An Intermission

Sorry, Part III of the "Adapting Series" will come later.

I am really feeling the worse in the last few years with seasonal allergy.  Don't feel like doing anything at all, but we did managed to ride to the beach, since it was a such a beautiful day.  I have been using two long lenses yesterday and today, the Birns & Sawyer (Tewe) 200mm f3.2 and the Kinoptik 210mm f2.8 Speciale Cine.  Didn't really use them under very bright sunlight before, but I love the quality both lenses produce in bright light, especially.  They are especially nice for portrait/people pictures.

Studying -- NEX-5N & Kinoptik Speciale Cine 210mm f2.8. Click for larger.

The picture above was taken against the sun without a hood. You can see some washout effect of this, and the contrast has decreased a lot too, but I like how the lens renders the picture.  The picture below is straight out of Lightroom without additional adjustment.  I have inclued a 100% crop @ f2.8.

Megan -- NEX-5N & Kinoptik Speciale Cine 210mm f2.8. Click for larger.

100% Crop from picture above without any sharpening @ f2.8.  It actually has lost quite a bit of details due to compression.  Looks a lot better in Ligthtroom.  Click picture to see 100%.

 I have to say that without an EVF, using lenses this long is just very difficult.  With the EVF, focusing and accuracy has improved quite a bit.

Adapting Manual Focus Lenses to Your Digital Camera - Part II

We talked some mumble jumble about adapting manual focus lenses to digital cameras in general in Part I.  Now let's get to the meat and potato.  Now the $64000 dollar question: What lenses will work on your digital camera?  The answer is: that depends mostly on the flange focal distance of your camera and the lens you want to use.  Generally, the shorter the flange focal distance, the easier it is to adapt and use manual focus lenses.  If you take a look at the nice wiki entry, you will find that Canon EF (EOS) has a distance of 44mm; shorter than most mounts that are still in use today.

Yes.  We Canon shooters are blessed with a shorter flange focal distance of the EF mount with 44mm, while the people in the Dark Side (Nikon) has a distance of 46.50mm. For this reason, very few lenses can be adapted and used on the Nikon with infinity focus, except Leica R lenses with a mount replacement.  We should toss a glass of sake to the Canon engineers who came up with the relatively short mount distance.  If you use Sigma SD cameras, good for you, because the Sigma SA mount is basically a Canon mount slightly rotated.  In fact, Sigma uses the same protocals as Canon.  You can actually modify the Sigma SD cameras and put on a Canon mount, and most Canon EF lenses will work (except IS).

So, which lens mount can be used with Canon EF?  These are the ones I know and have used:

Nikon (F) -- Almost all Nikon lenses can be used without restriction except the weird fisheye lens from the 60s that you had to lockup the mirror to use.  For G lenses, you need a special mount adapter that lets you set apertures.

M42/Universal -- Most lenses can be used on Canon without restrictions, but there are some exceptions.  The one I know of is the Takumar SMC 50mm f1.4 on full frame, Myer Optik Primoplan 58mm f1.9 (on 5D), and may be a few others.  The 5D (and possibly the 5D II and 5D III) are the most problematic.

Leica-R -- Most Leica-R lenses can be used on the Canon, but please refer to this great blog for the compatibility chart.  In general, it's the wide angles that have issues.

Yashica/Contax (CY) -- Most are compatible, but few Contax lenses will hit the mirror on infinity.  Again, Pebble Place has a great database with the compatibility chart.

Olympus OM -- As far as I know, there are no compatibility issues.  All lenses can be used on the Canon. But then again, I don't have many OM lenses.

T/T2 Mount -- These lenses require a Canon EF to T/T2 mounts to use.  I would say all are compatible with Canon.  All T/T2 lenses do not have aperture automation, and always come with pre-set aperture.

Tamron Adaptall -- All Tamron Adaptall lenses should have no issues on the Canon when used with the proper adapter.  Please note, as with the T/T2 mount lenses, there are mount adapters for most major cameras, including Canon EF.

DKL/Kodak Retina -- There aren't that many lenses with this mount and DKL lenses do not have aperture control on the lens, and no DKL lens is fater than f1.9.  The adapter comes with aperture control.  As far as I know, all DKL lenses work on the Canon. Voigtlander and Schneider are two major lens makers for the DKL mount.

Exakta (EXA) -- All the EXA lenses I have used can not focus to infinity because the adapters are not thin enough (can not be made too thin as there is only 1mm to work with).  Avoid using Exakta lenses on the Canon unless you can find a seller who will guarantee infinity focus.

Rollei QBM (Quick Bayonet Mount) --  Like the Exakta, these adapters have trouble making the lenses focus to infinity on Canon.  Avoid them unless you don't need infinity focus or the seller can guarantee it.

I think that's all the different mounts that I know of can be used with Canon.  If you know of any others that I have left out, please let me know and I will update the list.  Pretty much all medium/large format lenses can be adapted to Canon and other systems, but I have no experience with any of them so I won't talk about it.

Note that no range finder lens mounts are listed above.  Range finder camera do not use mirrors that therefore the lenses can be pushed further into the mount without worry about the mirror, and this also means the flange focal distance is a lot shorter than SLRs.

If you use manual focus lenses mainly for video, those lenses (Leica, Contax, etc) that hit the mirror at infinity can still be used if you put the camera on Live-View, as this will flip up the mirror.  Make sure you focus the lens to the closes focus distance before mounting it on the camera, or the mirror will hit the lens when you engage Live-View.  Some brave souls will go as far as shaving part of the reflect mirror off in order to use their favourite lenses.  I wouldn't do it, but other have done it.

Next time, we will have a look at the Micro 4/3 and Sony E-Mount in Part III.

An OM Mount lens on the Canon 1Ds that I used before.

Adapting Manual Focus Lenses to Your Digital Camera - Part I

Another reader, Mathew, has asked me to do a guide to adapting manual focus lens to digital cameras.  I actually have had this idea for a while, but unfortunately, even though I use a lot of manual focus lenses, I am not an expert on this topic.  But, I think I will put out something for what I know, as I am sure there are quite a few people out there who are confused by all the different adapters and lens mounts.  I will only be discussing adapters for Canon EF (EOS), Micro 4/3 and Sony E-Mount, as these are the only cameras I have more experience with.

So, how do you use your grandfather's old manual focus lenses from the 1950s on your brand new 2012 digital interchangeable lens camera?

There are at least two ways to do this.  One is to modify the old lenses to have the new mount of your camera.   This is usually done when adapter is not available, or the even possible.  The other, more common way, is through the use of lens mount adapters.

A small sample of my adapter collection

We won't be talking about the drastic lens modification option, since this is usually non-reversible and are expensive, not to mention finding the right person to do the job.  Common lens mounts that get modified is Canon FD to the new Canon EF (EOS) mount, or Minolta MD to EOS, since these two mounts generally are not adaptable unless you use an adapter with glass elements.  Lens mount modification is actually the best way to use old lenses on new cameras, because the converted lenses will behave like native lens on your DSLR, minus the auto focus/aperture function, unless you go the very best conversion with Contax N lenses for Canon EOS from the great Canadian company Conurus.  The conversion itself will cost hundreds of dollars, so unless you have some really nice Contax N lenses, this is probably not worth it.  Even the new mount that allows aperture settings on EF lenses for the Sony E-Mount costs hundreds of dollars, and it won't auto focus.

So, we will then be concentrating on the non-destructive adapters, but we won't be talking about the ones with glass elements, as these adapters basically act like a teleconverters which increases the focal length of the lens, as well as decreasing the maximum aperture, and at the same time degrade the optical quality of the lens.

Enough mumble jumble.  Let's get on with it.

How do I know which lens will work with my camera?

We will discuss this in Part II.

The Faithful Reader Emmanuel N. Diaz

The most faithful reader of my blog (that I know of), Emmanuel N. Diaz, sent me an updated list of all the lenses I have, or have used in my blog.  As of yesterday, there has been 149 different lenses I have had/used.  Of those, 41 are 40-58mm!  Some of these are not your standard mount lenses, like projection or enlarging lenses, but that's still a mind boggling number of different lenses.  The sad fact is, I still have most of them.  Even more so, I know I have more lenses than this list.  Now you see why it's hard for me to write a list of my favourite lenses, especially in the 40-55mm focal length.

Venox -- Canon 7D & Tamron Adaptall 135mm f2.8; July, 2010.

This picture above was shot with the Canon 7D and Tamron Adaptall 135mm f2.8, which is not on Emmanuel's list of lenses :)  Strangely enough, I don't have much memory of this lens, and don't have many pictures from it.

Thanks  Emmanuel!  Appreciate your effort.  This will be a good reference that I can use in the future.

Offerings to the Spirits

Burning offerings to the spirits -- NEX-5N & Zoomar Kilfitt Makro Kilar 90mm f2.8

This picture was one of the couple dozen I took last week in one of my usual lunch shoots.  I have walked through this route at least once a week.  Saw this old lady burning offerings and I quickly snapped a couple of pictures before she stared me away :)  The Chinese Qingming Festival is around this time of the year and it's a time to honour the ancestors by visiting and cleaning their graves, bringing food and offerings to them.  Some of the offerings include paper money in large denominations, paper clothes, paper cars, etc.  They are sent to the ancestors by burning them, like this old lady above is doing.  

Cursed by the Dark Side

Seesaw on the double -- NEX-5N & Nikkor 105mm f2.5

Today, the last two of my Nikon lenses are gone.  Over the years I have used quite a few Nikon manual focus lenses, from the 35mm f1.4 to the 300mm f2.8, but I never seem to warm up to them.  Consequently, they didn't stay with me for long.  The F-mount 50mm f1.4 and the 105mm f2.5 have been two of my more favourable Nikon lenses, which I have kept until today.  I traded the pair with Adam, for the LTM Jupiter-9 85mm f2 and the Tamron Adaptall II 135mm f2.5.  

I want to expand my M-Mount or LTM lenses, because they look more natural on the NEX-5N than most other adapted lenses, where the adapter is very thick.  So far, I only have a Voigtlander 40mm f1.4, Leitz Hektor 135mm f4.5, and now the Jupiter-9.  As for the Tamron 135mm f2.5, I had this lens before which I used on my Pentax *ist and I liked it, though not as good as the Takumar SMC 135mm f2.5, but is smaller and lighter.  Besides, I don't even know how many lenses I have in the 40-58mm range, but I don't have too many 135mm lenses.

I don't even have the LTM to NEX or LTM to M-mount adapter yet, so I can't really even test the lens.  It looks good though.  Very nice build in silver finish.  We will see how it pans out.

Fancy Belt

Fancy Belt -- NEX-5N & Angenieux 75mm f2.5 Cine Lens.

I was walking around the Queen & Soho area yesterday afternoon and this very bright yellow shirt and the even more eye catching white belt really caught my attention.  Took a couple of shots through the window.  It just amazes me how many variations can be done on anything one thing made for women.  Have you seen the variety of belts for women?  I don't think they are used for the purpose of holding up the pants any more. Rather, they are more of a fashion item.  Just mind boggling.

C-Mount Lenses on the NEX System

$5 Burritos - NEX-5N & Angenieux 75mm f2.5 Cine Lens

In general, c-mount lenses don't work very well on NEX system, as most of them were made either for TV or 16mm movie cameras, with very small percentage for 35mm.  The problem is very vignetting and extremely bad corner performance, because the sensor on NEX system is much larger.  For this reason, Micro 4/3 system is a much better platform for c-mount lenses.  This is not to say that you can't use c-mount lenses on the NEX, it's just worse than M4/3.  In fact, I enjoy some of my c-mount lenses on NEX, mostly longer focal lengths, like the Angeniux 75mm f2.5 or Kern-Paillard 50mm f1.4/75mm f1.9, and some Kodak cine lenses.  They do have kind of a natural vignette on most images, except close ups.  I guess for most people, the lens character is more important than actual optical perfection on these cine lenses.

Time Flies When You Are Getting Old

Unbelievable as it may seem, we are already in April.  I noticed that as I get older, time tends to go by much faster.  A lot of people feel this way too.  This is especially true if you have kids.  It seems like yesterday that the little ones were calling "Mom" or "Dad" for the first time, and boom!  They are now teenagers!  As parents, we are obliged to document their growing up with pictures and video, not just for the kids, but for us parents too.

As a side note, using fast manual focus lenses are much more enjoyable and focuses more accurately with the EVF.  With an EVF, my NEX-5N feels like a brand new camera!  

Dillon -- NEX-5N & JML 50mm f0.95 TV Lens @ f0.95

A Small Rant

Sacrificed for Art: Smashed Papaya - Canon 7D & Tamron Adaptall SP 35-80mm f2.8-3.5

I am slowly adding my pictures to the Lightroom database.  I have hundreds of thousands of pictures and this is a slow and tedious process, because I am also checking/deleting frames I don't want to cut down on the number of frames I have and space usage.  I am getting the hang of Lightroom 3; but just enough to use it.

Looking back at the pictures I took with the 7D, I think that if the sensor is cleaner, even at a lower resolution for say, 12-16 MP, it would have been an even better camera as it is today.  I would have kept it and would have become my main camera.  Compared the image quality to the NEX-5N, the 7D is clearly inferior on almost all ISO settings, but especially at lower ISO.

While I am in the pissy mood, I might as well let out my disappointment with Canon regarding the image quality in their latest offering, the 5D Mark III.  The RAW output, next to the 5D Mark II, is only marginally better, while the 36MP D800's image quality is as good up to ISO 3200.  Perhaps, Canon is resting on its laurels for too long, and getting complacent, their new DSLRs have been underwhelming, perhaps except the 1DX.  Note that I am not saying the image quality is not good with the new cameras.  In fact, it's more than good enough for me, but when you see the competition edging out the once mighty king of clean high ISO, one can't help but see Canon's sensor progress has been at an impasse.  Truthfully, I believe Canon has much better technology than what they currently give to its customers.  They are holding back until they can milk out all they can with the existing technology.

As for me, perhaps my camera upgrades have been to frequent.  I am trying to restrain myself not to buy another camera.  Seriously, between the 1D Mark III and the NEX-5N (with the Panasonic G1 as backup), there is enough camera that is good enough for me for the next two to three years.