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Best adapted lenses for the GFX system?

mark1958

Member
Note that was posted april 1....

i reallze that this is a thread about adapted lenses but kasson mentioned that native lenses need to be recoated every two years. I'd find that a great reason not to buy into this camera system. I've never been fan of adapting non native enses.

"the second is more mundane. The floobydust only lasts about two years. After that the rear element of the fuji lenses must be re-coated. Fuji solved that problem by engineering each lens to malfunction after two years. The user will send the lens in to be repaired, and will be none the wiser when they receive the repaired lens with a re-coated rear element."

the secret behind gfx sharpness with native lenses
 

Archie

New member
I am about to buy into the GFX and am wondering if anyone has tried the Mamiya RZ lens with the adapter yet. I can't see any thing online about this combo, i have quiet a few old RZ lens' in a pelicase that i would love to give new life to.
 

Abstraction

Well-known member
I have also wondered if anyone has tried legacy MF adapted lenses with focal reducers. Please share your impressions.

Thanks
 

narikin

New member
Try the Rokinon 135mm f2, which you can get in a Canon or Nikon mount. I use this on a FF-MF IQ3 back, and it almost covers, so am positive it will cover crop MF.

Excellent lens, super fast portrait, very affordable too ($450 new!). I had the Zeiss 135mm Apo Sonnar, which is 3x the price, and many call an Otus in all but name, but... it was no sharper than the Rokinon, so I sent it back) MF only though, of course.
 

Abstraction

Well-known member
Try the Rokinon 135mm f2, which you can get in a Canon or Nikon mount. I use this on a FF-MF IQ3 back, and it almost covers, so am positive it will cover crop MF.

Excellent lens, super fast portrait, very affordable too ($450 new!). I had the Zeiss 135mm Apo Sonnar, which is 3x the price, and many call an Otus in all but name, but... it was no sharper than the Rokinon, so I sent it back) MF only though, of course.
What about legacy Mamiya or Pentax lenses with and without a focal reducer? I would imagine that if a focal reducer has a quality lens, the old lenses should shine since the image circle will be reduced and the entire lens will be used to project an image. I wonder if anyone has tried that.
 

narikin

New member
What about legacy Mamiya or Pentax lenses with and without a focal reducer? I would imagine that if a focal reducer has a quality lens, the old lenses should shine since the image circle will be reduced and the entire lens will be used to project an image. I wonder if anyone has tried that.
The problem is nearly all older lenses just aren't sharp enough for modern digital. Sure, if you want them for special looks/effects, go right ahead, but almost none are up to modern digital lens standards.

Then... as we hit a base of 100mp for MF digital, that bar will be significantly higher.

I wish it were otherwise, believe me - I'd happily get any/all lenses that worked, but, afaik, its very, very rare they make the grade. Even Zeiss-Hasselblad lenses, for the most part come off badly. Not just sharpness, but glaring CA (Chromatic Aberration) - it seems they didn't have to compute for those, to any serious degree, in the days of film.

Your best hope is longer lenses, those hold up best, plus the designs didn't change so much film>digital. Look for 100mm and up, especially 150-300+mm. Mamiya 645, Zeiss/Hassy, etc.
 
Bronica Zenzanon PS 40mm F/4 PS Lens, haven't bought it yet, just checking out. I'm planning on adapting this lens to a Fuji GFX50R. Any thoughts? Haven't bought it yet, just checking out.
 

fotophil

Member
Bronica Zenzanon PS 40mm F/4 PS Lens, haven't bought it yet, just checking out. I'm planning on adapting this lens to a Fuji GFX50R. Any thoughts? Haven't bought it yet, just checking out.
My wife used to shoot the big 6x7 Bronica and found the lenses to be good Perhaps they were made by Nikon - I don't remember.Your project sounds like a custom adapter fabrication job. The Bronica has a manual aperture controls so a dumb adapter will work. Let us know how it works.
 

fotophil

Member
I am about to buy into the GFX and am wondering if anyone has tried the Mamiya RZ lens with the adapter yet. I can't see any thing online about this combo, i have quiet a few old RZ lens' in a pelicase that i would love to give new life to.
Are you sure that the RZ Lenses can provide good performance for digital applications? Also the adapter will to include a focus mount.
 

rdeloe

Well-known member
I considered one of these too. However, I decided not to get one because a friend who has tried this lens on an A7R reported poor results, and because the SMC Pentax-A 35mm f/3.5 is so good on the GFX 50R. Plus the flange focal length of the Bronica SQ lenses is only 69mm, it's even tighter on my setup than the Pentax 645 lenses.

Bronica Zenzanon PS 40mm F/4 PS Lens, haven't bought it yet, just checking out. I'm planning on adapting this lens to a Fuji GFX50R. Any thoughts? Haven't bought it yet, just checking out.
 

gurtch

Well-known member
I have a GFX 50R with 23mm, 32-64mm and 100-200mm lenses. I am a senior amateur, and the weight of the system caused me to fashion a wheeled case, which I received plenty of help with here. The new Fuji 50mm f3.5 looks VERY tempting as a street/camera, walk about lens, as it is very small and light. But $1000 for something I may not use often is a bit much. Has anyone tried a Canon 40mm or 50mm lens with auto focus adapter? Cheap light weight. My mail concern is coverage and vignetting.
TIA
Dave in NJ
 

cjl

Member
So here are links to two full size test shots taken, hand-held, with the GFX, Cambo CA GFX Canon adapter, and the Canon 24mm TS-E lens right after I had collected the adapter and was still working it out.

I have always been pleased with results from my copy of the Canon 24mm TS-E II on the Sony a7r series; it continues to perform well even fully shifted on the M4. But it performs quite poorly in the corners, even without shifts and even in 35mm mode, on GFX bodies (first the 50s and now the 100). Are others getting good results with this lens adapted to GFX bodies? If so, could the adapter (a Viltrox EF-GFX smart adapter which connect electronically to the lens) be the problem?
 
I have a GFX 50R with 23mm, 32-64mm and 100-200mm lenses. I am a senior amateur, and the weight of the system caused me to fashion a wheeled case, which I received plenty of help with here. The new Fuji 50mm f3.5 looks VERY tempting as a street/camera, walk about lens, as it is very small and light. But $1000 for something I may not use often is a bit much. Has anyone tried a Canon 40mm or 50mm lens with auto focus adapter? Cheap light weight. My mail concern is coverage and vignetting.
TIA
Dave in NJ
I have very good results with the Canon EF 40mm f/2,8 STM Pancake and the Techart Adapter. I like this combination very much.
Wolfgang from Germany
 

rdeloe

Well-known member
Can you shift with this lens?
Image circle is 63mm. Assuming it's good all the way out to the edge of the image circle, you can expect 5-6mm of shift.

I have not tried this lens, but it's much bigger than the SMC Pentax-A 645 35mm f/3.5 I use, and the Pentax is excellent.
 

ASA32

Member
New to the party, but I've been trying out some Canon FD lenses on my GFX 50 R, using the Novoflex adapter. I'm very happy with the New FD 135 f/2, 200 f/4 Macro, and 300 f/4L lenses. I posted some examples on the Fun with GFX50R thread.
 

Grayhand

Well-known member


I did post this image in the Fun-tread taken with the Nikkor PC 28/3.5 lens on the GFX50r. F at 16.

As it might be of interest to someone else also I decided to give a little bit more info here.



This photo shows the lens mounted on the camera.

For the following photos I have only downsampled to 1200, no other changes:



The photo is taken at F3.5, distance about 3 meters.
Focus in the center of the upper branch, at the point where the two branches split
Vignetting is clearly visible, But sharpness is OK in the center.




All the same except F8, still some vignetting visible.




Full shift left, 10 mm, F8




Full shift right, 10 mm, F8


I am actually rather impressed by this lens, I did not expect this good performance!
Sharpness is good. I would not hesitate to print the top picture as a 2 meter wide panorama on canvas.
And that picture was not given any other treatment compared to what I do with pictures from my other GF-lenses.

If someone is interested, just send me a message with a mail address and I will send you the 4 original. RAF-files from the wood.

Ray
 
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