Modifying G1/G2 lenses to Nikon RF S mount

raid

raid

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Someone posted a thread on the Zeiss website that he successfully hacked the Planar 45mm G lens into a Nikon S mount lens with full RF coupling. This is excellent news. Better get your G1/G2 lenses before the prices will go up soon.

Brian has spotted that thread, and I am sure that he will try it out soon.
 
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kbg32 said:
If of interest - other lenses

http://photo.net/leica-rangefinders-forum/00TRmu
Click to expand...

Keith,

I am aware of Brian's PN thread; the importance is that nobody else [amateurs] has posted before of hacking a G1/G2 lens into a manual focus RF lens. This is very cool.

Take a look: //rcbooth.zenfolio.com/p631965788

The Planar 45mm lens is superb and unmatched. This is where the significance is.

I wonder if hacking into LTM/M is also a possibility. This could start a race for G1/G2 lenses.
 
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I saw the conversion to the Nikon RF mount over at the ZI forum. I must say that I friend of mine uses the 45/2 with his G1, and you can spot that lens when sorting through 4x6 prints.

But seriously, I am not sure I would go through the effort to convert to M, LTM or S mount for any other reason than for fun. All the conversion I have seem have been klunky and resulted in a lens that I am not I would want to use regularly. Just my opinion.

Although the Nikon RF conversion is the best I have seen to date...
 
Lynn,

I agree with you 99% here; I already am looking for a second Planar 45mm G1 lens for possible hacking. The G1 looks so beautiful and so "clean". Now if Amedeo succeeds in creating an adapter, then that would be really awesome.
 
The one very noticeable trait of the 45/2 is how it handles color... I am not a fan of vivid, over-saturated colours and the 45/2 renders color with a lot of depth and softness while maintaining extreme levels of detail and clarity. The prints tend to feel more melancholy and emotive. I know that sounds are airy, fairy, but after 6 years of seeing this lens in use by a friend, that is how I would describe the 45/2.

The only other lens that I have used or seen used that is very similar and possibly indistinguishable from the 45/2, is the CV 50/3.5 Heliar.
 
P. Lynn Miller said:
The one very noticeable trait of the 45/2 is how it handles color... I am not a fan of vivid, over-saturated colours and the 45/2 renders color with a lot of depth and softness while maintaining extreme levels of detail and clarity. The prints tend to feel more melancholy and emotive. I know that sounds are airy, fairy, but after 6 years of seeing this lens in use by a friend, that is how I would describe the 45/2.

The only other lens that I have used or seen used that is very similar and possibly indistinguishable from the 45/2, is the CV 50/3.5 Heliar.
Click to expand...

Use it with Fuji Reala 100, and you will get absolutely beautiful colors. I find that Reala 100 works magic with almost any lens, but especially well with vintage lenses with lower contrast.
 
Saw that thread on the ZI forum. Very cool. I imagine it's significantly easier to do the conversion to Contax RF or Nikon S internal mount compared to Leica M or LTM since you don't have to cannibalize or build an entire focus helical & there are plenty of cheap Jupiter & Helios mounts out there. The same principle would apply to a conversion for the Voigtlander Prominent & Bell & Howell Foton normal lenses, though you would be more likely to have to machine your own mounts.

raid said:
Someone posted a thread on the Zeiss website that he successfully hacked the Planar 45mm G lens into a Nikon S mount lens with full RF coupling. This is excellent news. Better get your G1/G2 lenses before the prices will go up soon.

Brian has spotted that thread, and I am sure that he will try it out soon.
Click to expand...
 
A G1/G2 will be faster, but not necessarily more accurate. While I agree that it's easier to just use a G1 or G2, I suppose if you really, really hate those bodies &/or autofocus, but love the lenses & you can get them cheap enough, it makes sense to convert them.

jaap said:
That's a good one And you'll have the higher focus accuracy. That's why most people like the lens so much.
Click to expand...
 
With the low cost for the lenses, I am considering having one duplicate 45mm Planar lens converted to LTM, and will leave the 28-45-90 as AF lenses. I frist have to get another Planar G1 lens.
 
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furcafe said:
A G1/G2 will be faster, but not necessarily more accurate. While I agree that it's easier to just use a G1 or G2, I suppose if you really, really hate those bodies &/or autofocus, but love the lenses & you can get them cheap enough, it makes sense to convert them.
Click to expand...

Not sure. The new ZM lenses are typically cheaper than a conversion. Also they are readily available.

Sure ZM lenses are different from the G lenses, but are they different enough to go through that pain?
 
Sure, the lenses are low cost, but so are the bodies. No, they aren't a Leica (or Nikon RF, either) but they are autofocus (at least as accurate, probably moreso, in my experience as manual focusing a Leica) as well as auto exposure.

If one really can't abide the G1/G2, conversions are not all that expensive. They are in the same ballpark as ZM lenses (or less in some cases.)

But there is going to be no simple adapter to LTM or M mount, due to the engineering difficulties of having only 1mm of space to work with, plus addressing the focus issue. This is why the MS Optical conversions just put the glass into a new barrel.

Any one-off conversion will cost more in money and time than just buying a nice G1 body.
 
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If if if... if it is made, can be made economically and precisely, if it works as well as or close to a dedicated conversion or a factory lens like ZM (which I doubt).

Besides, I don't think they would take away much from each other. Some people will prefer adapters, some non-converted originals (like ZM) and some the conversion. Different strokes for different folks. Personally I don't like adapters because whenever you try to make something that will fit everything, there will be some degree of compromise and issues. You get what you pay for, always.

Lastly, if you hack it up yourself, you can never be sure if you did the final optimal assembly and alignment etc. even though of course you may get a usable picture. Sure, it's fun so go for it.
 
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