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Nikon G/DX lenses on G1? Anyone?

wjlapier

Member
I did today and there is a way to control the aperture, or at least open it wide open. As some of you know the Nikon G lenses have no aperture ring so the aperture in controlled by the camera body. You'll never have exact f stops below wide open, but it's another option that might open up more lenses available for the G1. The trick is the adapter. There is an original Nikon made adapter to C mount that has a aperture plunger ( actually opens the lens up to wide open ). With the use of an AR-2 shutter release you can lock the lens wide open and shoot! Or make some mild adjustments. My only DX lens is the new 35/1.8. So, I wonder how the 10.5/2.8 fish would do with this setup? I'm gonna assume that there shouldn't be any vignetting because the DX sensor is larger than the mft sensor--right? This means the 10.5 would be a relatively fast 21/2.8! If I had access to the 10.5 fish I would try it in a heartbeat. And as it is, I don't have a DX body--my Nikon DSLR is a D700. I believe there are other superwide zoom DX type lenses that are f/2.8. Has anyone played with this option yet?

Here's the adapter:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Nikon-F-C-Mount...ryZ21166QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

AR-2:
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=Nikon+AR-2

Tomorrow I'll take a picture of the complete setup.
 
M

milapse

Guest
I've got the same adapter and I found an inch or so internal threaded tube that fit the thread on the aperture plunger. Then I have a nut on the other end that I rotate to get different aperture settings via the plunger. Looks kooky but it works great with non-aperture ring lenses.

I've tried the sigma 10-20 (dx lens) and it fills the sensor no problem.
 

HansenTsang

New member
Wow, that opened up another door for my G lenses. I can probably rig something up on the shutter release mechanism to adjust the aperture.
 

HansenTsang

New member
Just an update. I received the Nikon F to C mount adapter today and mounted my G lenses on top. Sure enough, I can control the aperture opening. All I need to do is to make tube with a thumb screw to adjust the aperture opening from the plunger on the side. If only my C-mount to micro 4/3 adapter will show up from Rong Jin then I am all set!

Any sample pictures yet?
 

HansenTsang

New member
No, I am not into wide angle very much. However I do have the 14 to 24 zoom that can probably be interesting on the G1.
 

HansenTsang

New member
Here is my solution to adjust the aperture. I found an old Nikon shutter release cable. The end of the cable fit on the adapter. I just tapped the existing hole to 3 mm and put a nylon screw through to use as adjustment screw. I will paint the nylon screw to give me an idea where wide open is and the middle aperture and the smallest aperture. After that I will just let the G1 automatically do the exposure.
 
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HansenTsang

New member
Got the C mount adapter today so I had to give it a try. I didn't want to put on the Nikkor 14-24 because that seems too heavy for those two turns of 1" diameter thread. So I tested something a little lighter. I tested a Sigma 30 mm f1.4 with Nikon mount. No aperture ring so perfect for the C mount adapter and the Nikon to C mount adapter. It looked kind of funky because the attachment point by the camera body is so small. Nevertheless I am encouraged by the image quality. I was using the same Sigma 30 on my Nikon D60 before and never liked the image quality much. I can't complain about it on the G1 body.

Here are some quick and dirt samples.

They are straight from the camera raw images converted to jpg from photoshop and resized. No added sharpening.
 
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monza

Active member
Well done! That Sigma looks like a good match for the G1, good speed and just a tad more than a normal lens focal length. Do you think it would be possible to mark the screw so you could set more precise stops?
 

HansenTsang

New member
Exactly what I was thinking. On a nice day I will try and play with the aperture screw and paint it so I know where is the middle. Wide open is full tight and smallest aperture is full loose so middle should be about f8.

Yes, I like the 30 mm focal length on the G1 also. That's why I decided to try that first. I just breathe new life into the Siggy 30 because I didn't want to use it with my D90 after I bought the 35 mm f1.8G.
 

pentacon6

New member
I just "accidentally" find an accessory for reversal macro shooting for Nikon. It is called Nikon BR-6 auto diaphram ring. You may find one in the following link:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/37175-REG/Nikon_2658_BR_6_Auto_Diaphragm_Ring.html

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-list...w?ie=UTF8&qid=1238824874&sr=8-1&condition=new

Used one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Nikon-BR-6-Auto...14&_trkparms=72:1205|66:5|65:12|39:2|240:1318

Of course, some modification is needed since there is no connectible part to make
it joining with the C-mount adapter. But I have found a series of photo in flickr.com
may give us hints of how to MOD it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/westlothian/2344074338/

I have do some research of similar setup but seems only Nikon provides such
a device, not other brands like Pentax, Olympus, Contax, etc.
Never though about Canon EOS mount, the mechanism is all internalized that
you never have chance to modify except the lenses for film body in early period.


It is another world for G1. I may try a Tamron 10-24mm for my wide angle options.
I want to have an Olympus zuiko 9-18mm but the cost of buying an 4/3 adapter is
to much, either the Panasonic 7 -14mm is something too much. It is really strange
when I look back of why I bought G1. It is not a convenience setup if not using
genius lenses. However, it gives you quite a lot of possibility in the optical world.
 

HansenTsang

New member
The reverse lens adapter seems to be Nikon's method of letting the user adjust the aperture when the lens is mounted backwards. The Cine lens adapter that I bought on eBay is doing the same thing except it extends down to a 25 mm threaded mount which is very convenient. I didn't have to re-invent the wheel by creating a C mount adapter. The flange length seems to be very good also and I get infinity focus with no problem.
Here are more pictures of the setup.

On this setup I could use the entire piece of shutter release cable to control the aperture but the cable would be getting in the way a lot.
 
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HansenTsang

New member
The first two were from the Cosmicar. F1.4 and f8. The next two were from the Nikon zoom. One at 24 mm and the other at 14 mm both at f2.8.
 
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