About Nikon Lenses on the F35

J

Jim_Beam

Active member
Several threads here in this section of the forum about the Nikon plate mod.

A few things then.....does anyone have any photos of thier modded plate?

How many versions of the modded plate are there?

Reading through this thread http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?349891-WTB-Nikon-mod-F35-front-Plate yachacha has some interesting observations (hope to hear more from you yachacha). One thing that is scary is this bit "All the time my Nikon lens loosen also because there is no locking mechanism."

I dont know much about Nikon lenses as I dont have any. Given this, I am not sure what this means "Also the iris control of any lens without a ring is terrible" would that be referring to Nikon "G" Lenses ? A manual focus AI-S Nikkor would have an aperture ring - right? and if so that would not apply? Sorry for the dumb questions but I have zero experience with Nikon.

Is it still possible to have this mod done if one cant find a plate and if so by who?

What size image circle does a nikon 35mm lens project? I know this will vary lens by lens, but in general ? Say a 400mm f2.8 Tele or the 200mm F2

Lastly who here shoots with Nikon lenses? How do you like them? I do note that McGreg shot the railway short with Nikon lenses (not sure which ones though)

Thanks for any information as I am very interested in looking at Nikon lenses. Up till now I was going to go the Mamiya 645 route but not sure now.
 
I'm almost 90% that Mac shot his doc on Sony primes.

There were several Nikon plates made. Barrett Philips was a user who made a more "professional" version by using CNC parts to make a plate that went behind F35 faceplate and provided a space to screw in a Nikon mount. It's so deep in the camera they used a pressure screw to hold the lens in place. It's not terrible but like you said that I said above, I've have lenses twist out, especially with a follow focus.

That being said, the Rokinon Nikon Cine lens set was extremely cheap and all worked great with this setup.

Too many cheap PL glass today. I believe I paid $1200 for the Nikon work it ain't cheap once you need precise fabrication. Get yourself a Catcan 18-35mm for $1200 and start shooting instead of worrying about modifying to Nikon. The only reason I'd get into Nikon plate is if I had a huge collection which you don't. Sony 1st gen PL primes are also cheap at auction and make great starter set.


I had setup with a CNC guy to make more of the plates, but I never followed through because it just cost too much. You need to have the F35 faceplate cut to widen the hole for lens mount, this needs to be professionally done also because it requires cutting very close to but not removing the current PL lens mount holes. The Nikon mount itself isn't hard part, you get these off a number of adapters. But the Nikon mount is also so buried back into the camera the Iris ring and locking release need some creativity if you want them to work. I have a iris ring that goes with my Nikon plate, I removed it because it was so hard to use and it had a habit of bending the flimsy metal.

I also have shot hundreds of hours with a Q-tip in the Iris of my Sigma 18-35, I actually have gotten super precise using that method.

One more thing, the switch from PL to Nikon requires taking the whole camera apart and CCD unit out to flip the front plate. It's a pain and dangerous every time you do it. F35 head is cheap. If you want to have Nikon option keep a whole Nikon head. The mentality that you can have multiple switchable mounts on F35 is dangerous one because it requires sitting down and dismantling the camera and adding use to tiny connectors which were not designed to be constantly reseated.

Just my opinions, but in this day and age, PL is the way to stay with F35. I have Nikon so I keep it and also I am crazy person who puts q-tip in iris of lens.
 
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Yachacha, that Catcan seems great for my needs. Do you know if that PL mount with the aperture ring will fit even with the "elephant ears" on my F35?
 
odshannon said:
Yachacha, that Catcan seems great for my needs. Do you know if that PL mount with the aperture ring will fit even with the "elephant ears" on my F35?
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You need to remove the elephant ears and the proximity of the aperture ring makes it difficult to jiggle the iris. At least it isn’t something you will be doing alll the time. I stand by 1st gen Sony. Same glass and at least full cinema compatible with our Sony’s. A 3 lens kit goes for about 2.5K... a bargain if you ask me and they cut in really well with Master Primes.

If you want to go super cheap, go for a set of converted Russian lenses. I got a set of 3 with a 37, 58 and 135 they also have an 85 and hey have a lot of character. The 58mm helios is a winner with the flaring and swirly bokeh. All of them converted to PL with focus and aperture gears and PL mount came to $400US 2 years ago. I did have to sand one down on the 135... but they work really great. Removing the PL mount ears will help with the 37 and 58 because they can rub... but at least you can jam a FF unit in there. Really love them.

I shot this quick spec with both sets of Sony’s and Russians... and almost prefer the Russians at a 5th of the price. But then again I did it all on my own and didn’t need to pull focus which is where the sony’s win.

The company is on eBay. They are called Iron Glass Adapters... just don’t get their anamorphic ‘look’ lenses. Tell them to just send you everything Standard

 
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Great feedback !

Yachacha, you have hit the nail on the head. The F35 heads are cheap enough to have several thus allowing a dedicated Nikon head. The more I think about this the more i like it.

What about the Optitech prolock mount? Did that ever see the light of day?

Any photos of a nikon mod plate from anyone?

TL: DR; long winded story follows why I want to go Nikon mount which is most likely of little interest to most.

***EDIT*** Really really LONG WINDED ramblings ahead...you have been warned !

So why the sudden interest in Nikon mount from my side? I've become interested in wildlife filming. I live within a days drive of 3 major national parks with the big 5 in them (but not all the big 5 in one park unfortunately - Rhino are scarce these days and only found in the odd park here or there and even then kept in pens over night etc to protect them).

I was going down the route of Mamiya 645 glass converted to PL mount. I bought a Mamiya 500mm f4.5 APO, the Mamiya 200mm f2.8 APO and incredibly, lucked upon the Mamiya 300mm f2.8 APO. This gives me the full set of Mamiya 645 APO telephotos. If you dont know about the Mamiya tele APO's just know they have a stellar reputation and the 500 and extra specially the 300mm are very very rare. I have been searching for the 500 and 300 for well over 5 years and incredibly found a 500 and a 300 within 2 weeks of each other.

The 500mm APO is a little beat up. I'll take it anyway as its impossible to find. So I am sending that lens off to Visual Products for an overhaul and repaint. While its there I thought about converting it to a PL mount so I can use it on the F65 (one day...one day and another fantasy different to this one). That got me thinking about converting the 200mm and looking for the 300mm again. Low and behold, first search and the 300mm jumps out at me. I grabbed it. So now I have the set. So the 500 and 200 will be converted by Visual in the US and the 300 will be converted by Van Diemens in UK. This will give me a beautiful set of Mamiya tele APO's in PL mount. This was all in response to my thoughts about getting into wildlife filming....need tele's for that with a wide and moderate wide for establishing shots etc. To keep everything colour matched I will use Mamiya 645 lenses converted to PL for other lens sizes I need, as well.

Thats all Jim Dandy and swell, but whats that got to do with Nikon? The eBay lens search disease kicked in! ( I have this disease very badly and spend all my spare time searching for lenses). So in a search up comes a Nikon 800mm f5.6 ED IF lens for a great price. Beautiful lens in unmarked condition and for a great price. Its a manual focus lens which is what I need for my purposes. That 800 Nikon got me thinking. Then a light bulb moment....

dvxuser F35/F65 section.....wasnt there a Nikon thread there somewhere, I thought to myself.

So after spending all weekend reading GOD knows how many F35 threads all over again (such a pleasing and relaxing past time for me) I found as much Nikon stuff as I could as it relates to the F35, but that left a few questions as posted in the 1st post of this thread.

So this led to intense research on Nikon telephoto lenses. WOW. Just WOW. There is the Century Optics 200mm f2 PL conversion out there (found several), for something very special, the Century Optics 300mm f2 PL conversion (found a few of these as well) and for something very very very special ....the Tochigi Nikon 300mm T2.2 !

So now I have a new challenge..finding a Tochigi Nikon 300mm T2.2. There were just 41 of these lenses made. Being a lens whore myself I cant say no to this. Its the thrill of the chase and all that. Here is some info on the Nikon f2 series tele's if anyone is interested.

http://www.company7.com/library/nikon/Nikon_0300f2.html

So now I find an incredible array of Nikon tele's for not much money (relatively speaking of course). the 200 and 300 f2's...yum yum cha cha !! Lets not even talk about the Tochigi....this lens is the stuff of wet dreams for a self confessed lens whore of note! Sorry 300mm f2.8 Mamiya APO, my heart belongs to the Tochigi !

They are out there, just need DEEEEEP pockets to buy one. But if you are a true lens whore it is only money

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Nikon-300m...h=item3fb00f0327:g:HkEAAOSwshpa4gor:rk:9:pf:0



Back to reality, there is the 200mm f2.8 ED IF for not that much, the 300mm f2.8 ED IF, the 400mm ED IF f2.8 (WOW thats amazing !...400mm at f2.8!!), the 500mm ED IF f4, the 600mm f4 ED IF and finally the 800mm f5.6 ED IF. Then at the other end there is the 135 f2 which is another legend of a lens among us lens whores. So many nice Nikkors out there that it seems I could make a nice set for shooting with. I feel its important to stay within a lens family for color matching among lenses (not to mention the "look")

So plenty of nice long Nikons out there that are LONG and FAST. There is no way to do this at a reasonable price in any other lens family that I am aware of.

So this now has me drooling and thinking (irrationally ??) of LONG Nikons. Back to rereading everything I could find on Nikon here. And reread again, ......and again. Then I had the thought that Yachacha also states....the heads are cheap. So why not get a really really good high end mod done on an F35 to a full time permanent Nikon mount? I like the Optitek Pro Lock mount - Very sweet mount indeed. I am loving the idea of this.... an F35 with a Tochigi !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oR1v-gndsk

So a problem with this approach is the Century Optics 200 and 300 f2's are PL mount as is the Tochigi. No problem. Get another head and leave it PL mount. So a PL mount F35 head and a Nikon special F35 head. This has the side benefit of allowing 2 lenses to be mounted at the same time, say the 800mm on the Nikon Special head and the 200 or 300 Century Optics PL lens on the PL F35 head. Less lens changing while out on the shoot and can swap from camera to camera instantly as needed, all while staying within the Nikon family for color matching and "Look".

The thing about using Nikon LONG's for my intended work is if I stay in PL for everything so that ALL lenses are PL mount then I need every lens converted to PL - this can get very costly ! So as of now I am thinking it makes more sense to get a nice Nikon mod done on an F35 head so I can just use the Nikon tele's in native Nikon mount. I need the 200 f2.8, the 300 f2.8, the 400 f2.8, the 500 f4, the 600f4 and the 800 f5.6 + the 135 f2 and a few others. I dont know if I will ever get the 200 /300 f2's or a Tochigi.....but def on the dream list. Thats a lot of lenses to convert to PL mount! With this in mind would it not make more sense to just buy another F35 head and spend some money on a very nice Nikon mount ?

So with all this swirling around in my head I am really interested in the Nikon mod's out there. I honestly think going Nikon for LONG lenses IS the way to go. Great lenses that are fast for thier lengths for reasonable prices. Whats not to love? So need a really really good Nikon mount on the F35.

I am still to research the image circle of all the tele's mentioned. I am sure they will cover the S35 sensor used in the F35 and I am sure they will resolve enough line/pairs for the 1080P F35 sensor. I dont know if they would be good enough for the F65 though? (which is where the Mamyia tele's come in)

** Disclaimer.

None of the above is for working pro's who make a living out of thier cameras. The above material is for those who are passionate and committed to the F35 because they love the F35. Its as irrational as collecting old Porsche's or Ferrari's. Its for the love of the camera and the craft. As someone here whispered to me, do it because you love doing it and want to shoot your own stuff your own way - there are no rules, you can do what you want if you are doing it for your own passion and enjoyment. The F35 is a special camera. Sure there are later and greater, smaller and leaner and 4K. But this old girl has my heart. Her charms are unique and I am in love with her. No other camera gives SENSOR like the F35 old girl does! She's old and she's fat but man, she gives the most unique SENSOR !
 
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yachacha said:
Just my opinions, but in this day and age, PL is the way to stay with F35. I have Nikon so I keep it and also I am crazy person who puts q-tip in iris of lens.
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You're not that crazy! My friend with a RED ONE M does this all the time with his Nikon lenses :-D

Actually, I think it is small wads of paper, not q-tips. Would q-tips work better?
 
You guys are losing your minds!

Q tips, plates, damn... life is complicated enough as is...

BTW: Here I am talking as I am fitting an AJA 3GM into one of my IFBOXES to get 12bit 444 straight out of the camera.

;)
 
Q-tip, and it has to be the actual brand Q-tip, Cut at an angle to help get it into the slot and about 5mm long can be super precise and hold the iris all day long. I struggled for months with tape and other things until I found this solution in a photography forum. Sigma 18-35mm @ 1.8 is still my favorite.
 
Big thanks to Keith Lango! He created the video and it went private on his page , so I re-uploaded !
Extremely helpful!
 
Reading through the big thread i have found lots of references to Nikon lenses on the beast. I need to gather all the information and make a thread with all the info in one place.

Thanks to Jo Kami and Yachacha for thier helpful input.

Having watched that video things become a lot clearer. Getting near the aperture is not easy! Is this a show stopper in the field when shooting?

Looks like it might be best to have Nikon long lenses converted. How much does a Nikon to PL mount conversion run anyway ?
 
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