Interest in Nikon F-to-S adaptors?

Dez

Dez

Bodger Extraordinaire
Local time
12:35 PM
Joined
May 12, 2009
Messages
1,537
A friend of mine does a lot of work with Chinese factories in getting things manufactured for sale in the retail market. I mentioned the Nikon F-to-S adaptor I cobbled up, and he offered the opinion that he could get these manufactured within a couple of months. The only thing of course is that the factory would need to make a substantial quantity of them, at least 500, to make it worthwhile tooling. He mentioned yesterday that he had two factories expressing an interest.

So my question is, just how much interest is there in such a device? I figured the market would be very small, but I am posting this on the forum to see if there is some possibility.

It would be an improvement on my design in that it would retain both the Nikon F and S latches, but I think the breechlock approach of the CV design is beyond me. It would retain the lug to locate the 21mm lens correctly, and would require that the adaptor be attached to the camera first and THEN the lens is attached.

Cheers,
Dez
 
Cosina made them, and they were a sell-out. What would the target price be?

Based on the popularity of adapters on Ebay right now for 4/3rds and others, I suspect there is a potential market for a few hundred. I just bought a Nikon F to M-Mount adapter for $80, and it fits the bill for using a 24/2.8 Nikkor-N on the M8. S-Mount will not be as popular, but that target price puts it at the "hey, I want one of those and they are cheap".
 
I'm getting tired of our requests for Cosina to make (or have made for them) more of these adapters falling on deaf ears.
Apparently only the Leica rangefinder volk matter to them now.
But, I always assumed that someone who already had an F-S adapter would eventually get more made by a machine shop or tool and die maker to fill the niche, because that's what I would have done if I had bought one when they were still available.
And now it appears that it may just come to pass.
Please add my name to the list of those persons interested in purchasing one.
Thank you.
 
Last edited:
Cosina produced the FS adapters to help sales of their Nikon F mount Voigtlander SL 12 and 15 lenses. After those lenses sold out, Cosina had no reason to make more adapters for such a small market. When readily available, the FS adapters sold very slowly.

The very small demand vs the high cost of making precision adapters has so far prevented any FS adapter knockoffs from being financially viable - at least to this point in time.

Stephen
 
F-S adaptors

F-S adaptors

I have an idea for a revised design that may be less time consuming to make, and I might proceed with making a small quantity of these devices myself. Stephen is in the world's best position to know how well the CV adaptors would move in the market, so I suspect that the chances of getting a Chinese factory tooled up are slim.

One thing I need and don't have is a supply of cheap Kiev lenses to cannibalize for S mounts. Any ideas?

Cheers,
Dez
 
J-12's are as cheap as they come, followed by the J-11. You might try contacting an Ebay seller and asking them about buying several "less than perfect" J-12's and J-11's as is. I bought several lenses at once from leonjazz65 this way.
 
I'd be interested in one, but the price would probably be too high for me to justify using my F mount lenses on my S3 in place of F3. But if the price is right, why not.
 
A small batch

A small batch

I have been getting materials together to build a small batch of these F-to-S adaptors. I hope to build ten of them, and I will let the list know when I have finished some. At the moment I have a shortage of unwanted old kiev lenses to scrounge the S mounts.

Cheers,
Dez
 
I have a Cosina Nikon F to S adapter, that I am considering selling.

Contact me with your best offer .... :)

It is mint condition.

Vick
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom