Dot Line adapters

M

Mac

Well-known member
I have three Novoflex adapters for Leica R, Canon FD and one Minolta lens. The adapters work well, but since I have eleven Leicaflex and Canon FD lenses which I interchange regularly it is a pain to constantly fumble with the adapters in the field. I would prefer each lens to have it's own. However at $250+ apiece for Novoflex, that's a lot... I tried a couple of Rainbow (I think) adapters that are okay, focus to infinity, but are loose enough that the lens moves slightly when focusing. I gaffer taped the adapters to the lenses, but there is still a wiggle in the mount to the camera itself.

I'll buy the Novoflex if I must, but would prefer to put the money elsewhere... so I searched for "Leicafles to MFT" and got a lot of hits for Dot Line adapters, which I hadn't heard of before. Has anyone had experience with them?
 
What am I missing here. It takes me roughly 7 seconds to change a lens mount adapter on an AF100.
You are pausing long enough to change lenses anyway right, so whats an extra 7 or so seconds when you need to change the mount?
 
No experience with Dot Line but looking at the pics from a quick Google search they look like all the other Far East imported adapters that are all over ebay. All these adapters are more or less the same and just rebranded by the importer with their name ie. Rainbow. I've used them all and I don't like them for the simple reason that the machining is inconsistent at best, they slip in the camera mount, and they are anodized aluminum on the camera side mount. The aluminum they use is too soft for lens mount purposes (probably 6061). That combined with the less than durable type 1 anodizing they apply and the lens mounts become looser over time, not to mention material can wear off the aluminum mount and migrate onto your sensor. If you are interchanging the mounts on a regular basis I would advise staying away from them. Novoflex uses a similar design but they appear to use harder aluminum and possibly a type 3 hard coat for their anodizing. I like Voigtlander and Metabones myself. Metabones is cheaper but of similar quality/design to the Voigtlander. They use chromed brass mounts on both ends of the adapter and the machining is top notch. Search ebay for Metabones. They do MFT mounts for Leica. Don't know about Minolta or Canon FD.
 
David W. Jones said:
What am I missing here. It takes me roughly 7 seconds to change a lens mount adapter on an AF100.
You are pausing long enough to change lenses anyway right, so whats an extra 7 or so seconds when you need to change the mount?
Click to expand...

Sometimes I wonder why I even read these forums. They are so often populated by people who don't have a clue. I'm a documentary filmmaker, and have been since 1966 when as a UCLA student I shot Caesar Chavez's grape march in California - with a Bolex and seven prime lenses BTW - anyway...

Here's a scenario - I am working alone with only a sound man, as I often too, and without a tripod. I have a Leica 35mm lens on the camera and change to a Canon 20. Then I want the Leica 135. I have to remember which lens has the adapter on (it could have been an hour ago). Then, while holding the camera in one hand, I have to pull the 35 and the 135 from the bag, switch the adapter, replace the 35 in the bag (without dropping something in the creek I'm standing in), then pull the Canon off the camera and fit the 135. If you can do that in 7 seconds you are way faster than I am, or ever have been.

Cinesota, thanks for your informed suggestion - I will look into Metabones. I'll probably end up going with Novoflex for security though.
 
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No need to get pissy Steve, I was changing Baltar lenses on a Mitchell camera when you were a student at UCLA, but what does our backgrounds have anything to do with your current lens changing issues. Maybe if you had explained your current scenario a little better in the first place. At any rate, my experience with the cheaper adapters has been less than optimal. I know lens selection is a personal choice, and if you want to change brands mid shoot thats your bag. But might I suggest that rather than buying a bunch of adapters, maybe filling out a complete set of matching mount lenses might be a better option down the road not just for ease of use in the field, but also for easier match in post. And as long as you have been at this, you already know a pair of nice quality zooms would cover a lot of ground, or water when standing in a creek.
By the way, didn't we meet in Hot Springs when I was teaching a class and one of your films was showing?

All the Best!

Dave
 
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