Can a Cheap Vintage Lens Adapter Damage your Camera ? (M42 vs M42)
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- Опубліковано 1 лют 2021
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Can a cheap vintage lens adapter damage your camera ?
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A lot of people ask me what kind of adapter they should buy, and how it will affect the image quality of their photos and videos.
So let’s see the difference between a cheap and a pro adapter.
first of all, let’s be clear, the two adapters will have the same effect on image quality.
An adapter is just a way to get a correct focus distance
What makes a real difference is the build quality of the adapter and if it can damage your camera.
Here is a 5$ adapter I bought on Amazon.
it comes in a Bubble pouch, and at first sight, it looks ugly but ok.
even if the font looks odd.
Here is a 30$ adapter I bought from Kamerastor, a shop that has the best adapters for all kinds of vintage lenses.
It comes in a real box and looks cool and solid.
So what is the real difference?
Let's take a closer look.
On the cheap adapter, the mount is covered with a thin layer of black paint.
with time and usage, this is going to create paint chips that will fall inside your camera and could damage the sensor.
On the pro version, the mount is in pure metal, nothing will fall inside the camera.
On the cheap version, the mount is secured with 3 small screws
on the pro version with 4 small screws.
so the cheap version is less resistant to tractions and lens weight in the long term
Of course, the design is a matter of taste, but the cheap version looks ugly to me and kinda amateurish.
#m42 #vintagelens
Both will give you an equivalent image, but one is safer for your camera.
You will keep the cheap one for 6 months before its starts to be bad for your camera.
but you will keep the pro one for years … Choosing a good tool will be better for your work and for the Environment
I will do other adapter reviews so subscribe and tell me what mount you use the most. - Наука та технологія
The peeling paint is a big flaw . Thank you for letting me know.
You are so welcome!
Not so fast. The cheap adapter is likely anodized aluminum which will wear with frequent use. I doubt the dust from that anodization would be any more deleterious to your camera or sensor than regular dust. For the "expensive" adapter, this is likely chromed brass. Well this wears off too with frequent use and you'll see this problem on cheap/expensive adapters and native mount camera lenses.
The only problem I had with a cheap M42 to NEX adapter was that the screws holding the screw mount wore down after time causing a lot of wobble. Thing was borderline a tilt lens at that point. Still not bad for the money especially when you pair it with a cheap M42 lens.
the worst thing about these cheap adapters is the wobble, most of them have wobble on the body lock bit where it is a bit too thick, but you can fix this with some epoxy, the front bit can be wobbly/not straight, for the breech lock systems like nikon and ef you can't really do much, but on m42 this is a non issue
the wobble on my cheap m42-fx is so bad the camera's locking pin doesn't engage most of the time
I've got some cheap(ish) Sony or NEX to M42, where image quality actually differs.
There were a shiny metal ring inside, and with 200 or 300mm lenses, it could somewhat interfere. (Have not seen it on shorter focal lengths)
Probably reflections between sensor and this ring could cause lesser contrast.
I have now glued a matte black vinyl inside the adapter.
Some of the cheap ones don't fit 100%, so will move a small amount. It won't be enough to affect the image, but the movement might wear out the camera mount mechanism over time. My expensive ones are a solid, tight fit and I feel more confident that they won't break.
Toujours sympa ces vidéos ^^
There are cheap adapters with metal parts not painted.
well, yes, i am saying that you can use any cheap adapter if you want, but be carful of the painted ones
@@MathieuStern thank you ❤️
@Mathieu Stern
You say PRO dont chip because there is no paint. Sure, no paint on front side but on the back it is also painted. Pro looks much better and more solid but what about black pai t on other side of PRO. Any toughts? Cheers
How do you use your Sony a7 for "remembering" set aperture and focal length of every picture taken? Nikon has something called "non-cpu lens data" to measure f stops, some other brands have option the camera's microphone records couple seconds after taken picture, enough to record the settings by voice.. What are the options on Sony a7's?
so I want to get in to Adapters for my sony aiii but here is the catch..... it has to be in my water housing. I have one zoom/ focuses/ apcher ring to control with a nob on the side plus some back controls for the A7iii . I can Also fit up the Sony 70-200mm 2.8 so large lens could go in to the housing for reference as long as they fit in side the port lens . like to know you what think thanks chris
Are there any adaptors that lets you use Nikon F lenses on Fujifilm and lets you change the aperture?
I wish to mount my Nikkor lens on my Yukon Ranger LT Night Vision video camera which has a 40mm thread. I need to find an adapter for that. Any suggestion?
I’ve got a K&F adapter for my Pentax K series to Fuji X series, I’ve only used it once as I’m only just starting with film photography, of course I used them pre digital but only in non vintage compact cameras. Can you not go direct to K&F ( KentFaith ) for your adapters, they may be cheaper?
Any recommendations for fully manual nikon f lenses to Sony E. Most of my vintage lenses are nikon f pre AI. Thanks
I have **many** different M4/3 to M42 adapters, none have a painted tread and most look a lot plainer and better. So both disadvantages mentioned are by no means features of cheap adapters.
Of all the cheap ones, I like the “Prost” brand the best.
hi
im new to adapting lenses
can i ask you how can i tell that i can adapt the vintage lens that i have to my camera ??
Thank you so much for making this! I've just now noticed my $3 adapter started chipping, i haven't checked it in years... I'll look into buying a professional one because i mainly use M42.
i was pretty angry to discover mine was in so bad shape too ! I am less stressed with the Pro one
Mathieu, I am interested in Pentax K-mount to MFT. Thanks.
Thank you so much, Mathieu!
Sony E mount user here (A7S iii)
Good choice!
The funny thing is that my cheap adapter has the metal ring, but the Helios lens I own does not hahah, the lens has the paint on it 😭🤣
Great info!
Thanks for watching!
I shoot a lot of legacy glass on a Pentax K-1 FF DSLR. $5 M42 to PK adapters can (and do) jam on the PK camera body flange. K&F Concept and Fotodiox Pro adapters have proved to be consistently well made and offer proper fit.
thanks for the tips Roger
The 3 vs 4 screws are not going to make any practical difference in the short and or long term. You could even only use 1 and it will work without any issues. The only thing that you need to make sure is to tighten them properly the first time, and check them every year.
The chipping paint is valid. However, the more expensive adapter reviewed here has a painted(powder coated) rear mount, as has the cheap adapter. So, chance is that that will also wear over time and could fall onto your sensor.
You have different brands, besides the no brand options. Fotga, for example, is one that is a little more expensive than the cheapest options, but offers excellent quality. As some other in-between brands. Next you have the expensive ones, like for example K&F, that are not better or worse, but only look a bit apart.
No-brand options are a hit or a miss. They wobble, not lock properly or they just don't fit well. Example: the cheapest no brand Micro Four Thirds adapters don't lock very well, while the cheapest Sony E-mount adapters work very well.
Also, there are a small amount of camera bodies that have the same mount, but a slightly different fit than other camera bodies from the same series. Example: The Olympus OM-D E-M5 II has a difference in the bayonet pin, what causes most adapters, cheap and expensive, to not lock properly.
I have sold, and still do, M42 EXA FD PK etc etc to Canon EF RF Nikon F Z Sony AF FE etc etc adapters for close to 6 years, and I can tell you that 8 out of 10 times, the cheapest ones are as good as the most expensive ones. My golden tip is: tighten the screws the first time you use the adapter to make sure the metal lensmount part is not loose.
Thank you for taking the time to give so much feedback and informations !
2 feet of snow ny. Personally I've come across some adapters that are not machined right Pentax k to m42 adapters a hard one. The fotodiox ones did not allow for Infinity focusing I'm having trouble finding a good one for that unless you get a vintage one. I know the minolta MD had a piece of glass in it that definitely affected image quality. I wish fotodiox would work on there release button. I'm going to try some K and f see if they're made a little better.
Tell us more about canon FD to EF. Particularly operating the aperture on adapter.
Will check what I can do :)
fd flange distance is 42 mm , ef is 44mm , you cant focus to infinity . to really benefit from FD lenses, you need a mirrorless system
FD->EF? My advice, don’t go that route. Stick to mirrorless for FD unless you only want to photograph macro. These adapters need optics to focus to infinity, but the IQ drop is very bad.
Can I mount m42 lens on t ring?
"Pro adapter" just arrived and a few minutes later I see this video uploaded, OMG
I bought 2 Pentax K - NEX adapter and one M42 - NEX
Also some cheaps adapter with screw (M39 M42) didnt match with hyperfocale so you can be out of focus. But i will never buy premium one, just look closely before buying (and excuse my english i'm also french : D )
I use both Canon EF and RF mount and I have a Fotasy FD to RF adapter as well as the Canon EF to RF adapter.
Yeenon is another company who make first-class adapters for legacy glass. They offer a full range to fit 4/3 bodies, Nikon Z, NEX, and such, accepting M42, M39, C/Y, and Leica M bay, just to name a few. I have their DKL/PK adapter to shoot Schneider lenses from Retina Reflex cameras on a Pentax KAF DSLR body. Prices are in the US $80 - $200 range on eBay. Worth a look!
I really like the Gobe M42 adapter! It feels solidly made, even though there is some wobble with the mount.
My Gobe mounts look so good but when compared to my K&F Pro series adapters, they’re a quality control nightmare that Gobe should be ashamed of.
@@axtran Yeah I’ve considered getting the K&F version
I have two M42 to EF adaptors, one has an "AF Confirm" chip and the other is just a metal ring. The one with the chip on it almost always crashes my cameras (5D, 6D, 100D, 350D), and I ended up taping over the electrical contacts whenever I need to use both adaptors at the same time, complete garbage. Not to mention that when it does work you almost never actually get the AF confirmation anyway.
I think the difference between the cheaper and more expensive adaptors depends a lot on the specific adaptor too, adaptors for small differences in flange spacing tend to be cheaper because they are simpler to make and use less material, whereas adaptors for e.g. SLR lenses to mirror-less bodies (as in the video) need to be a lot bigger, and require multiple components and more material.
I have also heard of adaptors where the mount size difference is so small that the thread for the lens is cut almost all the way through the adaptor and bashing it too hard causes the adaptor to break along the threads inside the camera body.
And any adaptor that adapts lenses for a longer flange-focal distance than the system you are adapting them to will affect picture quality since they require extra optics to reach infinity focus.
Still working fine after 2 years of use on my original sony a7, great combo with fd's and m42's
Btw great vid 😜📸
Good to hear
I have about 15 cheapy ebay adapters, most cost between 4 and 10 dollar.
The only problem I ever had, was that the Pentax K and 110 adapters, which worked fine on the old Nex, didn't fit on the A7II that I bought later, since they didn't fully adhere to the official mount specs, instead they had been tested on the then available cameras, and Sony later beefed up the mount. So I had to buy another k-mount one, the 110 doesn't cover full frame anyway, so it doesn't really matter.
All of the others; Canon, Minolta, Nikon, Contax/Yashica, M42, T2, Exakta, have worked perfectly for years.
My most expensive one was around 20 dollar, it's a Minolta MD tilt adapter from ebay.
Thank you!! One other thing is light leaks and infinity focus
Thanks for sharing!
that being said, you can also get metal shards by friction between lens and camera bayonet mount, especially when plugging your lens, or adaptors on the camera mount. What's important: angle , if you bump the lens into the camera at an angle and the item makes contact with your camera bayonet on one of the sharp edges.
so in any case: be gentle with your gear.
The cheap adapter was tilted, I realized that at opened aperture the two edge of the imege wasn't same sharp. But the K&F adapter (not this beauty) is perfect.
Yeah I'm only just getting into taking proper photos after 5 years of doing bit and pieces with a camera on my old motoG4 and then editing them afterwards on snapseed! So after getting a cheap helios 44 lens from the 70s for 25 quid and finding a secondhand sony alpha a5100 for a little over 2 ton! I foolishly ordered a all black generic adapter for a tenner as I was reluctant to spend 25 to 30 quid for something that didn't seem to matter much but after watching this excellently informative video I've remembered that so old saying... buy cheap buy twice!
K&F concept adapters are great and cheap. They are better than FotoDiox ones which are expensive.
Moreover Fotodiox, an American company dared to produce a clone of the Techart LM adapter from China 🤣, with no shame. A UA-camr proved it was rebranded Techart Pro adapter as he succeeded to upgrade it with Techart firmware even though Fotodiox said their adapter can't be upgraded
@@IRudra I have two K&Fs and they are very good quality construction. I'll continue to buy K&F Concept adapters. When you consider the cost of your camera gear the extra few dollars for better quality is well worth it.
I, too ordered the pro adapter, because it looks so very good..... BUT: it is not true, that the adapter does not effect the image quality. My cheap adapter is not coated very well on the inside, so on the edges of the pictures (full frame at least, of course the difference will be less in APC or even stronger cropped sensors because the reflected light will less likely hit the sensor) you can clearly see a degradation of the image because of reflections. This is much better in the pro-adapter. BUT again: The pro adapter is a little to wide (flange to sensor-distance) so it is not possible to focus to infinity. I ordered some tools and hope that by loosening the 4 screws, it will be possible to adjust it as was with the other one. Does anybody have experience in adjusting the beautiful pro-level adapter to infinity? Thanks a lot, Stephan
Use L39 and Exacta to NEX , also interested in Contax to NEX and M42 / Exacta to M Lieca bayonet as those can mount atop the Cosina M to NEX close focus adapter. There are so many amazing mounts.
6x6 Biometar Zeiss to NEX would be interesting and M42 to Nikon ( I have that one ) to most Takumar glass to F3 Nikon. Just a few ideas Mathieu ;-) ... .
Thanks for writing me back about the LF lens too. C.
I bought the k&f concept pro M42-MFT, but it was a total waste of money. Weirdly it was TOO TIGHT for my Panasonic mft mount!!!
Also not to mention that some cheap adapters can mess the lens and camera mounts... It can be too tight for the lense or way to big for the camera... Also any cheap adapter for screw lenses... Are inaccurate and some can get stuck on your lens
I don't know about the Kamera-store link...no Arriflex, Pentaflex, or Cameflex adapters.. I am doing a lot of 16mm lenses, suggestion ??
Then amazon is your best option, ebay has also some Home made adapters for super rare mounts
@@MathieuStern Ebay is the best. I am still looking for a cameflex to EOS-M adapter. And by the way, I have viewed quite a number of your UA-cam posts, but haven't really done anything other than hitting the "like" button.....So, thank you for your informative, expansive, pertinent videos....you are quite a specialist...
What adaptor would be giving great autofocus for Canon lenses on Sony?
I think there is one at Kamerastore
Shiny metal does not mean that small particles are not scraped off. It doesn't matter what the material is, as it is M42, dust will always fall when inserting and removing a lens from the adapter. So buy an adapter for each lens, mount it and don't remove it anymore.
Not all cheap adapter are bad... I use a lot and never had any problem with any of them.
I have K&F M42 adapter. After your words ... I'm glad I went for better one :)
Good choice!
Have you tried the one for Pentax k mounts to m42 did you get infinity focus in cuz that's the problem I had with the fotodiox one
J'attendais un adapteur novoflex encore plus cher, intéressant de voir le k&f contre le novoflex
Je vais essayer de les contacter
C'est comme chez Aldi, plus cher ne veut pas toujours dire meilleur.... Il suffit de voir avec les Maserati
hi matheu, i want to ask, what you think about tilt shift adapter for m42 ? is it good for image quality?
It’s a good adapter for getting the tilt effect
But it will not impact quality
@@MathieuStern thank you matheu
@@MathieuStern can you suggest me best vintage flare 50mm?🙏
Does kamera store have a adapter for kowa 66? I'm still on the hunt for a helicoid for enlarger lenses
Check the link in the description, they have a page with all the adapters.
@@MathieuStern I will give them a try if their prices are good and shipping is okay they should give you a promo code. And us. 🤷😀
I damaged my Nikon F4 with cheap M42 ring ! The M42 adaptor didn’t had a stop mechanism (tiny screw) to stop the lens from over rotating . The result : it bended my Nikon f4’s aperture lever inside the camera. If you have a Nikon Camera and want to adapt the lenses , watch carefully if the adaptor has tiny screw on the mount to prevent over rotating
I have an idea for an video: what do you do when you M42 is stuck on the adapter and how to get it off again. I would watch it - ask me why ;-)
Cheap vs. expensive. It mostly depends on the adapter design. I'm personally more interested in adapting things to Nikon AI. This means that the adapters need a lens most of the time.
Wait... I thought this video topic came in the 2nd place of your poll.
Great ingo anyways!
its raining all the time so I am trying to adapt :)
Vraiment splendide la nouvelle gamme K&F!
J'avoue ça donne envie
@@MathieuStern Mais je suppose que tu as aussi trop adaptateurs a remplacer pour te le permettre!
Canon fd adapter
All digital cameras will break automatically all on their own as they reach their incredibly finite lifespans, long before any cheap adapter has a chance to do any sigificant amount of wear to the one part of them that's actually hard to break, the metal mount. I have adapters that have been on multiple generations of cameras, and adapters for systems which I don't have any cameras anymore, cause all their electronics died. I have an adapter that's almost 10 years old. They're all the cheapest available, I've never had one of them break or wear out a camera, don't worry, the cameras will break anyway, that's guaranteed.
M43 to M42 please
I would love to see something similar on M42 to Nikon F mount.
M42 has a shorter flange focal distance than Nikon F, so I think it will not be possible using a simple adapter.
@@cdl0
I have some that I use, unfortunately it restricts the lens’s use ability as they will only focus close. They will not focus to infinity.
I have a couple with glass to correct this but, being cheap glass, the quality degrades a bit. I don’t fancy paying out for an expensive adaptor in case that is no better.
@@markborder906 Yes, this is correct: You can't make a lens shorter without removing material, but you can make it longer with an adapter, if you see what I mean. Those adapters which contain corrective optics are almost invariably poor quality. Nevertheless, it may be possible to modify the flange on an M42 lens, and install a Nikon F mount so it ends up with the right flange focal length. In fact, I am fairly sure that is can be done for those good, old Russian Helios lenses.
@@cdl0
I have seen the adaptation done on the Russian lenses. I have not had the courage to try it myself.
@@markborder906 Yes, modifying a lens mount is not easy.
Use 3d print one.
Yeah K&F are good
it looks like paid ad :D it's ok matt i but 7$ adapter not paintd as you said and good quality it's all about shopping experience ;) not dollars .
The fix is to only use one lens and never take it off the camera :P
Lol the fix is to be rich! I Had no idea !! wooooow
Kindai for the win
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
bonjour mathieu j'adore se que tu fait et j'adore ton accent anglais mais pourquoi ne fais tu pas les même en français ?
Salut
Si je faisais une chaine en français ça doublerais le travail de production, pour au final avoir genre 60k abonnés au grand max avec un sujet aussi de niche pour la France.
En plus les marques préfère sponsoriser des vidéos internationales plutôt que des videos juste en français.
Il faudrais que je trouve une raison vraiment motivante pour refaire tout mon contenu en français.
je connais des UA-camr FR qui font deux chaines en deux langue mais je suis pas capable de faire autant de boulot de montage et de postage en étant tout seul.
This doesn't tell the whole story . Cheap AND expensive third-party adapters can have a wide variety of problems:
- poor tolerances making the fit too loose or tight to the lens or the body or lens sag or even difficulty dismounting the lens
- poor baffling and anti-reflection paint leading to reduced contrast or vignetting with some lenses
- poor or no electronic contacts, which can lead to disconnects or shorts with your camera or no communication at all
- buggy firmware, which can lead to the aforementioned problems, poor compatibility of functions and even damage your camera
- incorrect flange to focus distance, which prevent the lens from reaching infinity or go past the infinity hard stop on your lens
- lousy collimation, which may lead to uneven off-axis lens performance
- electronic adapters which are difficult to update the firmware
- adapters with optics (teleconverters, speedboosters, reducers), which may be only compatible with some lenses and can even crash into the rear element of your lens
- adapters that can crash into mirror travel for DSLRs
I'll also repeat what I said in another response:
"The cheap adapter is likely anodized aluminum which will wear with frequent use. I doubt the dust from that anodization would be any more deleterious to your camera or sensor than regular dust. For the expensive adapter, this is likely chromed brass. Well this wears off too with frequent use and you'll see this problem on cheap/expensive adapters and native mount camera lenses."
That said, I've had mostly good experiences with cheap adapters. They're cheap enough that you can buy a dedicated adapter for each of your vintage lenses, which reduces the need to mount and dismount them.
cheap adapter + paint stripper
anyone trying to get a cheaper than $30+ish adapter is of course smoking crack :) Spend the $30+
TRUE
I got mine in Amazon for 10$, Leica M to Leica M39, work good for me
Mathieu, I have to 100% disagree that you positioned the K&F as a ‘pro’ option! When speaking of Pro adapters, it’s going to be adapter-manufacturers like Novoflex and Metaboned that deserve the Pro label. K&F still does not produce with the same precision and tolerances as the aforementioned brands. Also, your statement regarding IQ is false! High-end adapters use better coatings to avoid internal reflections, cheap adapters usually show lower contrast or have ghosting issues. Also the build-quality of K&F isn’t perfect, I’ve had customers with IQ problems like uneven plane of sharpness across the image, because the adapters aren’t perfectly aligned. So, as much as I love your channel, this video I just have to disagree with. ✌️
Well, I am not paid by K&F and the name of the product is Pro, i would love to have the option to compare all the different brands but as no one is helping me paying for all this stuff I do with what i can.
I hope I will get other brands to send me PRO adapters so i can make a clean comparaison.
@@MathieuStern I respect that, but the title is implying a comparison between cheap-and professional-grade adapters. I wasn’t implying you were paid by K&F either, btw.
I hope you’ll be able to try out some high end adapters. I personally have had great experiences with Novoflex. If you’d like and wouldn’t mind covering shipping, I’d love to send you an FD->E-mount adapter to try.