Got an NEX-5, help needed with lens adapters

[L. M. Tu]

Yeaa!! A used NEX-5 body is on its way to me. I was going to wait for the prices on the NEX-5N or -7 to come down a bit, but I got a really good price on this one and I just pulled the trigger on it 🙂. My main use for this camera will be to put a sensor behind Nikon, Leica and Canon FD lenses.

So I'm looking at the adapters made by Rainbow Imaging, and I have questions. First, they make one for Nikon G lenses, the ones without aperture rings, for $21.99, and two for the regular F mount, for $17.99 and $21.99 (plus yet another adapter, with a tripod collar, for G lenses, but I'm not considering that one - I don't see how it would balance with anything but the lightest lenses). Similarly, they list two different adapters for Canon FD lenses. Does this mean that they have different grades among their products, based on different materials, tighter tolerances, etc.?

Other questions: since adapters for Nikon G lenses must have some means to change the aperture manually, has anyone tried them, and how do they work? Can one use manual-focus Nikkors with an adapter made for G lenses? Are there any special problems that I should be aware of?

By the way, I did send an email to Rainbow Imaging to ask them all of the above, but some overseas firms just do not communicate very well in English - to say the least - and there's a good chance that someone on this forum has first-hand experience with their products. Thanks in advance for any information you may be able to provide.....

 

[kanzlr]

afaik the G mount adapter just moves the aperture lever in the G lenses, because while G lenses lack aperture rings, they still operate the same as old non-G lenses, ie they have mechanical aperture coupling (god bless).

 

[sevo]

The G adapters have a ring that manipulates the lens aperture coupler tab. Mandatory if you want to use G lenses as they default to minimum aperture (which is rarely, if ever, useful), but while they work across all F mount variations, they are somewhat error prone with non-G Nikkors, as you might twist the wrong ring.

So far there are no Nikon G adapters that have a proper aperture scale (which would be feasible, it could be on a adjustable ring), but some have tick marks or count numbers for each stop down from fully open - this might be desirable if you want to set the exposure by external meter.

The tripod collars aren't meant to balance, but to allow you to mount heavier lenses on a tripod - most zooms and bigger teles put too much weight on the plastics Nex bayonet to safely mount a unsupported lens.

FWIW, I only can find two F/Nex adapters on the Rainbow site - G with collar and F without. Perhaps you mistook their (Samsung) NX adapters to be Nex as well?

 

[uhoh7]

Rainbow is in NY, not overseas. They are fast in shipping. Adapter grade is more or less all the same--from rainbow.

You can also get one of these:

that's a kippon tilt adapter for nikon--not G. goes to around 15 degrees.

There are nicer adapters, but rainbow seems usually ok.

 

[ampguy]

Rainbow makes great adapters

Rainbow makes great adapters

I have several, for the Nikon G, I use the one with aperture control, but without tripod socket. Works great for up to 70-300 zoom. Larger, I'd want the tripod version.

The aperture control has less throw than a real manual aperture lens, and no scale, so you have to go from wide open, and in A mode, watch the shutter to see what you are really setting the G aperture at.

As mentioned, they at last ship from the US, usually mine come in 2 days, and this is with their standard cheapest mode of shipping.

Yeaa!! A used NEX-5 body is on its way to me. I was going to wait for the prices on the NEX-5N or -7 to come down a bit, but I got a really good price on this one and I just pulled the trigger on it 🙂. My main use for this camera will be to put a sensor behind Nikon, Leica and Canon FD lenses.

So I'm looking at the adapters made by Rainbow Imaging, and I have questions. First, they make one for Nikon G lenses, the ones without aperture rings, for $21.99, and two for the regular F mount, for $17.99 and $21.99 (plus yet another adapter, with a tripod collar, for G lenses, but I'm not considering that one - I don't see how it would balance with anything but the lightest lenses). Similarly, they list two different adapters for Canon FD lenses. Does this mean that they have different grades among their products, based on different materials, tighter tolerances, etc.?

Other questions: since adapters for Nikon G lenses must have some means to change the aperture manually, has anyone tried them, and how do they work? Can one use manual-focus Nikkors with an adapter made for G lenses? Are there any special problems that I should be aware of?

By the way, I did send an email to Rainbow Imaging to ask them all of the above, but some overseas firms just do not communicate very well in English - to say the least - and there's a good chance that someone on this forum has first-hand experience with their products. Thanks in advance for any information you may be able to provide.....