for what its worth i bought the fotodiox g lens adaptor and quickly replaced it with the novoflex - fotodiox had a lot of play & the aperture control was quite twitchy - the novoflex has been rock solid & aperture control a lot smoother. i was using fairly heavy nikon zooms such as the 17-55mm 2.8 and 80-200mm 2.8 so the amount of play may be less on a smaller lens, but it was enough to irritate, & for me to feel nervous even with the 17-55. i may have just got a bad copy and it got the job done, but my experience was a marked increase in build & function quality
GH2 confused about adapters
- Thread starter mr.coffee
- Start date
Here's a link to a product sheet that explains the function of the lock ring on the Hama Canon EOS adapter:
http://www.hama.de/00030845/hama-lens-adapter-canon-eos
Over the past two years I've tested five brands of lock-ring adapters for Canon FD and Nikon F-mount lenses. These inexpensive adapters were all designed the same way, with an internal pin that engages a spring-mounted iris lever on the rear of the lens mount. When you mount the lens on a compatible auto-aperture camera, it uses this lever to hold the iris wide open for maximum brightness while you're composing a shot, regardless of what f-stop you set the lens' aperture ring. When you press the shutter button, the camera releases the lever and the spring closes the iris down to the selected f-stop while the shot is snapped.
When using a Nikon or Canon manual-focus lens on a GH2, there's no auto-aperture function and you must shoot with the lens stopped down to your selected aperture setting. In this situation, the adapter's lock ring lets you temporarily lock the lens iris wide open while focusing, much as an auto-aperture camera does, though of course you have to manually unlock it before you take the shot.
On a NIkon G lens, the problem with using the lens iris lever to manually control the aperture is that the distance the lever moves from locked to open position is very short. Since there's no gearing on the adapter's internal lock ring pin it's a delicate adjustment that can be easily disturbed. The lock ring on the cheap adapters are typically pretty loose and simply don't have enough rotational friction to securely set the aperture where you want it to stay. In practice, the lock ring can be inadvertently nudged whenever you adjust the other lens rings. Of the adapters I tested, the Fotodiox Canon FD adapter was more secure than the eBay adapters, but I didn't find any of them tight enough to consider reliable.
To remedy this problem, Rayqual designed an adapter for Nikon G lenses that has eight internal detents in the lock ring, with labeled notches on the outside of the ring. Of course, these notches cannot be calibrated directly in f-stops like a lens aperture ring, but they make it more repeatable and easier to confirm. The adapter is expensive, however, and I haven't tested its reliability myself:
http://www.cameraquest.com/adp_micro_43_fd.htm
M. Gilden
Canon DSLR Moderator
There's a good reason novoflex can charge as much as it does. I don't think anyone will say they are same as far as build quality.
But do the Fotodiox ones work? It seems that everyone who has tried it says they do. Are there better options? I've found that are always "nicer" options if I were willing to pay a little more. There are probably sharper lenses than the ones I'm using. There are more powerful cameras too. But how important that is to you is totally subjective.
Did you contact Fotodiox about the adapter? If it was a lemon, they are pretty good about replacing (if you bought directly on amazon, at least).
Now, granted, its entirely possible that I'll get my adapter and feel the same way you do. I mean, I have some pretty heavy solid metal lenses I intend to mount on it (75-150mm zoom, for example). The Fotodiox adapter on my Canons was fine with it, and it seems pretty well recommended elsewhere so it's worth a shot IMO. Especially at the price I got it for ($17 shipped). We'll see.
yes as a say it got the job done, i just had to deal with the whole lens moving slightly whenever i changed focus (only a problem with zooming if you like to zoom whilst recording). I dont have a follow focus so this may also reduce the effect. Its not a complete deal breaker just thought i'd share my experience as like you i had heard good things about the fotodiox. I am not dissing all cheaper adaptors, i have a cieicio7 canon fd to m43 adaptor which is solid & works very well. and used a rainbow imaging canon ef to m43 adaptor which was okish - both less play than the fotodiox
perhaps i should have sent the fotodiox back but when i then googled it, it seemed as though some other folk had a similar experience & rather than send it back to the U.S. from the Uk and all that that entailed & possibly wait to receive one with similar play, I found a good deal on a slightly used noveoflex & went with that.
i suggest seeing how it goes now that you've ordered it, it may well be fine and is a lot easier for you to send back if it doesnt work out
perhaps i should have sent the fotodiox back but when i then googled it, it seemed as though some other folk had a similar experience & rather than send it back to the U.S. from the Uk and all that that entailed & possibly wait to receive one with similar play, I found a good deal on a slightly used noveoflex & went with that.
i suggest seeing how it goes now that you've ordered it, it may well be fine and is a lot easier for you to send back if it doesnt work out
MikeGunter
Well-known member
Hi,
I didn't mean to stir a bee's nest with my unintentional mistake with nomenclature with the Novaflex. It seems rugged and my Nikon lens collection includes lenses that are pricey and huge (70-200mm f2.8 among them) and the Novaflex is the way to go for me.
I still think we're all winners. :laugh:
My best,
Mike
I didn't mean to stir a bee's nest with my unintentional mistake with nomenclature with the Novaflex. It seems rugged and my Nikon lens collection includes lenses that are pricey and huge (70-200mm f2.8 among them) and the Novaflex is the way to go for me.
I still think we're all winners. :laugh:
My best,
Mike
M. Gilden
Canon DSLR Moderator
Yes, we're all winners as long as we have something that works for our needs.
If the Fotodiox ends up being bad, I will be looking elsewhere.