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Nikon F on Canon EOS, best adapter?

Jeff Kilgroe

Jeff Kilgroe

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OK, I'm looking to mount a couple of my obscure Nikon lenses to a 5DII and 7D. Which mount is best?

I'm about to buy this one from B&H, but was wondering if there are any different options out there. I know a lot of the cheaper ones don't provide the proper FFD and are therefore worthless.
 
Please Jeff. Don't spend $270 on that mount.

Instead just buy a bunch of these, they work great!
http://cgi.ebay.com/Fotodiox-Nikon-...ItemQQptZLens_Accessories?hash=item5ad3059c5d

Be sure to buy some of Fotodiox's Canon rear lens caps as well. They are $2.50 for a 2-pack.

Like you, I was on the search for a great EOS to F mount adapter after buying a $65 piece of crap from a local camera store. I happened up Fotodiox and purchased their Pro F-Mount to EOS adapter for $85. This adapter worked great but I wanted a few more so I didn't have to change the mount every time. I could just leave it on each lens and go. So I took the chance on Fotodiox's cheaper $18 mount and I notice absolutely no difference between the PRO and the Standard. Also, buy through ebay because if you buy directly through their online store, they charge $12 more. And as far as I know, you're not going to get perfect back focus with any of these adapters. The lens will focus a little past infinity which is OK with me, as long as I'm able to hit infinity.
 
Jeff
I have one and it started giving me a play in the mount after 20-40 cycles (mounting dismounting)
After I got bunch of steel mounts from ebay, that serve me better for much less ($20 a piece)
In this case: what you pay is not what you get.
 
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Thanks guys, this is the info I was looking for. I'm aware of the shortcomings of the fotodiox mount, was hoping the more expensive one would be better. Obviously one that actually mounts the lens to the proper flange depth would be great, but it seems that such a thing doesn't exist. Although I suppose there are too many variables and tolerance issues with such a thin piece of metal, manufactured by a robot in china somewhere. I'll order me a couple off ebay and will see how it goes.
 
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Thanks for the dvxuser link. After reading through all that and doing some more research, I've come to the conclusion that the best options are:

Fotodiox cheapies -- buy a bunch, each one is slightly different some will work great, some are crap right from the start. They wear out after so many use cycles, heavy lenses are hard on them.

HAODA - $150, but typically on sale for half that. They guaranty proper flange depth and focus at infinity. Translator chips transfer through most info for metering and focus confirmation. They still tend to wear out faster than they should.

KAWA - Super cheap, infinity focus is off by about 1-2mm, consistent production. Made of "hardened" bronze - a bit soft, can flex more than aluminum, steel or brass over time, but should be overall more durable than aluminum.

Cinevate - $30. The only one I've found that's actually made of brass. Looks good, only found one review and the reviewer claims infinity focus and flange depth are correct.

I'm going to order the Cinevate one and I've ordered a couple of the Fotodiox ones. The HAODA looks nice, but I'm not looking to adapt any electronic lenses, just some older or more unique manual ones like a F0.9 50mm and a 6mm fisheye.
 
Jeff Kilgroe said:
Thanks guys, this is the info I was looking for. I'm aware of the shortcomings of the fotodiox mount, was hoping the more expensive one would be better...
Click to expand...

I think Albert was referring to the B&H one, but I may be wrong.
 
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ericyoung said:
I think Albert was referring to the B&H one, but I may be wrong.
Click to expand...

Yes, that's the way I interpreted it. I had already researched the Fotodiox one prior. The B&H one (Novolux or whatever) doesn't seem much better. It's expensive, but I've found a few reports that agree with Albert -- the B&H mount wears out after a limited number of lock cycles, not worth the money.
 
I've been using the Fotodiox mount for a couple months now and it works. But there is some play with certain lenses in my kit like the Nikon 80-200mm f2.8 zoom. Since the Cinevate mount is cheap I ordered a couple also to see how they fair against the Fotodiox.
 
I'm using fotodiox on 7D and its actually pretty easy to switch adapter from lens to lens which is what I do. Saving every penny I an for scarlet.
Focus past infinity is ok and u get used to it.

Watch out for the prong on the back of the older AIS. Most of mine were ok but my 35/1.4 prong cleared the mirror but collided with the gold EF contacts inside the mount. Had 2 remove prong, not with hacksaw as too musch dust, used pliers and bent it back n forth repeatedly till I got a clean break.
 
EOS 5D AND 7D Lens Adapters

EOS 5D AND 7D Lens Adapters

Jeff Kilgroe said:
Yes, that's the way I interpreted it. I had already researched the Fotodiox one prior. The B&H one (Novolux or whatever) doesn't seem much better. It's expensive, but I've found a few reports that agree with Albert -- the B&H mount wears out after a limited number of lock cycles, not worth the money.
Click to expand...

Be really interested to hear what you find out, Jeff .... we've set up a Canon HD DSLR studio next to our DI theater ... if you want to come in with your various adaptors and Nikon glass and shoot some charts and green screens/actors and then go next door to see the Canon footage projected in a tightly calibrated DI environment with some Apple color correction applied (no expensive HEAVYIRON stuff here) we'd really be interested ... we trust your opinions as a shooter.

Neil
 
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Thanks for the invite, Neil. I'm not in LA though -- I'm near Denver. Next time I'm in LA I'll try to stop by. ...Next time I'm in LA, I'm gonna have to add an extra week onto my trip just so I can say hi to about 100 different people. Ha!

Hopefully I'll have both the photodiox and cinevate adapters soon. I don't currently own a Canon SLR body, but I did shoot with a 5D2 last week over the past week, stills and video. Really liked it. Except for it's known shortcomings. I'll have a 7D of my own in a couple weeks and will probably be borrowing one before that. Sooo... It will still be a bit before I collect all my thoughts on this.
 
jump in the car ....

jump in the car ....

Jeff Kilgroe said:
Thanks for the invite, Neil. I'm not in LA though -- I'm near Denver. Next time I'm in LA I'll try to stop by. ...Next time I'm in LA, I'm gonna have to add an extra week onto my trip just so I can say hi to about 100 different people. Ha!

Hopefully I'll have both the photodiox and cinevate adapters soon. I don't currently own a Canon SLR body, but I did shoot with a 5D2 last week over the past week, stills and video. Really liked it. Except for it's known shortcomings. I'll have a 7D of my own in a couple weeks and will probably be borrowing one before that. Sooo... It will still be a bit before I collect all my thoughts on this.
Click to expand...

Denver is not that far away, Jeff ... jump in the car and you'll be here by breakfast time ;-) .... we have 7Ds and 5D Mk II here so if you want to check them all out, come on over ... we'll have the EOS 1D Mk IV just before Christmas if you want to plan your visit to sunny LA in December.

Anyway, let us know what you suss out with the adapters.

Cheers,
Neil
 
So I got my cinevate adaptors and popped them on my Zeiss ZF primes and my Nikon 80-200mm zoom. I wasn't very impressed with what I found. Both the adaptors seem to have a lot of play in the mount. Compared to the fotodiox adaptor, which is way more solid and a better build than the cinevate ones. I get a little bit of play in the fotodiox adaptor but nothing like what the cinevate ones are doing. I'm going to be sending mine back. So much for trying something new.
 
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Thanks for the review! I've got the Fotodiox mounts here and Cinevate adapters should be here any day now. I have not connected anything to a Canon body yet. Will do on thursday/friday when I get a 7D here. I've found that the Fotodiox adapters fit OK, but there seems to be a tiny bit of slop, more with one in particular, especially on my older fisheye where the mount has seen a lot of use. I need to use them on a job this next week, so if the Cinevate ones show up, I'll try them, otherwise the Fotodiox are ready to go. I have already accepted that infinity focus will just have to be off. The tolerances on these adapters are pretty lenient I think, based on differences between the adapters I have.

As for the Cinevate ones, I hate to bash another product without seeing it, but if the Cinevate ones are of lower quality than the Fotodiox, well... uh, that just sucks.
 
Jeff Kilgroe said:
Thanks for the review! I've got the Fotodiox mounts here and Cinevate adapters should be here any day now. I have not connected anything to a Canon body yet. Will do on thursday/friday when I get a 7D here. I've found that the Fotodiox adapters fit OK, but there seems to be a tiny bit of slop, more with one in particular, especially on my older fisheye where the mount has seen a lot of use. I need to use them on a job this next week, so if the Cinevate ones show up, I'll try them, otherwise the Fotodiox are ready to go. I have already accepted that infinity focus will just have to be off. The tolerances on these adapters are pretty lenient I think, based on differences between the adapters I have.

As for the Cinevate ones, I hate to bash another product without seeing it, but if the Cinevate ones are of lower quality than the Fotodiox, well... uh, that just sucks.
Click to expand...

Which Fotodiox adaptor did you get? I got the Pro mount that cost $89. It mounts really solid and the only little bit of play I see in it is with the Nikon 80-200mm f2.8. The Cinevate one I can jiggle on the mount and it doesn't snap into place like the Fotodiox adaptor does.
 
with the 80-200 are you attaching that to your sticks or the camera?

I would never put an 80-200 hanging off a camera

On adapters I use cheapies and novoflex, cant tell a difference

A small amount of tape can improve fit no end :)

S
 
Jeff Kilgroe said:
Thanks for the dvxuser link. After reading through all that and doing some more research, I've come to the conclusion that the best options are:

Fotodiox cheapies -- buy a bunch, each one is slightly different some will work great, some are crap right from the start. They wear out after so many use cycles, heavy lenses are hard on them.

HAODA - $150, but typically on sale for half that. They guaranty proper flange depth and focus at infinity. Translator chips transfer through most info for metering and focus confirmation. They still tend to wear out faster than they should.

KAWA - Super cheap, infinity focus is off by about 1-2mm, consistent production. Made of "hardened" bronze - a bit soft, can flex more than aluminum, steel or brass over time, but should be overall more durable than aluminum.

Cinevate - $30. The only one I've found that's actually made of brass. Looks good, only found one review and the reviewer claims infinity focus and flange depth are correct.

I'm going to order the Cinevate one and I've ordered a couple of the Fotodiox ones. The HAODA looks nice, but I'm not looking to adapt any electronic lenses, just some older or more unique manual ones like a F0.9 50mm and a 6mm fisheye.
Click to expand...

The New Haoda Pro adaptors are very good, not sure it they support nikon F though. They have a Leica R one also but not on the web site yet so may be worth checking.
 
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