Play in Fotodiox PRO adapter - normal?

[Dream Merchant]

Thought I'd ask the experts here ...

I just received my Fotodiox PRO adapter (Nikon>EOS) and found quite a bit of play on it when I mounted my Nikon 85mm PC micro.

There's more play on the adapter to camera side, but still has a bit of play on the adapter to lens side.

When I focus the lens, I can feel the play very clearly. Is this normal for a PRO grade Fotodiox adapter?

[Attila]

I don't have experience with this adapter , but none of them my NON-PRO adapter has play (Olympus 4/3 and m4/3) I think this is not normal. Hopefully some Canon owner able to confirm this.

[aoleg]

I found Fotodiox Pro adapters a complete waste of money. Have one in C/Y-EOS mount; it's just too thin, letting my wide-angles hit the mirror when focusing to infinity. The AF chip is of an old generation, and glued in extremely inaccurately (compared to Russian-made adapters sold by filmprocess.ru). I see absolutely no point in paying $80-100 for their 'pro' adapters.

On the other hand, I had great experience with these Nikon-Canon adapters:



They are now all over eBay, sold by various vendors for around $24-25. They don't wobble and have zero play on the lens and on the body. The AF chip is also outdated (not programmable). Infinity focusing is there (unfortunately, no 'hard' infinity stop, as these adapters allow focusing slightly past infinity... sigh). Still, these are much much better than the other type of adapters that had a spring-loaded tab holding the lens on the camera.

[jarrah]

Aoleg, I could not agree more I have also found fotodiox to be a total waste of money.
I had the experience with my Leica R lenses used on EOS bodies. When setting the aperture the body of the lense also turned and fell out, luckily the one occasion where it dimounted completely it was on soft grass so no damage.

Novoflex seem to be the best but as the old adage states buy cheap buy twice!!

[Boomer Depp]

I've used the high end Novoflex as well as Stephen Gandy's adapters to the cheap consumer adapters on ebay,they all have some play usually at the camera to adapter interface,sometimes negligible .001-.002 up to .007 or more ...some of the adapters having some play at the adapter to lens interface occasionally & the M42 only loosen if you haven't tightened after screwing on.The Contax/Yashica or Pentax PK with the spring retainer clip that slips into the milled keyway are usually always a touch loose.

Rather then shell out $175 to $200 for a Novoflex or Gandy adapter anymore,all I buy is Fotodiox adapters both the pro and consumer versions in the Canon EOS to Nikon F, Contax/Yashica,Pentax PK and only consumer versions for M42 mounts.I bought 10 pro adapters & a dozen consumer adapters from Fotodiox in the last year or so.I like the consumer version for tighter tolerances mounted,but can be fiddly to remove.I can't find no difference between the cheap adapters on ebay and Fotodiox's consumer adapter,in fact they look like they were made in the same factory.

I have also bought Alex's Canon EOS/Exacta adapters last year when they became available and am still using them and works well with negligible movement.

I've also bought various cone shaped adapters from foto-krueger in Germany on ebay for Pentacon Six/M42 adapter...as long as everything is screwed down tight,this system is solid.Fotodiox sells a Pentacon Six/EOS adapter,but I've never bothered with them.

To tighten up the lens on the cheap low cost adapter interface,there are three small grooves on the adapter’s mount.If you use a tiny jewelers screwdriver to widen these grooves just a little bit, the lens will fit the adapter more tightly. Be careful though, don’t widen them too much or it’ll be very hard to dismount the lens from the adapter again.Also take care when spreading this thin metal because it can kink or distort.




The adapter to camera interface may initially be tight or in the cheaper versions a bit loose,but even the most expensive adapters eventually loosen up at this connection.

I use lenses with an adapter quite often as well as OM lenses daily,and I've never had a lens fall off.The only reason I can see for a lens to fall off is if the lens wasn't properly mounted to either the camera or the adapter.

The Novoflex,Gandy and the Fotodiox adapters used on the Nikon F non-AI lenses,are usually tight to put on and sometimes difficult to remove.The cheapers adapters without the springs are not as difficult to remove from the non-AI lenses.

The Fotodiox Pro with the springs may be loose on some of the newer,but not all Nikkors at the lens to adapter interface.This adapter shouldn't be used with non-AI lenses because it can be difficult to remove because of the springs.

Fotodiox has made a few different pro versions.The pro version of the Fotodiox adapter without the dandelion chip that looks like Stephen Gandy's adapter and similar to the Novoflex,works the best of the Fotodiox adapters and has the tightest tolerance.This is the adapter I recommend for the Nikon F mount,but I don't think Fotodiox sells anymore.

Gandy Adapter


Fotodiox Pro Adapter w/springs which may be loose on some lenses.

[aoleg]

Same as this one it seems... Click here to see on Ebay

[martinsmith99]

I have som non-pro M42 > EOS adapter by Fotodiox. These are also thin but there is no play. They will let infinity focus on a couple of my lenses where other adapters don't.

[Boomer Depp]

[aoleg]

Dream Merchant asked me to post this information. Apparently, he cannot post to the forum for some reason.

[Dream Merchant]

I can post this, and also the reply I received from Fotodiox makes sense...

They asked me if the play I experienced with side-to-side, or rotational, and said that rotational was normal.

[Dream Merchant]

Sorry ... it was supposed to be "I hope I can post this, and that the reply from Fotodiox makes sense ..."

Anyways, I tried applying some tape (as shims) on the adapter and that tightened everything up nicely. How would they impact the image quality or how my lens behaves, I have to test first.

I'm still put off by the fact that I have to do this with a 'PRO' adapter that costs so much. Taping and shimming reminds me of what's necessary with cheap, ill-fitting sub $20 adapters.

[Dream Merchant]

Here's an update in case anyone was interested.

I tried there variations - 1st with both sides of the adapter taped, then only on the camera side, and last, no tape at all.

Interestingly, the best results I got was with no tape at all, and on the whole, the results seem to be acceptable.

Since I've yet to experience another adapter (K-EOS) that gives me better results, I guess I'm satisfied with the Fotodiox adapter for now.

Communications from Fotodiox runs slower than my last time with them. It takes 3 or 4 emails before I get a response, and they either did not reply to my last email (asking if I should use the adapter taped or exchange it for a tighter one), or they did reply but I did not receive it.

Please let me know if you would like to see the results of my tests. It's totally non-scientific, but it did at least show differences in the adapter performance.

CHEERS!