just a ring. So the Summicron f2/35, sitting on two adapters, has an even lower profile than the Summilux! Brave old world!
Brave old world indeed! My screwmount Summitar works very nicely on the sony a7 - I haven't used it on the fuji xt1 yet, but I'm anticipating some nice results!
@@zenography7923 BTW FOTPFOX LM-NEX Close-focus Adapter could make your Summitar into a macro lens. I never thought I could exactly see what the 21mm Super Angulon sees until I put on an adapter. 60+ year-old German rangefinder lenses acquire marco and TTL capabilities overnight through Made-in-China adapters! Curiouser and curiouser! ;-)
Great explanation. There certainly are a great variety of adapters, I found one to adapt my Mamiya RB67 lens (50, 90 & 250mm) to an Olympus EM1 Mark ii. Odd looking set up but as you point out just another way to explore photography.
It's a great area to get into. I'm loving it and having great success with some old M42 mount Fuji lenses at the moment. Well worth looking at if you come across them. The 35mm, in particular, is excellent.
Thank you for all of these highly informative and also extraordinarily pleasant videos. I've been trying out and switching around different vintage lenses for a few months now and your channel has helped me with quite some decision making so far. What I am still sort of struggling with is that, no matter what vintage lens I pop on to my adapters, they tend to focus slightly past infinity. I have read that most manufacturers tend to make their adapters slightly too short in order to provide infinity focus on all lenses. Therefore I was wondering if you or anyone else is dealing with the same "issue" or wether or not that even is something you would consider an issue. If there is a way around this, I would be very happy for any suggestions. Thanks
Another great video, many thanks. It is a very good explanation of all the basics, especially concerning the speed boosters. I started with vontage lenses on my MFT camera - and I love it. It gives back the "old" feeling with manual focus - and the lenses typically feel much better with all their real metal and glass.
That booster does exist then, seen pictures of it as last images on eBay listing. Saying focal reducer . They sent standard hollow adapter, I was interested in it as I had just made something similar ,I would have liked to compare my effort with ,I wasn't prepared to pay metabones money. That's why I made my own, a 42 and a 39 , shockingly they both work. Try the speed booster on full frame with the Helios 40 or 44, or a 28mm . I'd really like to dismantle the £60 booster , The 7artisans 25mm 1.8 is very good and is happy close up, forgot I'd bought it as it was so cheap and it arrived at the same time as other gear, great little surprise. When I found it saying what the hell is this.
I like shooting nature (birds, squirrels, deer, etc). Auto focus would be much better, but I picked up a 300mm 4.5 Nikon non-AI lens from Japan in mint condition for about $100. The Nikon F to NEX adapter takes non-AI lenses. My A7 is giving this glass a new life and letting me commune with nature. 🙏🏽📷🙏🏽
Hello, amazing video you make!!! You are the master of vintage lenses, I got a couple of Rolleinars QBM mount. Do you know if this lenses can be modded or using adaptors to Leica L, EF Canon or Nikon F mounts??? I have a Sigma Fp with a Leica L mount but I own also L to EF and L to Nikon F adapters. Im looking to buy some Zeiss QBM too. But everything I found on internet are not a very good option, adapters with a glass optics reduce the image quality.
I learned a few new tricks for my m 4/3 setup, thanks for the video! Speedboosters are intriguing, although I'm not sure I see options for Konica AR available yet. Cheers!
I have a Fuji X-T2 and some vintage yashica mount lenses. The only speed booster I can find for the combo is $480. I will probably buy a Sony A7 MK1 instead.
Hi, thanks for that, this video got me started with vintage lenses on my Sony a7 and my Olympus m43 cameras around 6 months ago. Thanks. However, I have just bought a CZJ Tessar with an auto (A) switch and I cannot get it to change aperture either mounted or un mounted. Is there anything I am missing or do you think the lens is broken. It appears in immaculate condition otherwise. Sorry to bother you with this but I am happy to send it back if I am not missing something obvious. Cheers.
I have been using vintage lenses on my olympus om-d 10 mark III for a couple of years. There is no setting for shoot without a lens and it works fine. Perhaps the camera detects there is no lens and shoots anyway. With the om-d 10 mark III IBIS will work with vintage manual lenses but because there is no communication between camera and lens you have to set the focal length manually in the menu otherwise if you have the wrong focal length set in the menu and IBIS turned on the picture comes out jittery.
You don't seem to do any reviews about stand alone lens manufacturers such as Sigma, Sirius and Vivitar etc. There are some really good wide angle macro lenses available for £10-40. I tried to post a link earlier with some some sample shots but youtube doesn't seem to accept it.
A very good video. Crop factor was well explained for image size, but the comment about closest focusing distance being different when a vintage lens is used on a APS/C or M4/3 cameras is incorrect. The closest focus distance remains the same no matter what the size of sensor. It is not affected by the crop factor. In case I had got my physics wrong I tested with my EM5 (m4/3 body) and vintage OM Zuiko lenses of 135mm and 50 mm with adapter. The closest focus distance was exactly what it said on the lens, 1.4m and 0.4m respectively, not 0.7 and 0.2. To be completely certain I then checked using a CZJ 135mm M42 lens and closest focus was 1.5m as it said on the lens, not 0.75. Distances were measured with a tape measure. For good measure I then checked focus using an old Praktica MTL3 with the CZJ 135mm and the lens marking of 1.5m was closest distance the Praktica found. I no longer have my old OM2 so I could not double check the closest focus distance on the Zuiko lenses but I see no reason they should be marked incorrectly.
Glad you enjoyed the video. The closest focus distance of the lens does not change, as you say, but the effective closest focus distance does. Nothing about the lens changes as such, but smaller sensors look through a smaller portion of the lens, hence an effective magnification, hence an effectively smaller minimum focus distance - the key is to note the word 'effective'!
Old manual lenses people thought outdated when they went autofocus in the 1990s, are more prized than the AF lenses that replaced them. You can adapt autofocus lenses, but they lack the feel of a nice helicoid. I've put Nikon, Canon, Contax, M39 and other lenses on Panasonic (FF and m43), Fuji and Canon (FF and aps-c) digital cameras. Buying those favourite focal lengths for each system would have cost a fortune.
It's true, vintage glass is so much cheaper in most cases, and manual focus has a tactile quality that helps connect you with the camera. Having said that, I don't mind a bit of autofocus from time to time too...
@@zenography7923 I agree, AF can be handy for situations that need quick focus. Another advantage of vintage lenses is they're much smaller than the modern equivalent. Full frame mirrorless bodies are shrinking, but lenses for them are huge. Compare a full frame Lumix S 50mm 1.4 to a Canon FD 50mm 1.4! The Panasonic may be technically better, obviously.
True gentleman, subscribed. I have found a fuji xt1 without lens for 250 euros. I am thinking of buying it and using it with some manual lenses because fuji lenses are too expensive for me. Do you think it is a good deal in 2021? What should I watch for?
That's about the right price, as long as it's a good one. Check carefully for separation of the body covering from the body - quite common on this model.
After five years of reading ( in my fav forum) about vintage lens its nice to have a complete break down of the process of getting started with adapting lenses, thanks for posting. I do have a question, I have bought into the olympus system with five pro lenses($$$$$) and was wondering if for example I wanted to pick up a fuji x-2 would I be able to adapt those lenses?
I got mine from here: www.amazon.co.uk/Pixco-Booster-Reducer-Adapter-Fujifilm/dp/B0799FYC3R I'm sure there are lots of other places you could find it too.
Stupid question I dont use M4/3 were they always designed from the outset to use any lens....eg vintage...? I do watch most of your videos so am aware you mostly demonstrate vintage lenses on M4/3 Although I guess you use 35mm film from time to time Nigel... Cheers for video.... better than good!!
I’ve come to really like the Zuiko and Leica Mount, industar, Jupiter, on the X-T1 because of the narrower sizes of the adapter compared to the M42 and the Nikon F adapters. My only complaint is exactly what you tried to navigate with using these 35mm lenses with the cropped sensor. I love the 50mm range and most of my vintage lenses are of that size which is fine with the Nikon Z6. But with using the Fuji x and film simulations You need a 35mm to get about the same range and those are rare and more expensive. I’ve got a takumar but it’s a 3.5. Have been looking into the Chinese 35mm f1.2 or 1.4 and will most likely try one of those. Have you tired the 7 or TT Artisans? Thank you for another informative Sunday morning lecture.
Hi, first let me congratulate you for your excellent channel. I've two questions for you that I'm sure you can easily answer me. After watching some of your videos I decided to buy an old soviet camera, the Kiev 4M with a Jupiter 8. Do you have any advises that you can give me about how to make the best of it? My second question is about an adapter for my Fuji X-T20, can you point me in the right direction? Thank you so much.
Kiev is a great camera and the best you can do is to buy film and shoot with it. You will have loads of fun getting used to the viewfinder and using a light meter. Jupiter 8 is an mazing little lens too, however the one from Kiev can't be adapted without the use of tools and an adapter ring fitting of your digital camera.
Hi Nigel, Thanks for this video, great as usual. I would appreciate some help from you. I use omd M1 mark ii mainly with speed boosters. I am happy with most of my lens (jenas, nikkor, ports color, pentacon…) but for some not too much, for exemple voigtlander 58 1.4 is flat with speed booster and pretty good without,Helios don’t swirl too much and I am getting nice results with projector lens direct with no speed booster. Overall, I am sensing I can get more from some of my vintage lens with a full frame and my question is about the sharpness ; From your experience do you think I would get sharper or less sharp images with Mft, Mft + speed booster or full frame ? Thank for your help, and please keep your great posts
Finding an adaptor is not a problem. What really is difficult is focusing, especially if your eyesight is, let's say, far from perfect. Event with focus peaking
I find it helps if you set the camera to raw + black and white jpeg. The viewfinder will be in monochrome. If you set the peaking to a bright colour it will really stand out.
Thanks for great content on your channel. I am thinking about getting a Olympus E-P1 but I am not shure how easy my vintage Zuikos will match this camera, in terms of focusing and exposing. Do you know ?
The EP1 is a very nice little camera, but - it doesn't have focus peaking, which I find pretty much vital if shooting vintage lenses on mirrorless, at least I do these days! If that's not a problem it's a good camera, otherwise I'd suggest a later model, with peaking. Remember also that the EP cameras use a micro four thirds sensor, so any vintage lens you use will have a crop factor, eg a 50mm lens behaves as a 100mm lens. Not a problem necessarily, but best to be aware of it. It doesn't happen with full frame cameras, some of which are very cheap second hand, eg the Sony A7 - might be worth considering?
Search ebay or amazon for 'Canon fd to Fuji X mount' - you'll find there lots of them available, some cheap, some more expensive. I only ever use the cheap adaptors, and have had no problems with them.
Forgive me if I'm wrong but I believe crop factor doesn't affect minimum focus distance? The smaller sensor (in film terms) is simply like cutting a few mm from the film edges. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I love your videos. You've inspired me to go mirror less with vintage lenses.
Hi there, glad you're enjoying the videos! You're right, the crop factor of the sensor doesn't change the minimum focus distance of the lens, and it is just like cutting a few mm from the film edge - but that's an effective magnification, hence a reduction in effective minimum focus distance. The key is to note the word 'effective'!
Well technically anything's possible of course, and it wouldn't be too difficult to turn up an adaptor of the right dimensions on a lathe, but you'd then need to consider how to operate the rangefinder cam - which could be done, but would entail some rather more difficult precision engineering. So to all intents and purposes, it's not really possible.
@@zenography7923 I have an adapter to fit Nikon F mount lenses to a Leica M body. There’s no magic engineering behind the physical adaption. For focusing you either use the distance scale on the lens and guess or use live view with a M body that supports it.
Shooting an FF lens on APS-c body via speedbooster wide open is not necessary a bad thing, as long as you are shooting portraits. And if you do landscapes you'll stop the lens anyway. I'm talking from experience, course I'm having that cheap speedbooster too, for M42 to Fuji. That being said, I'm too on a lookout for one with much more IQ...
Agreed, not necessarily bad at all. And I think I'm going to look for a better speedbooster too - having tried one I like what they can do, but the sides and corners need to be sharper...
When you mount an Olympus Zuiko OM lens to a Sony or a Fujifilm camera, can the aperture of the lens be detected by the camera? The canon cameras I have the aperture value is always F00 when I mount the OM lenses. You can see the exposure in the live view display, but not in the optical viewfinder. Is this any different in the mirrorless cameras (sony/fujifilm) with their hybrid/electronic viewfinders?
They're all pretty much the same in that respect. When using older lenses on mirrorless, there is no electronic communication between the lens and camera, so the camera can't read the aperture setting as such - but used in aperture priority the camera measures the light from the lens, then sets the shutter speed accordingly. Hope that helps!
I have an m50 and use a pixco focal reducer, it's brilliant once adjusted to get infinity, completely changed by photography experience for the better.
The minimum focus distance should be the same. Nothing has changed to the physical elements of the glass, nor the flange distance. It merely that the cone is larger than the sensor.
@@zenography7923 the field of view changes, but that's different than minimum focusing distance. The way a crop sensor works is exactly the same as taking an image from a full frame camera, cropping into the center, and then blowing it up back to full screen. The field of view changes, so you feel closer to the subject, but the distance you can physically focus the lens from the subject in the real world doesn't change. I love your channel and your content and everything else you said about crop sensor was correct but you've mentioned a minimum focus distance change a couple of times and it's wrong; but you have all the cameras and lenses to test it out if you don't believe me! Love youuuu
@@bassgojoe he didn't say the minimum focus distance changes. He said that it remains the same. It was a bit of a strange way to introduce crop factor though because I don't think many people think of minimum focus distance when they're introduced to it and it kind of confused the point. If it was discussed again, I think a different visual aid might help: a circle for the lens projection and different sized rectangles to show what the "sensor sees". The take away for anyone new to it is just that crop factor affects the part of the lens projection your sensor sees but doesn't change perspective, depth of field, exposure and it's important to know that for these vintage lenses because lots of people might want or not want them because of the character/flaws they have at the edges.
I can only speak from experience with the GH2. I never found it a good stills camera - colours are poor, often with a greenish cast despite fiddling with white balance any way I could, images are noisy above iso 1000 or so, and they just don't have the depth that images from other cameras seem to have. It's not a bad camera as such, just its images aren't as polished as those from other cameras. As far as I'm aware, none of the GH series are particularly good at stills.
Well, I usually use the cheapest adaptors I can find - perhaps I've been lucky as I've never had any problems with them. They're often adjustable - if you look on the side you'll see small screwholes - loosen these and you can move the mount backward and forwards within the adaptor. Probably worth a try!
See my comment above. There’s a tiny screw on the back lens. You need to loosen it and turn the lens until you eventually get sharpness by trial and error.
I take it that by "Mirror less" you mean DIGITAL IMAGE CAPTURE devices? I HATE THEM ! I've seen grown men WEEPING, because everything on their memory card just up and suddenly VANISHED! (Likely due to those uncontrollable Random Static Discharges!) I've never, ever just lost a valuable ($$) image on film. Not in over half a century. 😉