DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

A simple trick to help you adapt any lens to your camera

Aug 24, 2016 by John Aldred 25 Comments

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

mounting_weird_lenses

Photographer Mathieu Stern tests out a lot of weird lenses. From modern CCTV to 135 year old large format lenses, nothing is too large a challenge. Many modern lenses have adapters available for all kinds of camera system. Not so much with older or more obscure lenses. So, how does he fit all these to his modern DSLRs?

In this video, Mathieu’s going to let you in on one of his tricks. This helps him figure out how he can build his own adapters for these lenses. It’s an interesting technique, and once you understand the principle, making a solution is simple.

The biggest issue when trying to fit lenses is the distance between the back of the lens and the film plane (or sensor). This is called the flange distance, and it varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. Nikons have a huge flange distance. This is why most commercial adapters require diopters to restore infinity focus. Small mirrorless cameras like Sony have a very short flange distance.

Flange_Focal_Length_(2_types_camera)

Assuming the lens you wish to use as a larger flange distance than your camera, you need simply calculate the difference. This tells you how long your adapter needs to be in order to give you the full focus range of the lens.

When you are projecting onto the white paper or card, you’ll want to focus your lens to infinity. You’ll also want to make sure the scene you’re projecting is also at infinity. There’s no point setting it to infinity and trying to project something a metre or two away.

How do you actually go about making the adapter? Well, you can cut a cardboard tube, as shown in this video.

Or, you could also 3D print something (use black) to go between the lens and camera body. You’ll probably want to hunt around eBay for a couple of cheap broken lenses you can recycle the mounts from, too.

So, if you’ve always wondered how to figure out flange distances to make your own adapters, now you know.

Do you make your own lens adapters for old or weird lenses on modern equipment? Do you use this method? Or do you have other tricks? Let us know in the comments.

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

How to adapt Large Lee filters to the Nikon 14-24mm (and other wide lenses) How Kodak is trying to reinvent after failing to adapt Use this simple trick to instantly improve your smartphone vlogs and selfie videos Use this simple trick to turn your tripod into a vertical slider

Filed Under: DIY Tagged With: Adapters, Cheap Lenses, DIY, large format, Mathieu Stern, Weird Lenses

John Aldred: from diyphotography.net

About John Aldred

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

« DJI wants people to learn how to fly so they opened a drone school
The candid honest moments of a commercial videographer captured 2 seconds at a time »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup
DIYPhotography

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts

  • A pigeon scares a meteorologist as it photobombs a live camera
  • Photographer files lawsuit against NFL receiver and teams after shoving incident
  • Comparing iPhone 13 vs iPhone 14 for astrophotography
  • Don’t buy a Z8 directly from Nikon, customers say
  • YouTube is killing off “Stories” to focus on Shorts and Live

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy