OTHER: Panasonic Varicam LT MD to EF Adapter compatibility issue

tokun1

tokun1

Well-known member
Hello group!

I'm hoping to get a recommendation of an MD (Minolta) to EF (Canon) mount adapter that will work on the Panasonic Varicam LT. I purchased an adapter but it did not work, the adapter will not tighten on the Varicam EF mount unfortunately. I have a mint set of Minolta Rokkor X lenses I would really like to use with the Varicam. Any suggestions would be VERY helpful.

Thank you!

-Tony
 
You have 3 options:

Because the flange distances are so close between MD and EF, a simple adapter isn't possible - they either need additional "correction" optics, or they're like an extension tube and don't allow infinity focus. I put correction in quotes because this really needs to be tuned for each lens to get optimum performance and the cheap adapter like this that are available don't fill me with confidence.

The second option is to convert your set of Minolta lenses over to EF flanges. A company like Duclos might be able to quote the cost and lead time for this modification. Since they're "mint" you might not want to alter them like this.

The third option, and my recommendation, is to obtain a Minolta mount for the Varicam, which would theoretically go on to the body with the same large threaded coupling that mounts the Panasonic EF or PL mount. I don't know if the market for these adapters was as large as it was for the Sony FZ mount, but it looks like MTF made a Nikon F mount and C7 sells an LPL mount. You could reach out to them and ask if it's possible to fabricate an MD for you.
 
tokun1 said:
Hello group!

I'm hoping to get a recommendation of an MD (Minolta) to EF (Canon) mount adapter that will work on the Panasonic Varicam LT. I purchased an adapter but it did not work, the adapter will not tighten on the Varicam EF mount unfortunately. I have a mint set of Minolta Rokkor X lenses I would really like to use with the Varicam. Any suggestions would be VERY helpful.

Thank you!

-Tony
Click to expand...
This isn't even possible without modification to the Rokkor's flange back distance. I've got about a dozen MC/MD Rokkor lenses. They have a flange back distance of 43.5 mm. I have sometimes used them with Sony's E-Mount. But that's simple as the Sony E-Mount has an 18.0 mm flange back.

The Canon EF mount has a 44.0 mm flange back. That would mean a Rokkor lens would have to sit 0.5 mm further out from the Varicam body with an EF mount. To fit any lens on an EF mount it has to have a flange back of 44.0 mm or longer. That's why Nikon F series lenses have been very popular as transplants. Apart from their, desirable to some optics, the fact that they have 46.5 mm flange back made them fairly adaptable. With 2.5 mm to play with adaptors are available like this K&F one linked below.

If you want to use Minolta MC/MD lenses with their 43.5 mm flange back on a Canon EF 44.00 mm flange back mount the internal focusing mechanism of the Minolta Rokker has to be adjusted and new flange mount spacers inserted. It can be done. Check out the following link. On that page, there is a link to a YouTube video showing you how it’s done. DO NOT USE THE LINKS IN THE YT VIDEO, They are now dead.

Minolta MC/MD to Canon EF conversion:

https://www.instructables.com/MD-Minolta-to-EF-Canon/

Chris Young

Nikon K&F adaptor.

https://tinyurl.com/3rjaeabf
 
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