Nikkors on my 5D

KyleProhaska

KyleProhaska

Veteran
I've recently purchased an AF100 and I use Nikon Nikkors on it. In a lot of situations I find my 5D to match the camera really well but there's always a slight difference in the color and I don't think it's due to the color profile anymore as much as it is the lenses. Old Nikons tend to have a magenta wash to them and my Canon glass is more balanced I think. If I ever want to intercut these, sometimes it'll work OK but it would be nice to see how well I can get them to match with the same glass on them.

What sort of adapter do I need to put old manual Nikons on my Canon 5D? I know there's a ton out there but does anyone have a particular one to suggest and a good reason?

Thanks in advance. :)
 
Yeah, pay double the price from fotodiox just cus Philip Bloom recommends them (i've compared them to the chinese adapters, they are EXACTLY the same product, fotodiox just print their name on them & sell double the price). Considering you're likely to buy a stack, if you're filled to the brim & don't care about costs then give those extra bucks to the red cross or something... not fotodiox.

Cheapest one, should work just fine.............
http://cgi.ebay.com/Nikon-AI-F-Cano...49170556?pt=Camera_Lenses&hash=item45fa20657c
 
I use the cheap Fotodiox ones and they work very well... there was a recent revision to the Fotodiox unit that has made them far stronger and more reliable. Occasionally the cheap adaptors require a little bit of shimming to keep pulling focus from causing image shift, but even tiny little pieces of gaff tape between lens and adaptor can accomplish that task.

JT
 
the usual recommendation is "fotodiox pro"
http://cgi.ebay.com/Fotodiox-Nikon-...918?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5ad305dad6

but I use the standard fotodiox (M42 to EOS and leica-R to EOS)
http://cgi.ebay.com/Nikon-Lens-Cano...362?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53dca4d462

and I've tried one of the cheaper ebay M42 to EOS adapters, and found it to be just about the same as the standard fotodiox; still, the price difference is not so great: after that observation, I've bought 3 or 4 more adapters and they're all fotodiox non-pro
 
c3hammer said:
Try the Fotodiox Nikon F to Eos. I have a couple of them and they work great.

http://www.fotodiox.com/product_info.php?products_id=601
Click to expand...

I just bought five of these and they're...terrible.

They don't fit snugly. There's 1mm or 2mm of rotational play on them when affixed to camera. This interferes with follow focusing and also sometimes makes an audible "click" when hand/follow focus pressure is applied to the lens. Fine for photography, terrible for video. I have no idea why people keep recommending them. I tested all five and they they were all equally awful so it's not like I received a bad example or something. They also feel sharp and poorly machined in a number of places. I wouldn't be surprised if someone cut themselves trying to remove it from their lens. The release arm is much harder to engage than the release arm on any other lens adapter I've used and the mechanism seems very prone to breaking (although I won't be keeping mine long enough to find out).

My other experience with Nikon to EOS adapters is the Novoflex one which came with a lens I bought recently. I just looked up the price of the Novoflex and...wow :Drogar-Shock(DBG):


Is there really ZERO play in those no-name brand adapters on ebay? I don't want to pay $80 for a Fotodiox Pro much less $270 for another Novoflex...
 
There's a simple fix for the loose Fotodiox adaptors. There is a tiny slot in each of the three tabs that go to the lens. You simply take a pocket or steak knife and ever so slightly expand the center of the slots until you get a very nice snug fit on your lens so it doesn't wiggle around. Take your time and don't over do it or you won't be able to get it off the lens.

If you ever bump or drop your lens and cam the adaptor will become loose on the lens and need an adjustment to work perfectly again.

The Fotodiox adaptors are $15-$17 vs the cheapest no name ones at $12 on ebay.

Cheers,
Pete
fotodiox adaptor adjustment.jpg
 
arroway said:
I just bought five of these and they're...terrible.

They don't fit snugly. There's 1mm or 2mm of rotational play on them when affixed to camera. This interferes with follow focusing and also sometimes makes an audible "click" when hand/follow focus pressure is applied to the lens. Fine for photography, terrible for video. I have no idea why people keep recommending them. I tested all five and they they were all equally awful so it's not like I received a bad example or something. They also feel sharp and poorly machined in a number of places. I wouldn't be surprised if someone cut themselves trying to remove it from their lens. The release arm is much harder to engage than the release arm on any other lens adapter I've used and the mechanism seems very prone to breaking (although I won't be keeping mine long enough to find out).

My other experience with Nikon to EOS adapters is the Novoflex one which came with a lens I bought recently. I just looked up the price of the Novoflex and...wow :Drogar-Shock(DBG):


Is there really ZERO play in those no-name brand adapters on ebay? I don't want to pay $80 for a Fotodiox Pro much less $270 for another Novoflex...
Click to expand...

The biggest draw back with the adapter rings for me is the fact that lenses can focus beyond infinity. It is very easy to go past infinity when focusing on the fly, causing the whole image to blur. Though, I have noticed one of my 28mm f2.8 aid lenses on a Nikon body can just barely get to infinity focus, so almost the opposite problem there. Not everything is perfect.


I have experienced slight wobble and rotation even on matching lens and body without adaptor rings. The adapter ring does add to this, and can be disorientating when the image jumps slightly because I touch the barrel to focus. But to pretend that F mount is rock solid for motion uses is simply not true. There is wiggle on the Nikon mount for the RED One, there is wiggle on the D7000. The F-mount was designed for still photography.

The photodiox and ebay $20-25 ring adapters are good for those who do not make serious money making videos. I have no problem recommending them, but they do slightly exaggerate the wobble and roll that is inherent with the nikon and canon mount designs. And they DO focus past infinity with Nikon f-mount to Canon EOS body adapters. It would be very surprising if more expensive adapters did any better, as the margin for error, and all the variables, would make it impossible to make a perfect fit for both body and assortment of lenses.
 
c3hammer said:
There's a simple fix for the loose Fotodiox adaptors. There is a tiny slot in each of the three tabs that go to the lens. You simply take a pocket or steak knife and ever so slightly expand the center of the slots until you get a very nice snug fit on your lens so it doesn't wiggle around. Take your time and don't over do it or you won't be able to get it off the lens.

If you ever bump or drop your lens and cam the adaptor will become loose on the lens and need an adjustment to work perfectly again.

The Fotodiox adaptors are $15-$17 vs the cheapest no name ones at $12 on ebay.

Cheers,
Pete
View attachment 43439
Click to expand...

Very cool, will give it a try. thx
 
arroway said:
I made a video to show the problems I've had with the cheap Nikon-EOS Fotodiox adapters:
Click to expand...
arroway said:
<a href="http://vimeo.com/31979073" target="_blank">
Click to expand...



Thank you for that video. It shows what words seldom can express. Although, I feel $25 vs $250 is hard to compare.

Consider that some pre ai Nikons have a wobble in the front element. So, spending extra money on a solid ring adapter is useless, because the lens inherently wobbles at the front. In addition, the ring adapter can still rotate and wobble on the camera body.
 
James0b57 said:
I have experienced slight wobble and rotation even on matching lens and body without adaptor rings. The adapter ring does add to this, and can be disorientating when the image jumps slightly because I touch the barrel to focus. But to pretend that F mount is rock solid for motion uses is simply not true. There is wiggle on the Nikon mount for the RED One, there is wiggle on the D7000. The F-mount was designed for still photography.
Click to expand...

It's very surprising that the Nikon mount on the RED One has play in it given its $500 price tag. And while it goes without saying that the F mount is not a cinema mount the fact is my Novoflex adapter has ZERO play and ZERO focusing issues with any of my pre-AI, AI, and AI-S lenses.

I'm looking at my Novoflex adapter now trying to figure out why something so utterly simple could demand a $270 price tag. I wish I could afford to buy one for each lens but I can't, and frankly, a $270 adapter for $80-$300 Nikkor lenses is absurd.

EDIT: My Fotodiox Pro adapter initially didn't lock-onto any of my lenses at first but I managed to get it working after using some pliers to force down one of the three little metal tensioner things on the inside of the adapter and it finally clicked into place. Didn't have much time to play with yet but it appears to work just as well as the Novoflex save for the ease of application and removal.
 
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arroway said:
I just bought five of these and they're...terrible.
Click to expand...

The Fotodiox adapters I've used were only $13 at Amazon -- six of them -- used on Nikkon glass spanning the late 70's to the mid 90's (both Nikkor and E-Series Nikon, tripod mounted telephotos and primes) -- on both a 7D and 5Dm2 -- and they've been flawless.

The only screw ups happened when they weren't put on properly. You need to hear that little lock thing click. If it doesn't lock ("click") in to place -- you've got it on wrong -- and when they're on wrong, yes, they are "terrible."
 
AGMedia said:
The only screw ups happened when they weren't put on properly. You need to hear that little lock thing click. If it doesn't lock ("click") in to place -- you've got it on wrong -- and when they're on wrong, yes, they are "terrible."
Click to expand...

Mine clicked into place perfectly and were still anything but flawless. Did you even watch the video? Did you even read any of the (numerous) reviews on amazon complaining about the play in the cheap Fotodiox adapters? Do you really think all these people are just morons that don't know how to click a lens adapter into place?

Get real.

The more expensive Fotodiox Pro adapter even distinguishes itself from its cheaper sibling by guaranteeing "absolutely no play". A guarantee I'm willing to pay for, since I just bought three more of them.

Anyway, I'm glad the cheaper versions worked for you but they sure as hell didn't work for me and it had nothing to do with your stupid insinuation of user error.
 
I think YMMV with any of these adapters.

First, you have mass-produced Nikon lenses, of various ages, states, and types. Then, you have mass-produced third-party adapters for a very low, low price to make these lenses work on a camera they were never made for. And then, we are using these lenses for an application they were never made to fulfill.

So many variables, one adapter may work better for others. I encourage everyone to buy one of a few different makes/models of adapters and try each one on each of their lenses until they find the right combination.

I own six Nikon primes from pre-AI to AF-D, early 1980's to late 1990's. I also own Kawa, Fotodiox, and other Nikon F to EOS adapters. I have found that no adapter works perfectly across the board, but I have found a winning combination for each lens. Some lenses work great with the uber-cheap adapter, others need the more expensive Fotodiox.

I don't think there's a one-fits-all solution here.
 
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