Using old lenses

[JAS]

Shot taken with Nikon Z6 using a Metabones Adapter for Minolta. Then hooked to a Soligor bellows and a Minolta MD Rokkor 50mm f/1.7 lens.
Manual focus using the Z6 peaking. Forgot to record the aperture but 1/100 sec @ ISO 720.
Processed in LrC and PS
I have a few old Minolta lenses hanging around from olden (film) days dating to the late 1970s. When I saw there was a Metabones adapter allowing full range use of my old Minolta lenses, I bought it on a whim. More playing to come. Also have 45mm, 135mm and 400mm lenses plus a 2x teleconverter and the bellows available to play with. We shall see what happens.

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[TomMills23]

Very cool! I started in macro photography a few years back using a reversed 50mm Minolta lens on my Nikon D500 body. It worked great, but I had to get really close to the subject. Not easy to do with most critters.

 

[ElenaH]

very interesting, @JAS ! I have also a collection of old lenses which I use on Z7 and Sony A7R (ILCE-1). I started with Sony.. Unfortunatelly, there are no all mount-adapters available for Z. Some are only available for Sony-E. I have many lenses with "character" (like Zeiss Jena, Zeiss Contax, Zeiss Digital Contax N, Meyer Optik Görlitz, Takumar, Porst, Helios etc ... ) Nice shot, by the way. Love the colors.

 

[JAS]

very interesting, @JAS ! I have also a collection of old lenses which I use on Z7 and Sony A7R (ILCE-1). I started with Sony.. Unfortunatelly, there are no all mount-adapters available for Z. Some are only available for Sony-E. I have many lenses with "character" (like Zeiss Jena, Zeiss Contax, Zeiss Digital Contax N, Meyer Optik Görlitz, Takumar, Porst, Helios etc ... ) Nice shot, by the way. Love the colors.

Have you looked through the variety Metabones adapters? For example, they have a Minolta MD to Nikon Z spacer/adapter. The Minolta MD mount is the same as the Sony A mount so I could also use Sony A mount lenses on my Z6 with this adapter. Some are harder to find on a search unti lyou vary the search terrms. Maybe you will get lucky and find what you need.

 

[ElenaH]

Have you looked through the variety Metabones adapters

oh... those adapters are quite expensive... and mostly provide AF functionality. I use just normal metal-adapters without contacts. My old lenses are MF anyway. Only one adapter is only for Sony-E: Digital Contax N1. It is a very special lens-type and there is no adapter for other types of cameras, I was searching already. But all other adapters I've found for Nikon Z

 

[JAS]

oh... those adapters are quite expensive... and mostly provide AF functionality. I use just normal metal-adapters without contacts. My old lenses are MF anyway. Only one adapter is only for Sony-E: Digital Contax N1. It is a very special lens-type and there is no adapter for other types of cameras, I was searching already. But all other adapters I've found for Nikon Z

I understand. I paid USD $99 for a Metabones Nikon Z to Minolta MD mount adapter. It is simple a spacer to get the flange distance correct and to allow infinity focus. There are no electronics in this model and it is all manual.. I set the aperture on the lens, adjust shutter speed to what I want to balance with Auto ISO and manual focus on my Z6 using the hiughlight peaking. Time consuming, but fun. Unfortunately, all lens options are not available. Best wishes in your ongoing shoots!

 

[ElenaH]

@JAS , Joe, we have a bit different sources, obviously... I do normally buy adapters in Amazon.de or go to geizhals.at to search for or I use some other "local" sources. I checked for Metabones in geizhals.at and there were nothing for Z. You are from US and it is possible that you have the different sources (also like K&H, B&H, Adorama, etc..) I see, you have for example, MC 105 for Z. I ordered it, waited a few months and cancelled it. It is still not available and I lost the interest to buy it.
The other question: I see on your list that you have Z6 and 28-300mm from Nikon? How the lens perform on Z6? I will open now a thread in general discussion about 28-300 on Z-cameras, can you pls have a look there and perhaps drop some photos?

 

[JAS]

@JAS , Joe, we have a bit different sources, obviously... I do normally buy adapters in Amazon.de or go to geizhals.at to search for or I use some other "local" sources. I checked for Metabones in geizhals.at and there were nothing for Z. You are from US and it is possible that you have the different sources (also like K&H, B&H, Adorama, etc..) I see, you have for example, MC 105 for Z. I ordered it, waited a few months and cancelled it. It is still not available and I lost the interest to buy it.
The other question: I see on your list that you have Z6 and 28-300mm from Nikon? How the lens perform on Z6? I will open now a thread in general discussion about 28-300 on Z-cameras, can you pls have a look there and perhaps drop some photos?

Yes, we do have ery different supply markets. With regards to the 28-300 lens, I find it works great on the 24mp cameras including my Z6 and D750. It is a great all purpose lens helps me keep it light when doing some "walking around" photography. On the D850 it is soft at longer focal lengths, as I have recently found, so I expect to limit use on that body. The lens does not have a great reputation, though my experience has been quite good at 24mp. Additionally, I will use it with a Canon 500D closeup lens that allows for much closer focusing disstances that work for flowers and insects and other small things. It is not true macro, but it helps. I like the lens and do not feel the need to replace it with a Z lens for the Z6 at this time. The MC105 Z is an outstanding lens and I am exploring its use for focus shift shooting on the Z6. We shall see. I will respond later to your other post.