What non-F lenses to mount on an F-mount Nikon?

[rxmd]

You could get a short mount helicoid for visoflex and adapt it to Nikon SLR easily. That way you could use the older 90 Elmarit and Elmar, 135 Elmar and Hektor, and the longer superb visoflex lens heads.

Not cheap though, the Visoflex adapter for the Nikon is $220 alone, and then you still don't have any helicoids or lenses.

If you don't mind getting dirty, you could find something like a Helios-44 in M42 mount then have the base of the flange turned down by a machinist about 3mm then add a Nikon flange from an old broken Nikon lens. You'll have a fantastic 85mm f/1.5.

You probably mean the Helios-40; the Helios-44 would be a generic 58/f2 lens. I've used my 85/f1.5 Helios-40 on the Nikon F2AS with a plain glassless M42 adapter; you don't get infinity focus, but for portraits you don't need it anyway. Takes good pictures.

That said, the Helios-40 is no longer a bargain lens, largely because of its speed. On eBay they are in the $400-$500 range at least. I would not buy one of those only to have it turned down by a machinist.

In short, the Nikon system just isn't very good for adapting lenses. Either you adapt medium format lenses which will be big and heavy and not all that optimized for detail; or you adapt Leica R lenses which forces you to convert every lens; or you specially buy interchangeable mount lenses, which end up just like any third party lens and often not very good; or you resort to hacksaw-type solutions.

 

[pagpow]

Pagpow, sure they count! Hadn't heard of them before.

This'll give you a list and commentary on lenses you might find interesting, jonasv.
http://www.jcolwell.ca/MM/MonaghansCultClassics.pdf

Giorgio

 

[jonasv]

Thanks everyone!

I knew the possibilities would be limited, but it was mostly curiosity that got the upper hand...

And who knows, I might find a bargain Tamron 17/3.5, as my Nikkor 24/2.8 isn't very wide on an APS-C-sized sensor anymore!

Thanks for the link Giorgio, I'll have a look!

 

[rxmd]

And who knows, I might find a bargain Tamron 17/3.5, as my Nikkor 24/2.8 isn't very wide on an APS-C-sized sensor anymore!

The trick with Tamron SP lenses is to look for them with "unpopular" (in the digital age) lens mounts - Canon FD, Minolta, that sort of thing. Often you will find that with Nikon mount they will cost twice as much as with Canon FD mount. That's how I bought mine. You just buy the lens, buy a Nikon mount separately, and keep the Canon FD mount adapter or sell it.

 

[jonasv]

Aha. Good tip. I noticed those with Nikon mounts were indeed priced on the high side, but adapters are cheap. Thanks!

 

[kanzlr]

regarding medium format lenses and resolution: At least the Mamiya 645 lenses I used, the 200 APO and the 80 1.9 are superb, even wide open, and are a great match for the D700 (never tried it on something like a D800).

 

[Jan Van Laethem]

Contax/Yashica to Nikon

http://www.fatuarte.es/tienda/product.php?id_product=207

Leica R to Nikon

http://www.fatuarte.es/tienda/product.php?id_product=192

Bronica SQ to Nikon (according to the description it focuses to infinity)

http://www.prostudiousa.com/Bronica-SQ-Lens-to-Nikon-Mount-adapter-P4480.aspx

And to try something really different, there is the lensbaby (no adapter needed)

http://lensbaby.com/lenses

 

[rxmd]

Contax/Yashica to Nikon

http://www.fatuarte.es/tienda/product.php?id_product=207

That one contains its own optics, it acts as a 1.25x teleconverter (see description) and likely degrades image quality a fair bit.

Leica R to Nikon

http://www.fatuarte.es/tienda/product.php?id_product=192

That one is a replacement mount, similar to the ones offered by Leitax. I'd go with the Leitax one instead, better documentation and it's clearer which Leica lenses it will fit.

 

[Jan Van Laethem]

That one contains its own optics, it acts as a 1.25x teleconverter (see description) and likely degrades image quality a fair bit.

Thanks for correcting me, somehow I missed the 1.25x conversion factor in the description.

 

[pagpow]

The trick with Tamron SP lenses is to look for them with "unpopular" (in the digital age) lens mounts - Canon FD, Minolta, that sort of thing. Often you will find that with Nikon mount they will cost twice as much as with Canon FD mount. That's how I bought mine. You just buy the lens, buy a Nikon mount separately, and keep the Canon FD mount adapter or sell it.

I knew you could swap them out, but I never put 2 and 2 together like this. Thanks, rxmd.

Giorgio