Need Adapter For Enlarging Lens

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georgedingwall
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Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 11:15 am
Location: Invergordon, Scotland
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Need Adapter For Enlarging Lens

Post by georgedingwall »

Hi all,

Following a recommendation from Charlie Krebs in another topic, I've picked up a cheap 50mm f2.8 El Nikkor on ebay.

Am I right in assuming that this lens has a 39 mm filter thread and would need a M42 to M39 adapter to attach it to a Pentax bellows.

I don't want to buy one unless I'm certain of the thread size.

Thanks for any help.
George Dingwall

Invergordon, Scotland

http://www.georgedingwall.co.uk/

Charles Krebs
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Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 8:02 pm
Location: Issaquah, WA USA
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Post by Charles Krebs »

George... you will want this mounted in reverse. The front thread size should be 40.5mm. There are many inexpensive "step-up" rings (or a Cokin 40.5mm type A adapters) that can be used to accomplish this.

Just one example:
http://cgi.ebay.com/STEP-UP-RING-40-5MM ... dZViewItem

This would let you put it on the reverse adapter you are now using.

A side note... whenever you start playing around with adaptations like this (or your current greatly "extended" set-ups) it is important to check that the pieces you "assemble" (ie: extension tubes, adapters, reversing rings) do not have any "bright" or highly reflective internal surfaces that can cause flare. Generally you are "projecting" an image toward the camera body that is far larger then the film/sensor, and the "excess" will be hitting the inside surfaces of your set-up. This is especially important with digital SLRs as the built in filter in front of the sensor is flat and reflective, and can cause more problems than would be experienced with a film camera.


Charlie

georgedingwall
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Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 11:15 am
Location: Invergordon, Scotland
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Post by georgedingwall »

Hi Charlie,

Thanks for that information.

Bye for now.
George Dingwall

Invergordon, Scotland

http://www.georgedingwall.co.uk/

georgedingwall
Posts: 207
Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 11:15 am
Location: Invergordon, Scotland
Contact:

Post by georgedingwall »

Hi again Charlie,
Charles Krebs wrote:George... you will want this mounted in reverse. The front thread size should be 40.5mm. There are many inexpensive "step-up" rings (or a Cokin 40.5mm type A adapters) that can be used to accomplish this.


Charlie
I've now managed to attach the Nikkor Enlarger Lens to my setup. I had to buy 2 adapters, a 40.5 to 43mm and a 43 to 52mm. I tried to buy the one in the link you gave, but the seller never replied to my email asking the cost of shipping from the US to the UK. I couldn't find a single 40.5 to 52mm ring on the UK ebay site, so I got 2 rings to do the job.

This image is an an example of using the enlarger lens on my setup at maximum magnification with a field of view at the subject of about 3mm.

Each image is a stack of 10 frames with an adjustment between frames of 0.2 mm.

There's not much difference between the F4, F5.6 and F8 images other than the difference in depteh of focus of each frame in the stack. The F2.8 image shows some reduction in quality, but that may be just be caused by using the same adjustment of 0.2 mm as the other 3 images. I suspect that even at F2.8, the quallity would be just as good as the others, if I was to use a smaller adjustment and take a few extra frames.

Image

I really want to thank you for pointing me at this lens. At first glance, it seems to produce better quality results that my best Camera lens. I'm going to have a lot of fun making use of this lens.

Bye for now.
George Dingwall

Invergordon, Scotland

http://www.georgedingwall.co.uk/

Charles Krebs
Posts: 5865
Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 8:02 pm
Location: Issaquah, WA USA
Contact:

Post by Charles Krebs »

George... looks good! I would stick to f5.6 and/or f4. I really do look forward to seeing the images you produce with your setup.

The time and effort you have spent appears to have been well worth it, as your results keep getting better and better.

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