nikon d5200 om adapter PLEASE HELP

pastychops · Joined: 18 Oct 2013 Posts: 30 Location: manchester

Hi all I have just upgraded my camera from a Olympus EPL1 to a NIKON D5200 , now I need a adapter to use my OLYMPUS OM 50 /1.8 lens
this is the only ZUIKO I have as every other OM lens is from other manufactures, I.E MIRANDA 24MM ./TOKINA 28MM MIRANDA 75 / 300 .ALL OM fit I can't see a problem mounting these to a NIKON adapter / flange off ebay but they are not suitable for the OM 50 naybe it's because of the lug that protudes at the rea of the lens.So if anyone can point me in the right direction I would be very grateful . Very Happy

philslizzy · Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Posts: 4744 Location: Cheshire, England

I've not heard of this item - I assume it is this: Click here to see on Ebay. It is a new one on me, the only others I know of are Leitax and each adapter is made to fit a certain lens. The problem adapting OM lenses for Nikon are that the aperture on the OM lenses default to closed when not attached to a camera. You must find a way of keeping the aperture open.

I have converted a couple of lenses to Nikon, it is tricky and infinity is not always achieved.

The lens when attached will not meter on your Nikon, you must use manual.

the leitax page for your info: http://leitax.com/OlympusOM-lens-for-Nikon-cameras.html the detailed instructions gave me the start I needed to convert my lenses.

Perhaps think about getting a Nikkor. Sell the Zuiko for £20 and save the £17 for the adapter, that should get one.

pastychops · Joined: 18 Oct 2013 Posts: 30 Location: manchester

Thanks Philslizzy , I will give the lens to my son along with the Epl1 and a Praktikar I can't get a adapter for .
So I will buy the adapter for my other Oms and look into getting a nikor 50mm .
thanks again.
Just hope I made the right choice with the Nikon camera . Rolling Eyes

philslizzy · Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Posts: 4744 Location: Cheshire, England

The Nikon is a fine camera and will give excellent results. I bought two DSLR's for semi pro use before I started using manual focus lenses.

The Nikon is not the best camera for MF lenses for two reasons:

The flange focal distance (FFD) - i.e the thickness of the body between the film/sensor and the lens mount. The Nikon is 46.5mm, an M42 is 45.46mm, Minolta SR (MD) 43.72, Canon FD 42mm Olympus OM 46mm. All shorter. I must use adapters with lenses in them if I want to use M42 or Minolta lenses. List of FFD's below.

The other problem is metering. The camera will not meter with anything but AF lenses. The message 'lens not attached' comes up. It works just fine in Manual. Then you must guess the exposure. Sunny 16 gives me good results when using RAW.

I have adapted one lens and use 'Dandelion chips' on my adapters to get auto exposure.

So, I bought a Sony NEX and can use almost everything and anything on it.

Recently I 'downgraded' and traded in D3100 for a Pentax K10D which will do what I want now.

Good luck

Phil

pastychops · Joined: 18 Oct 2013 Posts: 30 Location: manchester

Hi Phillslizzy , after more reseach into using om lenses with the Nikon , apparently it looks as if you change the screw on mount at the base of the lens . This means you would need one for every lens .
However I have ordered one to see how I get on with it. The Helios M42 I have should not pose the same problem , as the adapter has a lens fitted to aid with focusing at infinity.
But the lack of metering may may life a little awkward.
How did you get around this issue .
Adjusting Iso?
So it looks as its not going to be as easy as the Olympus camera to use MF lenses. Crying or Very sad

pastychops · Joined: 18 Oct 2013 Posts: 30 Location: manchester

Also after seeing the Leitax conversion , not too convinced about pulling apart the Zuiko to be honest .
So thats another reason to look for a cheap nikkor 50mm .
Thanks for the help and I will let you know how I get on .

philslizzy · Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Posts: 4744 Location: Cheshire, England

Have a look at these. I tested an M42 to Nikon adapter such as you are looking at and used a Helios in my Nikon

http://forum.mflenses.com/testing-m42-nikon-lensed-adapter-t54575,highlight,%2Bm42+%2Bnikon.html

They get a bad press here but If you stop down just a bit the edge blur goes. Fine for APSc sensors.

pastychops · Joined: 18 Oct 2013 Posts: 30 Location: manchester

So further to my problems finding a OM to nikon adapter , there is one available on Amazon by fotodox .Now the Nikon 5200 does not meter but can still be used in M mode , I can adjust the aperture as its on the lens , Iso can be set but without metering it will be trial and error . Would a lightt meter help here .
Any suggestions appreciated just do not like getting rid of good lenses when I need not.

philslizzy · Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Posts: 4744 Location: Cheshire, England

If you can adapt the lens yes a light meter will work fine. Dont keep pointing it, use it once then keep the setting, unless the light changes there is no reason to change your settings. I point the meter at my palm held at 45 degrees up which is roughly equivalent to 18% grey. If you have coloured skin your palm is still about 18%.

I go back to the old days when cameras did't always have a light meter in them 'sunny 16 ' was the rule.

I'll explain how I use it for old film cameras and for the D3200 with manual lens:

Set the ISO for example 200 on a bright day - this is the film speed on old cameras.

So with ISO 200 use 1/200th shutter speed, with ISO 400 use 1/400th etc.

Then the aperture:

On a bright sunny day in the sun use f16
Slightly overcast use f11
Fairly overcast use f8
Very overcast or in shadow on a sunny day use f8
dull day use f5.6
rainy f4

If you are taking pics within 2 hours of sunset/ sunrise open up a stop.

Of course you can play with these values any way you want for example you want to shoot something with shallow depth of field or a faster shutter speed on a sunny day change the aperture/speed combination

1/200th at f16 is the same as:
1/400th at f11
1/800th at f8
1/1600th at f5.6
1/3200th at f4

then you run out of shutter speeds.

Digital does not have the same latitude as film so if you use say f5.6 instead of f11 with film the printer and lab will compensate. Digital isn't that forgiving. Using RAW will help.

I use sunny 16 as I said with great results

pastychops · Joined: 18 Oct 2013 Posts: 30 Location: manchester

Cheers Philslizzy , that explains a lot and helps tremendosly , bought a light meter for a fiver needs a battery but its fine as it goes up to 4k shutter speed, which matches my camera .
The lens I have has no protusions on the rear element and the fotodox adapter looks good has a rear lens lke the M42 one , not that cheap but at least I will get to keep my lens '
Post some pics tomrrow of my trip. Smile