AF-100 - Problems with Adapters and Lenses!!!

S

steve.m.nyc

New member
A production I am working on recently purchased the AF-100 with Tokina 11-16mm and Olympus 14-25mm.

The Tokina would look amazing however the Novoflex adapter we purchased allows the lens to wiggle ever so slightly when you touch the focus or zoom rings. This causes an unacceptable shift in exposure as well as the actual image.:(

To add insult to injury, the Olympus 14-35 has a quick little exposure shift around the wide end of the lens (say 14.5mm). For controlled static shots this wouldn't be a problem, but if I want to do a soft push on the zoom that exposure shift is totally distracting.:angry:

I've spoken to guys at B&H and a few others who have experienced a similar problem but have no solution! What can I do??? Is this just an attribute of the Novoflex adaptor and the Olympus lens on the AF-100 that nobody is talking about?? Are there any Lens/Adapter combos for the AF-100 that don't have this problem? One guy at B&H said he just resorts to using his one pancake lens because of the problem.

Lastly, is there a good cinema lens option like the Tokina 11-16 and Olympus 14-35 that doesn't have this problem and also has cine-direction rings so I'm not working with opposing directions when I pop on the Tokina 11-16?

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP~ Steve
 
I'd send both lenses and adapters back, and instead get the Lumix 12-35. As a native lens it won't have any of the adapter issues you're having, it doesn't have any exposure shift, and it covers the full focal range (well, minus 1mm, but that's it).
 
I have the Novoflex adapter for Nikon lenses that I use all the time on the AF100. It's tight. No play. In fact I switched to it because it was recommended here and it is rock solid for me. You can get a reverse gear on some follow focus systems to adapt to the "wrong" direction of the focus on Nikons.
 
steve.m.nyc said:
the Novoflex adapter we purchased allows the lens to wiggle ever so slightly when you touch the focus or zoom rings. This causes an unacceptable shift in exposure as well as the actual image.:
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I have several (4) Novoflex adapters for Leica-R and Canon FD lenses, and they all seem to have a little play both at the body and on the lens - similar problem with Metabones, although better at the camera. I've been surprised that this hasn't been mentioned much before, and personally I find it really annoying considering the price of the Novoflex. I used to have a Zuiko 14-54m with a Panasonic adapter and it fit perfectly, no play whatsoever - so I figured Panasonic must have a better handle on their own tolerances.

Barry's advice is good - I have the 12-35 and it fits perfectly.. as I said in another thread, there's something comforting about not using adapters. Hopefully more good native MFT lenses will become available - or maybe Panasonic adapters for more lenses.
 
Cheaper adapters (Fotodiox, Kipon) have slits parallel to the mounting surface in the mounting flanges; these can be slightly spread with a thin flat screwdriver or knife point to tighten the mount to rock-solid. Maybe Novoflex has a similar construction?

Mac, Panasonic also makes a (pricey) Leica R adapter, though I haven't tried it.
 
Thanks - I know, unfortunately I had spent nearly a grand on the Novoflex adapters before I discovered the Panasonics...

I should mention that some of the lens to adapter play may (I say "may") be caused by the fact that most of the lenses I'm using are well over 20 years old, and may have some wear. But they do fit fine snug on the host camera bodies... There is, however, no excuse for the adapter to camera body play.

I showed this to an old friend who is a master machinist and inventor and he just shook his head and said "you should've had me make them for you"... He would have done it for free, too, but I save my favors.
 
Adapters seem to be hit or miss. I have some that are great, and others where the machining tolerances are off and you get slop.

As far as the A-Mount system goes, yes it's steady but it gets expensive buying his mounts for each lens at around $180 each which can only be used with his mounting system, plus the cost of the mounting base and universal adapter. I brought this issue up when I was shooting on the Red, and the reply was just get one lens mount and change it out, it's super quick just watch the video. Well the last thing I want is to be changing out lens mounts from lens to lens while out on a shoot. The other issue with this system is because the lens sits inset with the adapter flange its very hard to do an iris pull, and impossible to use a motorized gear for aperture pulls if needed for steadicam work for example.
 
If you go with EF glass, we've had good luck with our Redrock adapter. We did have to send it back and they serviced it, but other
than that, it'been very reliable with a variety of lenses.

jeff
 
Even the Panasonic Four Thirds to MFT adapters have some play in them - enough to cause a perceptible image shift if you twist the lens in its mount. The ultimate solution - though it must be custom-crafted for the Tokina and Olympus wide-angle zooms - is to independently mount both camera and lens to the rails. There is no other way I know of to completely eliminate adapter slop with MFT cameras.
 
lpowell said:
Even the Panasonic Four Thirds to MFT adapters have some play in them - enough to cause a perceptible image shift if you twist the lens in its mount. The ultimate solution - though it must be custom-crafted for the Tokina and Olympus wide-angle zooms - is to independently mount both camera and lens to the rails. There is no other way I know of to completely eliminate adapter slop with MFT cameras.
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I have two of those (DMW-MA1) and get zero slop on any of the 3 lenses I use them with. Yet I have a Novoflex MFT/NIK that is sloppy. Also have a Voightlander that's nice and tight. Go figure - I really think it varies among individual adapters of the same make and model.
 
lpowell said:
So would you recommend the OP keep buying adapters until he finds one that happens to fit properly?
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Sounds like a reasonable suggestion to me. Good thinking!

No, seriously, I'm not recommending anything. Just reporting my experiences and what appears to be the case judging from what I'm reading here.
 
Have to agree with lpowell. I've tried every adapter under the sun and they have all had play to one degree or another. Been considering getting one of these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nikon-G-AF-...ens_Adapters_Mounts_Tubes&hash=item35b68848b8 Down side is it will require leaving a set of iris rods on the camera and I shoot quite a bit without the need (and added weight)of iris rods. Will probably fix the twisting though. I currently own a Novoflex. It twists slightly. I have mostly learned to live with it. I have found the more expensive, better built adapters tend to slip less than the cheap adapters on ebay. The best being Metabones and Voigtlander IMHO. I have heard on the grape vine that even the Adaptimax and MTF adapters slip. Adapters with a chromed rear mount seem to work better than an adapter with a simple machined aluminum rear end. Be aware the aluminum adapters tend to wear over time and the play becomes worse. I don't know but I suspect Novoflex uses a better quailty anodizing so are less susceptible to wear. The M4/3 mount has a shallow FFD but it's a typical weak DSLR type mount that is not well suited for adapters. Either find a way to fix the adapter to something other than the camera mount or learn to live with a bit of slippage (or skip adapters entirely and go with native M4/3 lenses).
 
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I may have this wrong (and I'm certainly not suggesting it as a permanent or long term solution), seems like I read somewhere in another thread that someone had used black electrical tape, cut carefully, and placed/shimmed between the component?
 
Think that was a fix for reflective surfaces within some adapters. Seems like electrical tape to fix play would be a little tricky to implement unless the amount of play was really substantial. Even then, you'd be dealing with the adhesive. But admittedly have never tried it.

I've also just learned to live with the slight sloppiness of my Novoflex. Mainly because I've never had an instance where it's affected my footage (yet) that I could see.

lpowell's solution seems like a good one...if you have rails. Not everyone does.

Think I remember reading several posts in various threads where people have returned some of the better known brand adapters with a sloppy fit, and have received replacements at no charge. Think that's sometimes a definite advantage of dealing with a name brand. Pretty sure Novoflex was one of those companies and I often considered returning mine. However, since I wasn't having any problems in actual use I never bothered with the hassle or, more importantly, time without it . Often wish I had, just in case, and now I've had it long enough that they probably would not be willing to replace it.

And seriously, I do have adapters with absolutely snug fits with no play. Then again, maybe I just don't use them as hard as some folks.
 
Thanks Barry and everyone else for all the great insights. Just as an update I tried an Adaptimax M4/3's adapter on the Tokina 11-16 in place of the Novoflex and had the same lens jiggle & iris shift issues. Incidentally, the Adaptimax's thumbscrew iris control is kind of odd.

We just traded in the Tokina 11-16 and Olympus 14-35 for the Lumix 12-35 f/2.8 and can already tell I'm going to really miss that extra stop on the Olympus 14-35 f/2. Another small thing that's a little disorienting is the focus ring is [infinity <---> close] not cine-directional.

Has anyone else noticed on the Olympus that the iris setting will slowly drift over time as you zoom in and out repeatedly? I've been shooting handheld coverage of a musical rehearsal in a controlled environment where f/stop is always fully open but I notice every 20 minutes or so, after zooming in and out a bit, that the iris has closed up a 1/3 or or 1/2 a stop.

Is there any 14-35mm f/2 zoom that doesn't have an iris bump or iris issues and adapts well to Micro 4/3? I know that's probably asking a lot..

 
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