Due to the different working lengths that are used for optics with M42 and M39 mounting threads (SLR) and for optics with Nikon F mount, there is a difficulty in using M42 / M39 optics when mounted on Nikon cameras. The difficulty is that with such lenses it is impossible to achieve infinity focus on Nikon cameras.
War for infinity
If you use the usual M42-Nikon adapter (also called KP-42 \ N) mounted on the M42 lens, you won’t be able to focus on distant objects using Nikon cameras. For example, using an M42-Nikon adapter without a lens with a lens Helios-40-2 1.5/85, you can focus a maximum of 1.5 meters from the camera. To overcome this incompatibility and make working with old optics more convenient on Nikon cameras, there is a special corrective lens adapter. The diopter power of the lens allows you to focus on infinity.
Differences between the two adapters. Left - without lens, right - with lens
Every lens in the optical design, even the ND filter on the front lens, can adversely affect the very image quality that the lens creates. The question 'how much does a lens affect image quality' is an important one.
An adapter with a lens was provided to me by Andrey Kuryanov. My adapter not only has a corrective lens, but also Dandelion Lushnikova.
The adapter I used for this article
I used this adapter for testing on 3 lenses:
This is how the adapter with a lens on the Helios-44-2 2/58 lens looks like:
Adapter with lens and chip on Helios-44-2
I conducted a test for the deterioration in image quality that lenses give when using an adapter with a lens. During the test, I used a tripod, a camera Nikon D700trigger cable Nikon MC-30. Pictures were taken in manual camera control at the same shutter speeds, aperture values, and at the same ISO sensitivity. Focusing was carried out using Live View in the central region with maximum magnification. Three shots were taken, the best result was selected. Filmed in JPEG L, Fine, SD mode.
Crop, 1 to 1 (720 * 480), adapter with lens:
Helios-44-2 with a lens
Without a lens:
Helios-44-2 without a lens
It can be seen that the picture with the lens is less sharp than the picture without the lens.
Industar-50-2 with lens adapter
The same with the Industar-50-2 lens:
Industar-50-2 with a lens
Without a lens:
Industar-50-2 without lens
In the case of Industar-5-2, the difference is less noticeable. From this we can draw some conclusions:
- The larger the lens aperture - the more the lens will affect the image quality.
- On closed apertures, or when using low-aperture lenses, it is difficult to distinguish loss in quality by eye
- Using a lens reduces the viewing angle of the lens, roughly speaking, slightly changes the real effective focal length.
- A corrective lens is completely useless when used with rangefinder optics. By and large, it does not change anything, and you can still focus on the rangefinder lens only in macro mode, this was confirmed by the use of such a lens on the Industar-50 P. lens
By the way, buy any adapters with Lushnikov Dandelion for Nikon, Canon, Olympus 4/3 and Dandelions without adapters, buy from the only official representative of the inventor of Dandelion, Viktor Lushnikov in Ukraine - Andrey Kuryanov. Andrey’s page on Lushnikov’s website: http://filmprocess.ru/oduvanchik/ukr.htm write that you came from Radozhiva. You can also buy manual lenses for Canon, Nikon, Olympus cameras from Andrey. In addition to all of the above, Andrey refines lenses for Nikon cameras (with Nikon F mount) and installs Dandelion on them, you get a lens completely ready for use. Andrey is also making the finalization of the adapter so that the lens can be screwed up to infinity and programs Dandelion immediately for any focal parameters and the entire range of required aperture values, the adapters he sells are always of the same quality, since they are taken from the same manufacturer. By the way, there is no locking screw in these adapters either, he drills the hole himself and glues the locking screw
Personal experience
I don't like lens adapters. Of course, lenses are of different production, different enlightenment. How to distinguish a cheap Chinese lens from a better quality one - I don't know. Also, it is difficult for me to say how much the lens enlightenment will help correct the situation with the loss of quality. Many lens adapters have very strong flaw - when they are mounted on certain lenses, the rear lens of the objective rests against the corrective lens and does not allow focusing to infinity. My copy of the adapter made it possible to focus to infinity without any problems using such a 'problem' lens as the Helios-44-2.
If you really want to use old optics with M42 threads, enjoy its vintage quality and other advantages, then the best way would be to use it on another system, for example, Canon, Pentax, Sony Nex, etc. If it is very important to work on Nikon cameras, then you can hand over the lens to the master for revision or redo yourself. Many lenses can be forced to focus on infinity without problems, while others require laborious refinement.
Conclusions:
An adapter with a lens allows focusing to infinity when using optics with a M42-Nikon landing thread, but it can be image quality is degraded. You will find a lot of useful information on working with old lenses on Nikon cameras. here.
Where to buy?
It's the easiest way to buy such an adapter nowadays on Aliexpress: with a chip without a lens here, with lens and chip here.
Comments on this post do not require registration. Anyone can leave a comment. Many different photographic equipment can be found on AliExpress.com.Material prepared Arkady Shapoval. Training/Consultations | Youtube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Telegram.
I have a nikon d 7000 and an adapter with a lens for a Helios 44-3 lens, portraits are muddy ... if I remove the lens, will the image improve?
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Dear Professionals! Help the lover in this matter. On the Nikon D5100 camera I installed an old-aged “Pentacon Electric 50mm F / 1.8” lens through a Chinese adapter “M42-to-Nikon-with-corrective-lens”, but without a chip and contacts. SUDDENLY detected that the green focus confirmation light in the lower left corner of the viewfinder is RUNNING. In this case, it is almost correct. Is this how it should be? The physics of the focus confirmation process is simply not clear. Is this somehow done by the camera through the lens of the lens? Why then do you need a dandelion? Thanks in advance for your help.
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Yes, that's right. This is Nikon's advantage - on ordinary manual lenses (without contacts of the processor lens), there is confirmation of the correct focus with a lamp in the VI, the sound confirmation of focus, exposure metering and rangefinder do not work. And the focus confirmation light works regardless of which lens is installed - directly with the F mount or through the M42-Nikon F adapter
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And Dandelion itself allows you to use the automatic modes of the camera - A, P, S, as well as for the rangefinder, exposure metering and sound confirmation of focus to work. That is - Dandelion simply emulates an autofocus lens
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The physics of the focus confirmation process does not depend in any way on the presence of a chip in the lens, since the autofocus sensors are located inside the camera. When the focus confirmation function is dependent on electronic lens / camera pairing, this is purely a software limitation.
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I have a Pancolar 1,8 / 50 where to buy an adapter with a lens and a chip ????? m42
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Before taking the M42, I read many articles about adapters with a lens, with or without a chip. After articles and tips, I first regretted that I had Nikon, because many people advised using the manual on Canon + they scared me with the lack of autofocus, metering and other things.
So what - in the end they scared in vain. I took Fuji, with a lens, without a dandelion, and the pictures make me very happy. If you correctly set the settings, then the photos will be good and clear. Maybe for the pros a slight deterioration in quality is critical, but for me, an amateur, no. I didn't quite understand why I needed a chip - you can focus perfectly without it. The only thing is, vision fails, but the Nikon has a function with a diopter, which helps a lot.
Now in the arsenal of Helios 44-2 and Jupiter 37A (it has not yet been possible to find a shank, so I use it with an adapter, although I have read that it is horror and perversion).
In general - the conclusions: 1) until you try it yourself, you will not understand. 2) if the hands are not growing out of the ass, then everything will work out
And yet - many thanks to this site, because it was thanks to joyfulness that I learned that it is possible to use familiar lenses from the zenith on modern technology. And, of course, I would like to look for other lenses that I am interested in thanks to your detailed reviews.
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Thank you for the review! I purchased an adapter without a lens. Now I have access to the lenses that I found in the bins (in the cabinets):
Zenitar-m 50mm f1.7
Mc pancolar 1.8 / 50 carl zeiss jena ddr
Mir-1V 2.8 / 37
Jupiter-37A 3.5 / 135
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I have a brand new export Tair 3S MC 4.5 / 300 in use. I did not notice any difference in image quality with or without a lens, even the chromatism on an open hole is gagging with this lens. There is Helios 44M - the same picture - did not notice the difference. The only thing that is noticeable is that the lenses become slightly darker. But I have no "soap" or deterioration of the original drawing of Helios!
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Good day! I’ll make a reservation right away, I’m new to photography, I have Nikon 5100 and Canon 600 cameras, I recently purchased Helios 44-2 and Industrial 26 lenses, sold them as a kit, bought adapters, but I can’t focus at all, moreover, the image is blurry, roughly speaking, only colored spots are visible (((I can’t understand what’s the matter (((help, please !!!) In our city, few people are fond of photography and there’s nobody to ask for help ((((Thank you!
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Industar 26 is a rangefinder lens, you can only shoot macro on your DSC. Lens review: radojuva.com.ua/2013/04/obzor-industar-26-m-2-8-50mm-p/
Helios, when used on Nikon with a conventional adapter, will not have infinity, or rather, it will be able to focus on the meter by 2 (depending on the specific instance and adapter). When used on Canon, with the appropriate adapter, there should be no problems.
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Arkady bought the MC Sonnar 3,5 / 135 Carl Zeiss Jena DDR lens. Nikon D7000 camera, You need to buy an adapter from M42 thread to Nikon mount. The question is to take a bare adapter or with Lushnikov's Dandelion? What will a dandelion give me in a particular case? If I understand correctly, the focus confirmation on the Nikon D7000 will be without it? Then what additional features will I get? Will it be possible to measure exposure and the robot in aperture priority mode?
I will be very grateful for the answer!
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All answers to one here https://radojuva.com.ua/2011/04/optika-na-nikon/#how-mount
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Hello.
I found Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 2,8 / 50 here (only the aperture ring is a little different, at 22, and not at 16), in the review for this lens you said that it is not bad. Do I understand correctly that your final opinion on these lenses takes into account an adapter that degrades quality?
In other words, are these lenses good with a lens?
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Well, if you buy with a high-quality PIXCO lens, then there will be no particular complaints about picture quality
https://lexfoto.com.ua/m42-nikon-f-lens-pixco.html
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Sorry, Pixco exists in China and manufactures adapters, it used to be a company producing small reflectors for camera flashes, and their adapters are also expensive. It is interesting to see a direct comparison of such expensive adapters in one test. I'll try to somehow test several of these adapters at the same time, including the Kipon adamter.
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I take my words back, the other day I checked the PIXCO adasper at work, it turned out that a very high-quality thing (Laina, in my opinion, is even slightly better than PIXCO), the picture does not change much, the contrast is slightly lost and not the resolution, which is not critical, in some cases even the contrast is not lost, apparently the manufacturer and not only this one, in the latest versions of the adapter they began to use really high-quality glass. I'm going to buy one myself and a couple of old lenses, as soon as I can, I'll try to make a reviewer and a more detailed comparison. PIXCO even started supplying adapters for Nikon with a chip not only for M42 lenses, but also for Olympus OM (without lens) and Sony A (with lens), as well as for Mamiya645 (also without lens, of course). Everything is developing and the quality of adapters is also improving ...
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A lot is not described on this topic. Since the camera will not receive iris control. It’s impossible to control the exposure from the camera, by and large, the dandelion is not needed. There is no leaping diaphragm. In general, the adapter may not clamp the diaphragm lever and will always be as open as possible. And if you close, put a ring, then when closing is stronger than 5.6 phase focus will not work.
In general, this adapter is for experiments only. And not for real shooting with a digital SLR.
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HERE today I will do an experiment with my lens, not long ago I got it, they say that there is enlightenment, yes, it’s visible, it gives a purple tint, we’ll see, I’ll sign for comparison ...
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Hmm ... my Chinese lens turned out to be no better ... albeit brightened. apparently the very idea of inserting a lens there is not very correct and came as a compromise solution. I read somewhere that one guy put a negative glass on the front lens of the objective, which he ordered in optics about -0,8 diopters and said that everything worked out Ice! We must experience it. And he stuffed this piece of glass into the frame from the light filter.
And below are my hand tests, from which it became clear that this lens is only for MONOCLE fans.
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with lens
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Without lens
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With fox lens
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sharpness blurred with a lens (and sharpness is already lacking).
Without a lens adapter you can buy here: http://olx.ua/list/user/Bewr/
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Ban for cross-posting
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sorry (if you have questions about using m42 adapters, please contact
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No, there are questions about dead-end spammers and advertisers of their lousy business on the site.
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Do not confuse business with a hobby.
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well, someone's money is a hobby.
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Money is a vital necessity, a hobby is a soul need)
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And the Chinese adapters, such as advertised above, do not have a stopper, scroll?
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Chinese adapters, most of even the simplest and most normal ones for 50-150 rubles with an ebay have a screw-stopper in place of the bayonet mount, so nothing scrolls.
if desired, making a hole and inserting a screw or even a match into it is not difficult at all.
Especially considering the cheapness thereof.
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as an awesome spammer
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Only the lens can be scrolled relative to the adapter. The adapter itself does not scroll.
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1. well, having cameras d7000 and above or d600 and above - no dandelion is needed - the cameras can work with manual glasses in A mode anyway - that is, they choose the shutter speed themselves. + for those who shoot in M mode - this dandelion is also not needed - for Nikon, the focus confirmation works without it on any cameras - and who has a light meter in the eye - why bother? I do not understand.
2. The lens does not reduce sharpness on very open holes - from the examples presented above, this is clearly visible - here they just distort - the microcontrast decreases - and this is easy and, most importantly, painless for a photo, edited in the editor ..
3. as it was rightly noted for some glasses, there is no difference, whether there is a lens or it is not ... with a magnifying glass it is not visible even on open ones, but on pressed ones, there will be no difference 99% ... I do not have many helios glasses 44 industar 50 \ 3.5 jupiter 135 \ 3.5 zenitar16 \ 2.8 - I prefer to use an adapter with a lens ...
add frames from the zenitar 16 - lens adapter hole 11.0
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HOORAY ! I UNLOCKED MY HELIOS 44 2 !! MY NIKON D 5200 WILL BECOME AN ARTISTIC PORTRAIT NOW! EXACTLY WILL RECEIVE SUCH A LENS .. AND THAT WOMEN'S PORTRAITS ON A NATIVE NIKKOR THROUGH OVER SHARP AND THE LADIES ARE NOT SATISFIED WITH THEIR PIMS AND WRINKLES ... I WANT TO REMOVE WITHOUT USING THE EDITOR ..
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For ladies, make it a monocle, they will generally be delighted.
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Take off through a nylon stocking and the ladies will squeak with delight.
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You do not need an adapter with a lens, just unwind and throw out the adjusting washer and use a simple adapter.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGbjlmEX2dQ
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Hello everybody! To the question of adapters https://fotodioxpro.com/collections/lens-mount-adapters
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Please tell me, I want to order an adapter with a lens. If you don’t like it, is it possible to remove it yourself, and use it without a lens?
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It is possible, but without a lens, there will be no infinity. It will focus a maximum of a few meters.
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as I understand it is quite possible to take? I just want to take it with a lens right away and if I don’t like to take it off. And maybe still tell me. I read a lot about adapters in cameras stuck: ((Which then should I take?
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you need to take the lenses that will be on the camera without an adapter with a lens.
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you mean Kaleinar, Helios81, etc.;) Yes, I know that. Just others are at home, I just want to try :)
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You can remove it, but put it later - will it work itself? It's not a problem for 100 UAH to buy without a lens in addition to a lens
https://lexfoto.com.ua/m42-nikon-f-simple.html
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This one is better, is there a test?
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Brands like PIXCO will be better.
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I've looked at the photos of this pixco, but it's the same unnamed adapter, someone just made a name for foreign markets from China. And they are also sold cheap, so in my opinion there will be no difference. Pixco is not a real manufacturer or a brand, or even some brave online seller from a Russian village, as is often the case ...
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I will answer my own comment: I was wrong about pixco, because I first tried to look for it under this English name, and after searching for its real Chinese name, it turned out that there really is such a company in China and it produces high-quality products known all over the world, so that dear Vitaly was right about him. With a high degree of probability, lens adapters from this company will be of high quality and will not degrade quality, although they will need to be tested whenever possible ...
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брал здесь-https://www.ebay.com/itm/Pixco-Optical-Glass-For-M42-Lens-to-Nikon-Adapter-D810A-D7200-D5500-D750-D810/272947299582?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
немного тестировал-https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1988638004542661.1073741882.100001894422240&type=1&l=d43fb8d1aa
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"I don't know how to tell a cheap Chinese lens from a better one." According to my observations, in China itself the most active and respected seller of adapters is Laina. It is very strange that no one on aliexpress offers his products. This can be explained by the fact that their products are much more expensive than others, but they have no equal in support and submission of materials on Internet sites, they have long been producing the entire line of adapters for all systems. Personally, I have not used their products, but in all their advertisements they emphasize that they use high quality optical glass. If possible, I will definitely buy their adapter and test it on my Nikon. Using the pictures given here, I looked through Chinese stores and this is what I found:
https://ibb.co/fc7CGy
This one is an adapter from Laina and it costs about 18 dollars.
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https://ibb.co/eJzZwy
But it costs about $ 4, that is 4,5 times cheaper.
So I suspect that the quality will be correspondingly lower, or several times lower, because the latter probably uses glass from a used beer bottle for such a price, rather than optical glass.
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A few years ago, China began production of high-quality optical glass and now it does not cost $ 1000 per 1 kg, as it was before, so manufacturers can already produce high-quality lenses or lenses at a reasonable price, but not for $ 4,5 retail .
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In a word, there will be an opportunity, I will protect and write a review or throw off the test results.
It is also strange that on youtube there is not a single review of adapters from this company.
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I can add my results with other lenses. But the point is not even in comparing quality, but in the possibility of using lenses.
Jupiter-21M (200mm) - it seems to me that without a lens it is better not to try - the pusher of the diaphragm may rest against something. With the lens, everything is fine - the lens has a switch for manual iris control.
Mir-1V (37mm) cannot be used with a lens - the rear part rests against the lens.
For some reason, Zenitar-M2s turned out to be unsuitable at all - with or without a lens. Sharpness is impossible to achieve, although it is in the viewfinder.
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