Nikon Lenses and the 7D
If you're wondering why I keep attaching Nikon lenses to my Canon 7D, let me explain.
Is because I can a sufficient answer? Probably not. And while that's part of the answer, there's more.
What if I didn't need to focus quickly?
So I decided to play a bit with shooting something that didn't require lighting fast focus. This wheel bearing seemed like a great subject. I'm pretty happy with the results.
Is because I can a sufficient answer? Probably not. And while that's part of the answer, there's more.
In an earlier post I explained that I'd been given a Canon 7D camera that, by all rights, was fatally broken. The shutter and sensor still work but the electronics that couple any Canon EF lens to the body are fried. Try to put a Canon lens on it and it locks up completely. However, without a lens the shutter fires just fine. So I tried putting a reversing ring onto it so that I could use it for macro photography. And it works great for that purpose as my previous snowflake post proves.
When no electronics coupling the lens to the body, newer electronic aperture lenses will shoot only wide open. However, older manual aperture lenses afford the ability to shoot at any f-stop the lens provides. Depth of field is super shallow in macro photography so gaining any edge, albeit tiny, by stopping down the lens somewhat is definitely helpful.
There are plenty of old non electronic aperture lenses out there but Nikon definitely held market share during the early film days so they're easy to find. And they tend to be great lenses optically as well. Additionally, unlike Canon FD lenses of the same era, they will stop down freely when not mounted to a camera body. FD lenses remain wide open unless mounted to a camera so aperture adjustment is eliminated when reverse mounting. Some other lenses such as Minolta lenses have manual aperture adjustment so, as they become available I'll likely pick some of those up as well. So practicality is a big part of the answer to why I started rescuing old Nikon and Nikon mount lenses to mount to the 7D. But only a handful of short focal length lenses work when reverse mounting. And while I truly love shooting macro, that's not the only type of photography I enjoy.
So I began to play around with other options. I wanted to see what else I could do with this "broken" 7D. I found an adapter mount made by Kiwi that allows me to mount a Nikon lens directly to the Canon camera. And, because the Nikon lens mount is smaller than the Canon lens mount, the conversion can happen without the need for additional quality-eating diopters that many other adaptations require. So now I can mount just about any old Nikon lens on my 7D facing the right way. That changes everything!
Today I mounted this discarded 105 Nikon lens to see what I could do with it.
In its day, this was considered a really good lens. In fact, it still is. Its definitely sharp. But this one, like many of the 105 and 55 Micro Nikkor lenses of this era, suffers from a common malady. The focus ring becomes next to impossible to move. I suspect that either the lubricant or internal thread pitch used on these particular lenses was different than other lenses because the others still work beautifully. But whatever the reason, turning the focus ring on many of these lenses can truly be a workout, which for practical purposes, renders them worthless. At least certainly for most typical photography where focusing needs to be accomplished quickly, smoothly and reasonably easily. Forearm spasms and heavy breathing tend to make holding a camera steady kinda hard. And fast? Forget it!
While it might be essentially worthless for average use I knew I could put it to use somehow. Its too nice a lens to be discarded. At least by my standards.When no electronics coupling the lens to the body, newer electronic aperture lenses will shoot only wide open. However, older manual aperture lenses afford the ability to shoot at any f-stop the lens provides. Depth of field is super shallow in macro photography so gaining any edge, albeit tiny, by stopping down the lens somewhat is definitely helpful.
There are plenty of old non electronic aperture lenses out there but Nikon definitely held market share during the early film days so they're easy to find. And they tend to be great lenses optically as well. Additionally, unlike Canon FD lenses of the same era, they will stop down freely when not mounted to a camera body. FD lenses remain wide open unless mounted to a camera so aperture adjustment is eliminated when reverse mounting. Some other lenses such as Minolta lenses have manual aperture adjustment so, as they become available I'll likely pick some of those up as well. So practicality is a big part of the answer to why I started rescuing old Nikon and Nikon mount lenses to mount to the 7D. But only a handful of short focal length lenses work when reverse mounting. And while I truly love shooting macro, that's not the only type of photography I enjoy.
So I began to play around with other options. I wanted to see what else I could do with this "broken" 7D. I found an adapter mount made by Kiwi that allows me to mount a Nikon lens directly to the Canon camera. And, because the Nikon lens mount is smaller than the Canon lens mount, the conversion can happen without the need for additional quality-eating diopters that many other adaptations require. So now I can mount just about any old Nikon lens on my 7D facing the right way. That changes everything!
Today I mounted this discarded 105 Nikon lens to see what I could do with it.
In its day, this was considered a really good lens. In fact, it still is. Its definitely sharp. But this one, like many of the 105 and 55 Micro Nikkor lenses of this era, suffers from a common malady. The focus ring becomes next to impossible to move. I suspect that either the lubricant or internal thread pitch used on these particular lenses was different than other lenses because the others still work beautifully. But whatever the reason, turning the focus ring on many of these lenses can truly be a workout, which for practical purposes, renders them worthless. At least certainly for most typical photography where focusing needs to be accomplished quickly, smoothly and reasonably easily. Forearm spasms and heavy breathing tend to make holding a camera steady kinda hard. And fast? Forget it!
BUT WAIT!
What if I didn't need to focus quickly?
So I decided to play a bit with shooting something that didn't require lighting fast focus. This wheel bearing seemed like a great subject. I'm pretty happy with the results.
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