Tag Archives: Camera lens

Using the Olympus TCON 17 1.7x teleconverter with a Nikon 1

January 27, 2016 3DM Leave a comment

These three photos were taken with a Nikon 1 V2, the 1 Nikkor 30-110mm zoom, and an Olympus TCON-17 1.7x teleconverter. I am extremely pleased with the results using the teleconverter.

On the Nikon 1, I use a 55 to 52mm adapter ring, and then a 52mm to 40.5mm adapter ring to mount on the Nikon 1. (I could not find a 55 to 40.5 mm adapter).

I bought the TCON17, used, on Ebay, for $15. That is not the normal price – prices are usually closer to $80 to $110 U.S. I think the person who sold this one did not know what they had.

Olympus had made 4 teleconverter lenses that appear to be essentially identical – the B300, the unlabeled TCON17, the TCON-17, and the TCON-17x. I have what I believe is the “unlabeled” version. I understand the early models did not include the TCON-17 model # on the lens.

I also did tests on a micro four thirds camera using the TCON17 with the Olympus f/1.8 45mm lens – works great (makes a 150mm FF equivalent). I tried the Lumix 45-200mm, but the TCON17 made the images soft and with much chromatic aberration.

The shot below was to test for chromatic aberration, by having the high contrast areas of the branches against the gray background.

Not surprisingly, contrast is a little soft with the teleconverter, but that is easily corrected either in camera or using Lightroom.

I will post more photos in the future, but it is hard to get out taking photos right now as we live in a rainy climate.

Cameras, Still photography

Using a Computar c-mount lens on the Nikon 1

September 3, 2015 3DM Leave a comment

These photographs were taken with a Nikon 1 V2 and a Computar f/1.2 12.6-75mm c-mount television camera lens. For improved sharpness, I usually shoot this lens at f/4 as it is soft at f/1.2. I also use a 0.6 ND filter so that I can use the lens wide open.

The lens is used with a c-mount to Nikon 1 mount adapter ring. The lens is primarily useful only at the long end of the lens, otherwise there is vignetting. However, for the used price, this produces a rather excellent, fast telephoto lens for the Nikon 1.

Click on any photo for a larger version.

Cameras, Still photography, Techniques, Uncategorized

Using old camera lenses on micro four thirds cameras

October 20, 2014 3DM Leave a comment

Not that long ago, I used some old Minolta film cameras. These cameras used lenses with the Minolta MC/MD mounting system and I have several old lenses that can be used on micro four thirds cameras with an appropriate adapter.
Here’s my informal judgement as to work works well and what does not when using these old lenses on modern micro four thirds cameras. All of my tests were done on my Lumix GH-2, shooting JPEG images and evaluating the JPEGs as they came straight out of the camera. I did not do any tests in RAW mode.
Minolta 50mm prime f/1.4

f/1.4 – At f/1.4, this lens is soft, almost fuzzy, and with low contrast. Not recommended at f/1.4
f/2.0 – At f/2.0, this lens is clean with good contrast. I would rate this excellent for my own purposes at f/2.0 and above.

Minolta 50mm prime f/1.7

f/1.7 – At f/1.7, this lens is also very soft.
f/2.8 – I rate this aperture as “pleasant”. Its not really soft but its not quite a sharp either – but overall provides a pleasing, smooth quality to the image, yet with a very nice narrow depth of field.
f/4 – At f/4.0 the lens becomes very sharp.

Sigma 28mm prime f/2.8

This lens just does not work well at all until probably f/4, then its fine. The lens is useful, however, since it is a macro focus lens. The 28mm works like a 56 mm full frame equivalent lens on the micro four thirds format – but focuses down to about two inches (5 cm)!

Sigma 28-70mm UC Zoom f/2.8

f/2.8 – At both the 28 and 70mm zoom settings (56 and 140mm FF equivalent on m43ds) the lens is noticeably soft, probably better at the 70mm end than the 28mm end.
f/4 – At f/4 and above the images are excellent.

This Sigma 28-70mm lens is probably one of my favorite lenses on my Lumix GH2. Its great for shooting when I want a narrow depth of field, but provides excellent sharpness and contrast.
Other Lenses
Another popular old lens is most any Canon FD glass. I have not tested these but the reviews I have read of Canon FD lenses similar to those above, also perform similarly – such as the Canon FD f/1.4 lens being soft at f/1.4 but nicely sharp by f/2. These can be found on eBay for $30 to $70, sometimes including the m43 adapter ring. Older Nikon lens are also excellent and popular and available used.
Keep in mind that to use an old lens you need to ensure your camera can operate with a “no electronics” lens. The Lumix GH-2, for example, has a menu setting to let the camera operate even if “no lens is attached”. I use this setting and then put the camera in “A” Aperture mode, and set the aperture and focus manually. My Nikon 1 camera only works in “M” mode when a non-Nikkor lens is attached – this works, but is not as convenient as using the “A” mode and letting the camera meter and choose a shutter speed for me.
Newer lens systems, like the Canon EF series can also be made to work but with limitations – these lenses do not have an aperture ring and the lens, by default, will also be in the wide open aperture setting. There is a trick to get around this but its cumbersome – mount the lens on an actual Canon camera, set the aperture using the camera settings, remove the lens and put it on the m43d camera and it retains the aperture setting. But why go to that trouble? Better off getting an original all manual lens like the Canon FD.
Both of these two photos were taken with the Lumix GH-2 and the Sigma 28-70mm f/2.8 lens at f/2.8 to create the narrow depth of field look. You can click on these images – twice, in fact – to zoom in to larger versions. Both are reduced in size and compression from the originals, however.

My 3D Camera Mounts

September 1, 2012 3DM 1 Comment

The photos below do not show all the mounts I have built but you get the general idea. For example, several mounts are just pieces of drilled out steel or aluminum mounted to a tripod adapter.

One problem with putting cameras side by side on a length of aluminum is that you need to put a hole and fastening nut for the tripod mount, in between the cameras, which means 3/4 to 1 inch extra gap between the cameras, spacing the lens wider than necessary.

That led to this bracket which puts the cameras on the top level and the tripod mount on the bottom level. These metal brackets are steel straps sold at a local hardware store, then drilled out for the desired spacing.

1/4-20 screws attached to knobs (available at a hardware store) are used to connect cameras on top of the top rail. I also have a version of this that has 3 levels – the middle level, like above, holds the cameras. A third level above the cameras holds mounts for shot gun mics. I’ll have to post a photo of that some day!

A seldom used mount is this very wide angle setup, which is made from two oversized calipers, used in drafting. The two camera mounts are adjustable to provide lens spacing of up to about 2 feet. But keep in mind there are very few situations (big landscape shots mostly) where you will ever need something this big.

I recently purchased this milled piece of aluminum bar which provides an adjustable camera mount. The center contains both a 1/4-20 and a 3/8 tripod threaded mounting hole.

After this photo was taken, I modified the bar slightly so I could mount it in the earlier 3D mount, above. With the adjustable rail, I can get the two Canon HF M301 video cameras down to a 2 3/4″ lens separation (center to center), plus where needed, I can also spread the cameras apart.

The rough rule of thumb is that the main object in 3D space should be at least 30x the lens spacing away from the cameras. At 6″ camera spacing, the minimum subject distance should be 15 feet (6″ x 30 = 15 feet). At 2 3/4″ we can cut that distance in half. And that is really a minimum – I find better results when the subject distance is kept beyond the minimum.

But there are other considerations when setting the camera spacing. For some situations moving the lenses further apart helps to emphasize the depth effect. For example, when I was shooting Hoopfest at 3″ spacing, the depth effect disappeared around 150 feet (or so) from the camera. But when I set the lens spacing to about 6″, the depth effect was nicely visible down the whole city block.

Coldstreams 3D and Drones