Adapter for MC Rokkor lenses.

[arteacher]

Just got my Minolta MC-MD to 4/3 adapter today from CameraQuest, modified all 5 of my Rokkor lenses and the 2 times converter ( involved grinding about .3mm off the auto diaphragm pins) and took about 60 pics. This mini review concerns the adapter for now. I will post reviews of some of the lenses later.
Stephen Gander's Camera quest is the only game in town for a Minolta MC-MD adapter for now. Stepen was great to deal with and shipped promptly from his shop in Califonia. The adapter cost $175 American plus $30 shipping to london Ontario. It has a couple of "qwerks" that are in my opinion unavoidable. First the lens does not sit on the camera with the labeling vertical, its about 30 deg. to the left. This is because the bayonets for 4/3 and minolta ar close to the same size, so the blades must align to the 4/3 system, which is 30 deg. left compared to minolta. The other "qwerk" is a bit more serious, Again because of the closeness of size, there is no room for a latching mechanism and the lens can be twisted off the camera if you turn the focusing ring to firmly against the stop. Stephen has made provision for this by including a grub screw which increases the torque needed to release the lens. This means loosening the grub screw with an (included) Allen key every time you change Minolta lenses. Since there are only two of the lenses I plan to use frequently, the 50mm 1.4 and the 300mm 5.6, I might spring for another adapter, or figure out how to put a thumb screw where the grub screw is.
It took a few seconds to get used to not having auto-focus but the lenses are tack sharp. The 50mm 1.4 gives great depth of field control for portraits, and the 300mm 5.6 weighs about the same as the Leica 14-50 but gets you a whole lot closer to the wildlife.
I will post more detailed rviews of the lenses as time permits.

[rally]

Oddmanout,

The issue of the lens uncoupling could be a bit disconcerting !

Without knowing the exact mechanical design . . .
Could you create a small dimple in the lens that aligns with that grub screw you refer to (on the adapter) ?

That way instead of relying on friction you would then be relying on a tiny mechanical stop, you might need to sharpen the point on the grub screw as well.

The dimple could be created with a drill point, a hand held cordless might do it, possibly even by hand or by using a rose type (countersink) of deburring tool (used for chamfering holes but has a sharp point.
It would only need to be 1mm deep to be effective and would be barely noticeable on the lens.

Just a thought.

I too have an interest in using legacy lenses on the E system.

Look forward to your review.

Rally

[arteacher]

There is no need to change anything. The grub screw tightens a friction plate designed into the adapter and the lens is quite secure even with moderate tightening of the screw.

[fjdrokkor]

Hi Oddmanout,

I too have some Rokkors - 100mm 2.5 MD, 70-210 f4 zoom MD and 50mm that have no digital answer. Shame to see any Rokkor lens go to waste.

I am deciding to buy 4/3 Olympus e-410 or e-510 and an adaptor (or make one myself) to MD.

Do you have any sample photos taken. Can you post a follow up on your experience if an adaptor is worth it?

Thanks

[arteacher]

Here's a couple of unretouched photos- boat is with 300mm f5.6 rokkorx at 5.6, flowersAttachment 5266

Attachment 5267 is with 50mm f1.4 rokkorx- at f1.4

[fjdrokkor]

The results speak from themselves!!!

Both photos are beautiful.

How easy is it to do manual focus?

[arteacher]

When I learned to use a camera none had auto focus, so I'm used to it. You just have to remember to turn the camera to manual focus and use center weighted or spot metering.

[esco]

Intriguing for me since I have a couple of sharp minolta rokkor primes i'd love to use on my e300 for street photography. I'm very hesitant to spend more than $100 for an adapter though and the last adapter I was looking at only worked for the E1 reportedly because of lens mount issues which I didn't completely understand.

[esco]

I went back to the cameraquest site to read more into detail and read your post again and I understand the modification needed for the lenses to work on bodies other than the e1.

[fjdrokkor]

is it possible to post a pic of the Minolta MC-MD to 4/3 adapter?

The flange distance of MD is 43.50mm and for 4/3 it is 38.65mm, is the adaptor 4,85mm thick?

[arteacher]

Here's the pic. Notice the l shaped cut in the stainless ring at the back. The grub screw tightens this against the Minolta mount.Attachment 5572

[fjdrokkor]

Here is the result with the adapter I have.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14587425@N05/1955351406/

[arteacher]

From whom did you get yours?

[fjdrokkor]

ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...66?refid=store

50 bucks from china.

Its pretty much the same design as you have. Same problems pin interference etc.

But it works. What do you think of the sample pics I posted?

[arteacher]

I like your pics. I wish I had seen that e-bay add before I bought mine though. BTW the 50 1.4 makes an excellent portrait lens.

[porkypine]

I discovered that the set screw in the CameraQuest adapter may loosen in cold temperatures. When shooting in winter conditions, take the Allen wrench with you and tighten the screw after a few minutes, to prevent any unpleasant surprises.

[LordEmit]

Those are very nice pics oddmanout, and also fjdrokkor.

I have one of these adaptors on order too - the one from China as per fjdrokkor's post above - I figured since it sounds like the bloke/company selling these just made up a limited batch in their own machine shop (as opposed to mass produced), that they might be quite decent quality, and I didn't have the money to spring for a CameraQuest one at the moment. (I could buy three of these ones for less than the price of the CameraQuest one, then I could leave 'em fitted to my three main lenses).

oddmanout and fjdrokkor:

I'd be interested in comments from both of you as to how you've found the quality in general of both your adaptors. I'd also like to know about how the infinity focus goes on both of them - some people have mentioned on here that some (usually cheaper mass-produced Chinese ones on ebay I believe) require shimming or modification to get the infinity focus spot-on - have you both found your ones ok?

Thanks for the feedback.

Hopefully mine will arrive soon and I can make use of my MD lenses a bit more (other than the rare occasion when I get out the X-700 and a roll of film these days :-)

[arteacher]

All my Rokkor lenses focus just as thy do on the Minolta cameras I own with the CameraQuest adapter, even the behemoth Hanimex 600 f8 that has a Pentax 42 screw to Minolta to 4/3 adapters on it.

[arteacher]

I've used mine in cold weather and not had that problem yet but thanks for the heads up.

[LordEmit]

Thanks oddmanout, good to hear that that one works all as it should.

[olyinaz]

I've ordered a Rokkor 58mm f/1.2 lens and the Chinese adapter off of eBay and I look forward to testing them out and reporting back here. I'm keen to find an f/1.2 lens that works well on our rigs (preferably one that is not hideously expensive) as it's one area where Canikon really have us. Given the 4/3rds weak point at high ISOs it's always been a head scratcher for me why Olympus lets this gap in the lineup continue.

Best,
Oly

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

I received my adapter yesterday, from jinfinance on ebay, and it looks very nice and works well. The allen "grub" screw is of low quality, easily remedied by a trip to the hardware store. The rest is top quality, heres a shot form my E510 using a bellows and 100mm Rokkor-X macro lens

No mods where needed to any of my lenses or bellows to work on the E510, but my 2x tele-converter will need a slight trim of the aperture pin. Also, I didn't mess with changing the focal length in the menu, or anything else, Aperture priority was used, center weighted metering, focused with the lens wide open then stopped down to f32 and let the camera set the shutter speed accordingly, I did use the "anti shock" setting and remote release. I'm anxious to get outside with my 500mm mirror and see what happens. I didn't have any trouble focusing through the viewfinder.
Jim

[arteacher]

I prefer to use live view. I have much the same setup as you, except I use an L1. The only quibble I have is that with the L1 the lens release button us covered by the bellows and I have to use a Popsicle stick to push it to release the bellows from the camera.

[fjdrokkor]

oddmanout and fjdrokkor:

I'd be interested in comments from both of you

I am having fun with my adaptor, here is a recent photo with 135 md

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2271/...f25ee03e_m.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14587425@N05/

[bhrm]

Here's my contribution

Oly E-510 with 45mm f2 Rokkor-X



Oly with 135mm f2.8