Adapting Manual Focus Lenses on Your Digital Camera - Part III

After some initial mumble jumble, we talked about adapting manual focus lenses on the Canon EOS EF mount in Part II.  As you can see, there are lots of options for Canon shooters, but also a lot of limitations, due mostly to the reflex mirror clearance.  In Part III, we will talk about using manual focus lenses on the Micro 4/3 and Sony E-Mount, and to some extend, the Fuji X-Mount (not the AX mount on their old SLRs).

Without doubt, mirrorless cameras, except the Samsung NX series, with a flange focal distances of 25.50mm, are the most adaptable cameras to use on manual focus lenses.  The Samsung's 25.50mm thickness was just enough to shut out the use of adapting Leica-M lenses, which many have said as one of the biggest disappointments.  Leica M lenses are considered the pinnacle of 35mm lenses.  The build and optical quality is unequaled in the 35mm lens world.

So, what lenses can be used on Micro 4/3 and E-Mount cameras?

In a word, pretty much all lenses existed on the 35mm format, if anyone is willing to make the adapter for a particular lens mount.  The very short flange focal distance of the M4/3 (19.25mm), E-Mount (18mm), Fuji X (17.70mm) provide the opportunity to use a wide range of optical lenses, 35mm format, medium format, C-mount cine lenses, enlarging lenses, projection lenses, etc.  The possibilities are practically endless.  The only question is: is a mount adapter available?

The most popular lenses to use on M4/3 and E-Mount are Leica Thread Mount (LTM), Leica M mount and C-Mount.  The reason is that these lenses have very short flange focal distance and therefore adapters can be made very thin.  Adapted lenses would look very small, to complement the small M4/3 and NEX cameras.  The quality of lenses are also some of the best in these mounts (except c-mount, where there is a big variance).  To compare, the M mount adapter for NEX is roughly 10mm for the NEX, whereas the M42 to NEX adapter is almost 30mm thick.  Even a pancake Contax 45mm f2.8 lens will look like a 85mm SMC Takumar when mounted on the NEX.  Take a look at the comparison pictures below:

Voigtlander 40mm f1.4 & Contax 45mm f2.8 Pancake compared with and without adapter.

 

On adapters: C-Mount Switar 50mm f1.4, M-Mount Voigtlander 40mm f1.4, QBM 50mm f1.8

As you can see, the mount makes a big different on how large the lens will look when mounted on the camera.  Even a normal, small 50mm f1.8 QBM lens will look huge when mounted on the NEX, but the C-Mount and M Mount lenses look nice and small.

A note on c-mount lenses.  There are so many different lenses on this mount with different sizes.  Be very careful what you are looking for in c-mount lenses.  Some will not cover the image circle of the NEX or even M4/3 sensor, and some are too large to be used and be able to focus to infinity.  Even those that mount and focus to infinity with full image circle coverage, the image quality may not be what you are looking for.  The allure of c-mount lenses are their cinematic quality, or quirky characteristics, or weird bokeh or some combination of these or more.  Make sure you know what you want.  Some of these lenses costs thousands of dollars!

Another benefit of short flange focal distance of these mounts, is that the traditionally macro-only use of the enlarging lenses and projection lenses can be used like a normal lens; that is, be able to focus to infinity.  I have done quite a bit with both the enlarging and projection lenses.  If you do a search on my blog, you will see many examples.

In our next and final installment, Part IV, we will talk about buying manual focus lenses, what to look out for, why some lenses costs thousands and others almost nobody wants at give away prices, and the costs of different adapters.

Solo Steel Drummer

Steel drummer - NEX-5N & Kern-Paillard Switar 75mm f1.9. The seemingly drunk fellow leaning on the wall was actually recording the music.

Part of the reason people like c-mount lenses on their NEX and M4/3 cameras is that they have very short lens registers and the mount adapter is very thin, making them look like they are native E-Mount or M4/3 mount lenses.  I do think though, that the manual focus lens market has gone mad.  Prices keep going up like there is no ceiling.  If I had to start my lens collection now, I certainly would not have been able to buy the lenses I want.  Now whenever I see a good deal, I would buy the lenses and keep them, because, if I want to buy the same lens back, I may never be able to buy it the price I sell them now.

You've got to admit that many of these old lenses do have their very unique characters.  Modern lenses are designed to be sharp and well corrected and so most would produce pictures that are hard to distinguish between them.  If you look at the picture above, you know immediately it can't be taken with an auto focus modern lens, because of the severely vignetting and blurry corners, not to mention the distortion at those corners.  Why would people pay hundreds of dollars for a lens with such defects?  All I can say is horse for courses.  Aren't choices great to have?

Lift It Up

Reflection -- NEX-5 & Angenieux 75mm f2.5.

I have never seen so much building constructions around Toronto.  Everywhere you look, especially downtown Toronto, huge cranes are everywhere.  Everyone is saying the economy  is not doing well, but buildings keep getting built.  I sure hope things are better what everyone says.

The Cost of Mistakes

Photography is expensive in many ways.  Not the least is the cost of mistakes.  I have my share of costly mistakes, and most of them were made because of not knowing enough.  Case in point, Kern-Paillard (Bolex) c-mount lenses.  Obviously, there are at least two versions of their lenses that I didn't know of: the AR and RX.  I have two AR lenses which won't focus to infinity.

Wide Open -- NEX-5 & Switar 50mm f1.4 @ f1.4.  Click for larger.

Both AR and RX are c-mount lenses.  You would think that a c-mount lens is a c-mount lens.  It's a standard, right?   Well, if everyone makes everything to the exact standard, the world will be a much nicer place.  Alas, the AR and RX lenses share the same mount, but different lens to film register.  My Switar 50mm f1.4 can focus to about 3 meters wide open, and the Switar 25mm f1.5 is about the same.  They are still usable, just not to infinity.  Until someone makes a special c-mount to accommodate the difference, these AR lenses will be much less useful than they really should be.

Another one wide open -- NEX-5 & Switar 50mm f1.4. Click to see larger.

I wouldn't feel so bad if these lenses are mediocre, but they are nice little lenses, especially the 50mm f1.4.  I really like the bokeh of this lens, although it may be a bit weird to some.  The image quality reminds me of the Switar 25mm f1.4 RX that I used to have, and still regret to this day that I sold it.  The 25mm f1.4 has very severe vignetting even on the Panasonic G1, but the 50mm f1.4 has only very slight vignetting on the NEX-5.

Re-post, because this is one of my fav -- NEX-5 & Switar 50mm f1.4. Click for larger.

I am sure I will continue to make this kinds of mistakes in the future.  There are just so much that I don't know.  Was it Socrates that said  "The more I learn, the more I learn how little I know"?  Well, that about sums it all up.

C-Mount Lenses on NEX-5

Lock on Barbwire -- NEX-5 & Kodak Cine 102mm f2.7. Click to see larger.

Due to the larger sensor on the NEX cameras, most c-mount cine lenses can not cover sensor area, and consequently, pictures would have a dark boarder.  There are only few cine lenses that work on NEX-5 without severe vignetting.  Most of them are long lenses, including these ones that I have tried: Kern 50mm f1.4,  JML 50mm f0.95, Kern 75mm f1.9, Angenieux 75mm f2.5, Fuji 75mm f1.8, Birns & Saywer 150mm f3, Kinoptik Speciale Cine 210mm f2.8.  All wide angles that I have tried vignette to a certain degree.  Most Kodak cine lenses vignette very badly.  This really disappoints me, because I love Kodak cine lenses.  They are underrated and supremely sharp and nice lenses.  The only other sad thing about the Kodak lenses is the focusing stiffness.  The grease dried up and they all need to be re-lubed to focus properly.

If you are looking for a cine lens for your NEX, before to find out if it vignettes, unless you like that effect.

Last Camera Show at Thornhill Community Center

Today marked the last camera show at the Thornhill Community Center.  This show has been running for more than a decade.  For whatever reason, the community center no longer allows this show to continue, which really is too bad, as it's accessible and lots of parking spaces.

I picked up a few pieces of old stuff, as usual.  Struck a good deal for a Flectogon 35mm f2.8 in Exakta mount for $10.  I had this lens in M42 mount before and it's a good performer.  This lens has a quite a following.  One notable features of this lens is its extremely close focusing capability.  It can be used as a macro lens as it focuses as close as 0.18 meters, or 0.6 ft.  Lens is in excellent condition complete with original box.  I have a few lenses in Exakta mount, but don't have an adapter for the NEX.  The adapters I have for EOS are not very good. None of them allow the lenses to focus to infinity.

Another goodie I picked up is the Fuji 75mm f1.8 c-mount lens for a very good price of $30.  These days, anything that has a c-mount has become very expensive.  Very surprised to find that there is no vignetting on the NEX-5.  Even the corners are acceptable when stopped down to around f11.  Sharp as a knife, and beautifully built.  All metal barrel with large aperture and focusing rings, making it very easy to use.  Took a few shots with it, and already like it a lot. Only complain is its relatively long minimum focusing distance.

Other bits and pieces picked up at the show includes a Vivitar 24mm f2 in Canon FD mount.  Already has a Nikon mount of this lens, both are built by Komine (serial #22), as well as Kiron version in OM mount.  Only reason I bought it because it's cheap and in such great condition.  This reason is primarily responsible for so many lenses I have, and often with duplicates.  Buy them because I think they are cheap!  Other stuff I picked up are Takumar SMC 50mm f1.4, SMC-A 50mm f1.7 and an EL-Nikkor 50mm f2.8 enlarging lens -- all because they are cheap :)  Buying too much cheap stuff can really bankrupt you!

Bikes -- NEX-5 & Fuji 75mm f1.8 @ f2.8 or f4. Click to enlarge.

Bikes in Snow

The first C-Mount to NEX adapter I received was used to make the NEX mount focusing helicoid, so I didn't have much of a chance to use it on actual lenses.  Received two more couple days ago that I ordered last week from a US vendor.  Tried various c-mount lenses on the NEX, and as expected, most wide angle lenses (less than 50mm) have severe vignetting.  Even longer lenses, some of them also have dark corners.  Most disappointingly, the Kern-Paillard Switar 50mm f1.4 still does not fit, and thus can not be focused to infinity, at least with the adapter I have.  Perhaps I can understand why.  The center ring was purposely made to mate with m42 mount lenses on this adapter.  So, in theory, you can use M42 lenses with this adapter if you add enough extension tubes.  More importantly, M42 mount focusing helicoids can be mounted to this adapter.  This will open up some opportunities for experiments with some specialty lenses.

Bicycles in snow -- NEX-5 & Kodak 63mm f2 cine lens. Click to enlarge.

Kern-Paillard Pizar 26mm f1.9 C-Mount Lens

The Pizar 26mm f1.9 is the little brother to the more desirable Switar 25mm f1.4 that I wrote about a while back. The Pizar seems to be living under the brother's shadow. Does it deserve more recognition than it's given?

Make no mistakes about it. The Switar 25mm f1.4 is a better lens. Closer focusing distance, nicer bokeh, almost a stop brighter, and slightly better image quality overall. Both lenses have the same exceptionally good built quality that feels heavier than it looks.

As with most 16mm cine lenses, the edge is not good. If you are looking for sharp corners on a 16mm c-mount lens, you are looking in the wrong place. The sensor on micro 4/3 is much larger than 16mm, so looking for sharp edges on these lenses are mostly wishful thinking. Besides, people who buy these lenses care more about the cinematic look and bokeh than the fuzzy edges.

The Pizar is an OK lens rank within the Kern-Paillard family. Certainly there are better lenses from Kern-Paillard, but it also costs significantly less than the Switar 25mm f1.4.


Blossom at Osgoode Hall -- G1 & Kern-Paillard Pizar 26mm f1.9. Embiggen.


Tulips -- G1 & Kern-Paillard Pizar 26mm f1.9. Embiggen.


White Flowers -- G1 & Kern-Paillard Pizar 26mm f1.9. Embiggen.

The C-Mount Lens Craze

C-Mount (C stands for Cine) lenses, once exclusively used with 16mm movie cameras, TV cameras, and sometimes triocular microscopes, has found a home with a growing number of micro 4/3 digital camera users. With a very short flange focal distance, c-mount lenses were not usable on anything else other than 16mm and TV cameras. The introduction of Micro-4/3 mount has changed that.


Panasonic G1 with Kern-Paillard Switar 25mm f1.4. Larger Picture.

Like the c-mount, Micr0-4/3 mount also has a short flange focal distance of approximately 20mm. In theory, this is still longer than c-mount and therefore c-mount lenses should not be able to focus to infinity. But, due to the mirror-less design of the Micro-4/3 camera, a Micro-4/3 adapter for c-mount lenses can extend and allow c-mount lenses to mount closer to the sensor, allowing them to focus to infinity. Of course, there are limitations. Larger c-mount lenses usually can not mount close enough to the sensor, and those will not focus to infinity.


C-Mount Adapter for Micro-4/3 with a 25mm lens mounted. Larger Picture.

C-Mount Lenses -- Pros

Small Size -- Most C-Mount lenses are small, compared to 35mm lens equivalent. A 25mm lens can be 2x to 4x smaller than a 35mm lens with same maximum aperture, due to smaller image circle of the c-mount.


Size Comparision -- From left to right: Canon EF 35mm f1.4, Angenieux 75mm f2.5, Kern-Pillard Switar 25mm f1.4. Larger Picture.

Very Fast Maximum Aperture -- With few exceptions, most c-mount lenses have very large maximum apertures. For example, you can often find 25mm c-mount lenses with f0.95 maximum aperture. Even 50mm f0.95 is not uncommon in c-mount.


Example of a very fast 25mm lens -- JML 25mm f0.95 TV Lens. Larger Picture. More Samples here.

Well made -- All the c-mount lenses that I have seen are made of metal and glass. I haven't gotten one that has any plastics. OK, so I am old and I am partial to stuff that's made of metal, and in real practical terms, there's probably not a bit of different whether a lens is made of plastic or metal. But, these lenses are all well made.

Imaging characteristics -- Many of the c-mount lenses have unique imaging characteristics, especially the bokeh. Some lenses, such as the Dallmeyer 1 inch f1.5, and Ross 25mm f1.9, have swirling out of focus backgrounds. Often, wider angle c-mount lenses from 25mm down, do not have very good corner performance, because they were designed for a much smaller image circle of the 16mm film. To me at least, I use these lenses especially for this kind of characteristics. Longer lenses from 40mm or longer, have much better corner sharpness.


Distinctive Image Characteristics -- Dallmeyer 1 inch f1.5. Larger Picture. More Samples here.

C-Mount Lenses -- Cons
Severe Vignetting with wide angle lenses -- Most lenses 25mm or wider exhibit vignetting when mounted on Micro-4/3 cameras.


Vignetting when stopped down -- SOM Berthiot Lytar 25mm f1.9 @ f16. Larger Picture. More samples of this lens here.

Ultra Wide Angles Not Usable -- Most C-mount lenses made for 16mm movie cameras from 16mm or wider have an even smaller imaging circle and what you will see on your camera is an image with black surroundings, sort of like a circular fish eye lens effect.

Haze, Dust, Focusing Issues -- After many decades, many of these c-mount lenses have accumulated a fine layer of dust inside the lens, giving them a soft focus effect when used near maximum apertures. Also, due to grease dried up in the focusing ring, many of these lenses are difficult to focus, or feels choppy when focusing. Finding a shop that can clean and lube these lenses have becoming more and more difficult.

Image Circle
Since 16mm film is smaller than the Micro-4/3 sensor, most c-mount lenses with a focal length of 25mm or wider will vignette, sometimes very severely. There are exceptions, of course, but finding out which one will, or will not is difficult until you have tried it. In my experience, most 25mm lenses will barely cover the Micro-4/3 sensor wide open. As you stop down the lens, you will see more vignetting. Any lens from 16mm down, you will most likely see the image in a dark circle, because the image circle is reduced as the lens gets wider (but still usable on 16mm movie cameras.)

C-Mount lenses above 25mm seems to cover the Micro-4/3 sensor without problem.

Lens Choices
Being a universal mount like the M42 lenses, c-mount lenses also have many choices in focal length from different manufacturers.

Focal Lengths -- For 16mm movie cameras, you can find lenses as wide as 10mm, or even wider. Often, very wide angle lenses do not have focusing rings. They simply do not require focusing from about a meter to infinity. Most popular and usable focal range used on Micro-4/3 cameras is from 25mm to 75mm. The longest lens I have come across is a Kodak Cine Ektar 152mm f4. I am sure there are longers ones.

Manufacturers -- There are many c-mount lens manufacturers. Most popular and famous ones are made by Kern-Paillard for its Bolex movie cameras. Angenieux also made some fantastic optics for C-Mount. The British made some exotic and sought after c-mount lenses. They include Dallmeyer, Ross, Cook/Taylor & Hobson, just to name a few. The Japanese also made C-Mount lenses. They include Kinotel, Pentax (Cosmicar), Canon, Sony, and others.


A selection of c-mount primes from 25mm to 154mm. Larger Picture.

One thing you need to keep in mind is that most c-mount lenses are used and very old, with the exception of Closed-Circuit TV c-mount lenses, because I don't believe they still make new c-mount 16mm movie lenses any more.

I have many more sample pictures from various c-mount lenses. You can brows them here.