Lens Bubbles

Lens Bubbles Is Moving

2017-02-14T21:27:00.001-05:00

This will likely be the last post I write for my blog on Blogger. After about 8 years, and 1327 posts, I have to say goodbye to Blogger and move on to my new home at www.lensbubbles.com.

It has been my goal to have my own domain and web site that I have more control over how I want to setup the site, and I finally ran out of excuses and did it. This is part of my plans for 2017. The new site is not completely done and because it's my first time setting up a "real" web site, it will be a constant trial and error, but at least the blog section is up and running :)

I hope to see you at the new Lens Bubbles home at www.lensbubbles.com. All future blog posts will be at http://lensbubbles.com/blog.

Candy Coloured Bokeh - Minolta Rokkor-QF 40mm f1.8 on Sony A7

Home Brew Focus Helicoids

2017-02-05T10:58:00.000-05:00

For a die-hard DIY lens fanatic, focus helicoids are indispensable. I have written a few posts on this subject, and a DIY post on converting the Vivitar 2X Macro Teleconverter to a focus helcioid here. Since then, I have made a few more and I would like to share some thoughts on these.

Some home made helicoids

The Vivitar 2X Macro Teleconverter -- This is by far my favourite and most used focus helicoid. It has good extension at 17mm, and depends on how it's converted, the minimum thickness can be from 35mm (35mm- 52mm) to 52mm (52mm - 69mm) with my own conversions. The smoothness of this helicoid is unmatched by the cheap dedicated helicoid on the market. Of course, due to its very thick nature, it's not usable on all lenses, but because the opening is large at around 55mm, and the inside diameter of 46mm, quite a few lenses can go through the tube and get very close to the sensor. The Kowa Prominar-16 50mm f1.2 projection lens is one example. This allows the lens to focus extremely close, and yet can achieve infinity focus. I have since acquired a few of these Vivitar converters. Shown below are some examples.

Vivitar 2X Macro Teleconverters in various configurations. Note the top left one is the most recent and the thinnest. These have different openings from M42 to 55mm to accommodate different sized lenses.

No Name 3X Macro Teleconverter -- This is my least liked helicoid. Technically, it's not really a helicoid. Instead, it uses a zooming mechanism and as a result, the smoothness is not quite the same. Another negative is that this helicoid does not extend; it's an internal focus type which limits its usefulness. Consequently, I rarely use it. Not recommended as a frequently used tool but if you get it for a few dollars, by all means, add it to your tool box.

Converted to Sony E-Mount

Note the helicoid has an internal focus type. The lens you want to focus must be smaller than the diameter of the helicoid. This particular helicoid has an M42 mount on the front.

Yashica 50mm f2 -- This one is converted from a Yashica 50mm f2 lens. The kit lens that came with the Yashica FX and other entry level cameras. I ~~have~~ had a few of them and I have one converted just to see what it can do, and I like it quite a bit. The focus is very smooth, with a 52mm opening and relatively thin at 29mm when retracted. The extension is 7mm, is is a good compromise. So this one is 29mm-36mm helicoid. This is a good lens to use as a carrier for enlarging lenses. I originally planned to use it permanently for the Dallmeyer 50mm f3.5 enlarging lens, but I saw that it can be used as a general purpose helicoid, so I will be doing another one for the Dallmeyer lens in the future.

I modified the opening of the helicoid to accept both 52mm and M42 threads. Picture #2 below has more details.

Here you can see I have started to use screws to secure the mount in place. Sometime it works out really well, like in this case, but most of the time, it's nightmarish to get the holes aligned.

This helicoid can take either 52mm or 42mm lenses. The 42mm thread is 5mm deeper into the helicoid and therefore won't accommodate all lenses, but for smaller lenses, this makes for, roughly, a 24mm-31mm helicoid.

Hanimex 28mm f2.8 -- I really like this one as it's so smooth in focusing, and it's the thinnest home made helicoid at 25mm. The extension is only 5mm so it's a bit of a disappointment. It won't allow very lose focusing, unless the lens used already has its own focus mechanism. Currently, the opening is 49mm as I have not modified it. Eventually it will have an M42 opening. The inside diameter of the helicoid is quite small at 36mm. This one is brand new and not yet used to take pictures yet.

Working on -- These two are being worked on. On the left is a Pentax-M 50mm f2 with glass already removed and ready for conversion. On the right is another Yashica 50mm f2 and it will have an M42 mount at the rear. This lens was taken apart years ago and I need to find the rest of the parts, especially the focus ring, otherwise I will have to make it myself.

In the queue for conversion.

To recap. Focus helicoid from lenses are a compromise. Most have very short focus travel (extension), and therefore won't allow very close focus, but the smoothness of them is their most alluring quality, which really adds to the enjoy of taking pictures.

Toronto Camera Show - Winter 2017

2017-01-24T22:30:00.000-05:00

We are blessed that there are quite a few camera shows in Toronto every year. I try hard not to miss any, although sometimes I intentionally do not go, depending on the gear lust level. The show mostly about old camera gear, which is what I like best. In recent years, price of old stuff has gone up quite a bit, and many vendors are selling their stuff at eBay prices. Despite all that, sometimes interesting items can be had, even cheaply.

Yesterday was another of these shows. Ever since I got my lathe, I look forward to these shows, as it's the good source of oddball lenses, rangefinders that I could get to hopefully convert to use on digital. I was hoping to find some broken, cheap rangefinders with large aperture lenses, and found exactly none, exept the Kodak Retina IIIc fitted with a slow Schneider-Kreuznach 80mm f4 lens. I am extremely happy as this particular model has been the object of my search for quite some time. The front cell of the lens on this camera has is interchangeable; by replacing the front lens group, one can put on another lens with different focal lengths, like a 80mm, or 35mm. I have a Rodenstock Heligon 90mm f4, which can be used with this camera (or the lens on this camera), which I have been dying to try out. Now all I have to do is to remove the lens from the camera and make it work on my Sony A7.

Zeiss Ikon with Opton Tessar 105mm f3.5. A beauty, no?

Another find from the camera show was a Zeiss Ikon folder with an Opton Tessar 105mm f3.5 lens. I really hesitated on this one because it was quite expensive (for me) but the lens proved to be irresistable to my already weak will power so I gave in to my temptation. The camera is not really in working condition, but the lens is in beautiful shape, which is primarily what I am after. I have an Opton 75mm f3.5 which I really love, and I don't have a Zeiss Tessar in the 105mm focal length. It will be interesting to compare this one with the Ross London Xpres 105mm f3.8.

Very beat-up Retina IIIc with Schneider Longar 80mm f4. Note the rust but the lens is in very good shape.

Converted. The lens will be mounted on a 12-17mm focus helicoid. The lens itself has focus mechanism, so this lens can focus very close by using both focus.

Got a few old other folder camera lenses, including a Plaubel 18cm f4.5, a Schneider-Kreuznach Radionar 105mm f4.5 (my third Radionar. The other two is 50mm f3.5 and 75mm f2.9). Couple of large format Kodaks, a 6 3/8 inch f4.5 and a 7 1/4 f 4.5. Other misc bits include a few enlarging lenses and a Voigtlander Talon 100mm f2.8 projection lens, which I have already converted and is now mounted on my Nikon D810 :)

Best bargain of the day was a box of M42 2x teleconverters for a $1 each. No, I didn't buy these to use for taking pictures. I bought them to use the mount for lens conversion. I have already used two of them: one for the lens above, and the other is for the Voigtlander Talon 100mm f2.8 projection lens.

Overall, I think it was a quite a productive day. Enough toys to experiment until the next show in March :)

Ross London Xpres 105mm f3.8 Nikon D810

2017-01-15T19:37:00.000-05:00

One of the nice things about larger format lenses like the Ross London Xpres 105mm f3.8, is that their flange distance is often longer than most SLR camera mounts, and this makes them adaptable on DSLRs, even on Nikon cameras which is usually the least adaptable mount of all D/SLR cameras. This particular lens, having a very long flange, is even usable with the Vivitar Macro 2x Teleconverter helicoid. I have a number of these Vivitar macro teleconverters, and I used one of them for the Nikon mount. Even with the Vivitar focus helicoid, a 10mm spacer is required to make the lens focus to infinity.

This lens has one nice feature on its shutter: T setting. This setting allows you to trip the shutter and it stays open until the shutter is tripped again. This makes it unnecessary to remove the shutter blades in the lens, but at the same time, the shutter is easy to trip so often I have to re-cock the shutter and make it open again before use. A small inconvenience I can live with.

Ross London Xpres 105mm f3.8 on Nikon D810

I am not a big fan of using adapted lenses on DSLRs, having done that with the Canon for many years. They are nowhere as convenient as using an EVF on mirrorless cameras. But the Nikon D810 has a very nice optical viewfinder, and I find that I don't have much trouble getting critical focus, even with slower lenses. The non-swivel rear screen is still a big negative for some low angle shots. That said, I kind of enjoy using the D810 with some of the manual focus lenses. Aside from the nice viewfinder, the image quality is the biggest attraction.

Winter in the city - Xpres 105mm f3.8 on Nikon D810

Miss Toronto - Xpres 105mm f3.8 on Nikon D810

The Xpres 105mm f3.8 lens works really well with the D810, despite the high density sensor. So far, I am really, really liking this lens and how it renders pictures, even though I have only used it a few times. The bokeh is especially smooth and beautiful, but the lens is also quite sharp. One thing that I have noticed, and that usually does not happen with the Sony A7, is I get more blurry pictures with the D810, even though I set the minimum shutter speed to 1/125s. This camera requires a much higher shutter speed to get sharp pictures.

I am looking forward to using this lens more, especially in the spring when we have more colours to fill the camera sensor.

Bokeh Samples - Xpres 105mm f3.8 and Nikon D810. This pictures need to be viewed at large size to appreciate the details.

When Lens Conversion Goes Wrong, or Why Lenses with Auto Aperture Control Suck

2017-01-07T10:40:00.000-05:00

I was somewhat encouraged by the semi-successful conversion of the Vivitar 40mm f1.7 from the Vivitar 35ES, so I ventured on to start another rangefinder that did not have aperture control: the Minolta Electro Shot. This camera has a 40mm f1.8 lens but much larger than the Vivitar 40mm f1.7. Well, things didn't turn out as well as the Vivitar conversion. The Electro Shot does not have separate shutter and aperture blades, like pretty much all other rangefinders from that era, but it employed a single shutter/aperture system. I didn't know this until the very end.

Lens Conversion Gone Bad

As I assumed the shutter and aperture blades were separate, and from experience that I gained, the shutter mechanism is usually accessible from the front. But when I disassembled the whole front, there was nothing. All the controls are from the rear of the lens. Long story short, in the process of trying to find the mechanism for aperture control, I mistakenly loosened three screws on top of the lens from the rear, and this caused the aperture/shutter blades to fall out of the lens :( The timing and shutter/aperture control system is very complicated and I decided to just give up on aperture control. After some more thought, I further decided that I should make another Borg lens, with a Steampunk look. Incidentally, my first Borg lens was also a Minolta.

From now on, I will stay away from rangefinders that have no manual aperture control on the lens. It's just not worth the trouble, unless the camera is dirt cheap or is unusual. Of course, this could change if I gain enough skill to make more complex parts to enable the aperture in the lens.

Wilted Rose - Minolta Rokkor-QF 40mm f1.8 & Sony A7

2016 - A Few Thoughts

2017-01-05T23:50:00.000-05:00

2016 has seen the fewest blog entries since I started blogging a few years ago, but at the same time, I took a record number of pictures in the same year, mostly with my Sony A7.

Looking back, I did not spend any money on digital camera bodies in 2016. For some reason, I didn't have the urge to upgrade the cameras like I did in previous years. Perhaps I have come to the realization that my Sony A7, Nikon D810 and the Olympus EM5 are still great cameras. The Nikon 1V I got was given to me in exchange of some work I did for a friend, and I really do not like that camera at all, for manual focus lenses. Nikon has castrated the very feature I need, mainly, auto exposure for manual focus lenses, and I can't see myself using manual exposure for every freaking frame I take. It's just not happening. That's the reason I have not even bought any adapters for it. Really don't know what to do with the camera. A shame really, as it has so much potential for small format lenses like D-Mount, C-Mount, and half frame lenses. As an AF camera, it's quite nice, dynamic range of the sensor not withstanding.

The best thing I did in 2016, was the purchase of the micro lathe. It has been only a short time, and the lathe is not perfect, but I got a taste of what I can do with such a machine, and I am hooked. I really look forward to adapting more lenses with it. In fact, I have a plan which I will talk about in another post :)

Last year also saw me amassed a large number of non-standard lenses and (mostly dead) rangefinders. My goal was to buy enough of these things for me to practice on, to make myself a more skilled lathe operator. So far, I have done about a dozen conversions, mostly on slower rangefinder lenses or on lenses that are already manually converted but with less than satisfactory results. The only thing that slows me down is the lack of time I have available. I think for simple conversions, I can do a pretty good job now.

I fully realized that my blog has become more niche and covers mostly non-standard lenses. This may turn off some readers who may expect me to cover conventional mount lenses, but I find it in my interest to discover and try out these gems. Sorry if this is not your cup of tea. There are so many of these lenses out there and as many people don't realize they can use them on digital cameras. If I can provide enough information to make some of these lenses live a second life, my goal is accomplished.

Photographically, 2016 was not a bad year for me. No, my pictures have not improved, but I enjoy taking them nonetheless. Hopefully 2017 will be even better!

Streetcar on Queen St. East. Vivitar 40mm f1.7 & Sony A7

Vivitar 40mm f1.7 from 35ES

2017-01-01T19:10:00.001-05:00

I got this Vivitar 35ES rangefinder, rumored to be the same camera as the Minolta Hi-Matic S7 II, to see how hard it is to convert the lens which has Automatic aperture control to be used on the Sony A7. The aperture is not manually adjustable, obviously, but it is not controlled by a geared motor like modern lenses are. The aperture is still mechanical and I was able to link the aperture to the ~~ISO~~ Shutter Speed ring on the lens. Not perfect as there is no indexing, but it allows the aperture to be controlled.

Tried it out today and I am very happy with how it renders images. More to come.

Vivitar 40mm f1.7 converted to Sony E-Mount

Delicious bokeh - Vivitar 40mm f1.7 & Sony A7

Beauty Biokor-S 4.5cm f1.9 In Use

2016-12-29T22:12:00.000-05:00

This lens turns out to be quite nice. I mounted it on my A7 for about a week and shot a few hundred frames. I enjoyed it as a walk-around lens. The Pentax helicoid provided a very versatile focus option from extreme closeup to infinity, all without having to add extension tubes. The funky looking honey-combed defuser panel for the light meter cell adds a touch of vintage charm. The only negative is the sticky aperture ring, and I did have to use it a few times for some pictures with a bit more depth of field. Not a big deal, but an annoyance just the same.

I like the smooth bokeh from this lens. Some very slight swirl when pictures are taken at certain distance, but overall very pleasing. It flares quite easily, like most old lenses. A hood helps a bit but not at all situations. Overall, I think it was worth the effort of the conversion. This lens produces nice results.

Reflection - Biokor-S 4.5cm f1.9 @ f1.9 & Sony A7

Slightly Swirly Background - Biokor-S 4.5cm f1.9 @ f1.9 & Sony A7

Nice Smooth Bokeh - Biokor-S 4.5cm f1.9 & Sony A7

Flare - Biokor-S 4.5cm f1.9 & Sony A7

Merry Christmas!

2016-12-25T09:30:00.002-05:00

I want to wish my readers a very Merry Christmas! Hope you have been good all year and Santa has brought you shiny new toys, hopefully with multi-coating :)

Have fun with family and friends and be safe!

Ross London Xpres 105mm f3.8 from Ensign Selfix 820

2016-12-21T22:24:00.000-05:00

I have heard/read about Ensign cameras, and how much the owners praise them, and how much would-be owners curse them for their relatively high price compared to others. For me, I don't particularly care about the Ensign cameras, since I don't really shoot film, especially medium/large format film, but I have always been a big fan of Ross London lenses. I have a couple of Xpres Wide Angle 5 inch f4 large format lens which I absolutely love; its lovely and unique bokeh and rendering sometimes leave me weak on my knees :)

Ross London Xpress 105mm f3.8

The Xpres 105mm f3.8 is another lens I have been eyeing for a while, but Ensign cameras are not common in Canada, at least I don't see it often in the used market/camera shows. But, one finally showed up at a reasonable price, so I grabbed it, along with another folder camera sporting a Schneider-Kreuznach 75mm f3.5 Radionar (Triplet) lens, which we will talk about in another post. The Ensign is in reasonably good condition, but as with most very old folder cameras, there always seem to be some problems, usually with a worn bellows, or slow/jammed shutter, as the case with this Ensign. The camera is an impressively built beast. Hefty and solid, that almost gives you an urge to pound nails with it :)

Xpres 105mm f3.5 and the Ensign Selfix 820

The camera/lens is obviously well used. The previous owner(s) probably used it until it no longer works, as in its present condition. I like well used camera/lenses; one must love the camera enough to have used it again and again.

The lens is easy to remove since it is held in place with only a retention ring. Despite the age, the optic is near perfect, except the rear element has a few scratches. No haze that I could see, and the lens is coated, though probably not multi-coated. One word of caution when setting the lens down, the rear element is not guarded and the glass will touch the surface. Perhaps that's how the scratches on the rear elements came about. So, put it down on the front, not the rear, if you don't want the rear elements scratched.

So far, I have not mounted the lens on the camera yet, but I am uber anxious to try it. The flange is long enough to be used on my Nikon D810, so perhaps I will be using it on the Nikon as well as the A7.

Stay tuned for further development :)

The Beauty Biokor-S 45mm f1.9 Conversion

2016-12-18T10:56:00.000-05:00

This is an interesting camera. I never knew this brand even existed until I got this camera. Some Googling reveals there are some fanatic followers for some of its rangefinder camera. The one I have, unfortunately (or fortunately), has damages, and was dead. I don't have to feel bad gutting it for the lens to transplant it for use on digital.

A Beauty, no?

I originally wanted to preserve the built-in focus mechanism, but the lens has some strange designs that prevents this from happening. On most rangefinders, there are two focus guides; one on each side of the lens and are small and very close to the helicoid. On this lens, there is a single focus guide and is placed quite a distance away from the helicoid. If I were to retain the original focusing, I would have to machine the mount much larger than the diameter of the lens to accommodate the focus guide. If I were more skilled, I could probably create my own focus guide, but I am not there yet. In the end, the built-in focus is abandoned, and the Pentax 17-33mm focus helicoid is used. There are many advantages of using a helicoid with 16mm of focus travel, and one of which is extreme close focus while still retaining infinity focus. Another advantage is the focus feel. The Pentax helicoid is smooth as silk and what a pleasure to use.

The skin on the front of the camera need to be removed, which will expose the screws that secure the lens module. The top plate probably does not need to be removed, but I did it anyway.

Once the screws were removed, the lens module can be pulled out easily. Note the focus guide circled in red.

I need to use an M42 mount for the lens, so that it could be screwed on to the Pentax helicoid. This M42 mount came from one of the three sections of a Pentax extension tube. I have to somehow mount this onto the lens. The obvious way to do it is to attach it to the inner helicoid. The only problem is there is less than 3mm of space available between the lens and the focus helicoid. I machined the inner helicoid tube from its original 25mm to about 1mm thick, and the M42 mount to about 3mm, just thin enough to achieve infinity focus. I then epoxied the two parts together. Since the weight of the whole lens is held together by the glue, I am not too comfortable trusting glue to handle this by itself, so I intend to drill/tap and screwed them together for some added assurance.

Remove everything at the rear of the lens, but keep the retention plate. This plate is used to hold the M42 mount to the lens. See next picture for the plate. The screw circled is a key that makes sure the plate does not move around.

On the left is the M42 mount I cut from the Pentax extension tube and machined to the required thickness. In the middle is the retention plate that I machined so that it will fit inside the back of the M42 mount. These two pieces are glued together with metallic epoxy.

The retention plate is glued onto the M42 mount. Note the recessed groove; it's just small enough that the retention ring can't go through the hole. This is where the retention ring on the right will be pressing on while screwed onto the lens. This secures the mount on the lens.

All the pieces fitted together. The notches circled in red is where you use the spanner wrench to tighten the retention ring and secure the mount.

Disabling the shutter

This is actually the trickiest part that took more time. It involves disassembling the front of the lens.

Remove the retention ring with a spanner wrench and remove the diffuser piece. Next unscrew the front element group, and take out 3 pieces under it. Now remove the 3 screws circled in red.

Once the 3 screws are removed, lift this piece out, and the piece below it. This will expose 4 more screws that need to be removed. Note the small retention ring in the middle, pointed to by the blue arrow. This one also needs to come out.

Take out the piece secured by the 4 screws, and now the inner retention can be removed. Note the locking screws in red. It needs to be turned so that it's not touching the retention ring. Using a pointed spanner wrench, remove the retention ring.

Once the retention ring is removed, take it out, as well as the two other pieces under it. This is the end of the disasembly.

This is where you will find the shutter cocking mechanism, circled in red. Find the part that actually engages/disengages the shutter, and glue/solder it in place. For this particular lens, I just removed the shutter blades using a long nose plier since I didn't feel like I wanted to go through all the disassembly steps, but I did the steps here to show where you can do it without removing the blades.

Everything together. Looks nice with the Canonet hood :)

A real beauty, ain't she?

One issue that this lens has, is the very stiff aperture ring. I think there are two much gunk that gums it up. But, I am not going to do further disassembly to fix it since I hardly use the aperture :) I shoot mostly wide open.

Next time, we will look at some pictures taken with this lens, and see if Beauty is only skin deep, or it actually has substance.

Soligor 55mm f1.8 Miranda Screw Mount

2016-12-17T11:54:00.000-05:00

Soligor and Vivitar lenses were all that I could afford when I started in photography. I bought a brand new dual focal (85mm & 135mm) Soligor in the mid 80s for my Pentax Program Plus. Never liked it, and the whereabouts of this lens is now a mystery. But that marked the first time I encounter Soligor lenses, and only knew it as cheap alternatives to the more expensive OEM lenses. Still have a few Soligor lenses. Early ones were actually quite well made, and all were made in Japan, many of them by Tokina.

Soligor 55mm f1.8 in Miranda Screw Mount

At the last camera show, I was surprised to discover a normal, 55mm Soligor lens, which I never even knew they existed. Even more surprised it was a screw mount that fit the hybrid mount of the Miranda cameras. Yes, some of the Miranda camera can accept screw mount and bayonet mount lenses. Unfortunately, the screw mount is not the standard M42 but is slightly larger, around 50mm but has the same 1 mm pitch as M42. Some companies, like Tamron, never made a normal (50mm/55mm/58mm) lens that I know of, and this Soligor 55mm f1.8 is the only Soligor normal lens I have ever seen. Since it was pretty cheap, I bought it to check it out.

Old St. Lawrence Market, before it was completely demolished. Soligor 55mm f1.8 & Sony A7

The lens is very well made like most lenses at the time. It's also a pretty large lens. All metal lens barrel and mount with 10(12?) aperture blades, but they are not really round in middle apertures, but are sawtooth-like, similar to many older cine lenses. This lens has pre-set aperture, so there is no automation at all between camera and the lens. There is no coating on the glass surfaces, therefore the lens has lots of reflection on the front of the glass. A proper hood really should be used when shooting outdoors.

In order to make the lens mountable on my A7, I had to machine a used M42 mount that goes over the existing screw mount. This way I can screw the lens on the M42 focus helicoid. This works out really well.

Bokeh Samples - Soligor 55mm f1.8 & Sony A7

The image quality is pretty much what I expected, similar to other 55mm f1.8 lenses I have used. The lens is not super sharp at wide apertures, but it does produce pleasing bokeh. Even stopped down, the lens lacks microcontrast the give "bite" to pictures, but with a bit of unsharp mask, the files are more than usable.

Overall, it's an interesting lens, not optically, but from the uncommon stand point.

Gooderham Flatiron Toronto - Soligor 55mm f1.8 & Sony A7

The Worrying Trend of Increasingly Higher Priced Sony Cameras

2016-12-14T23:27:00.000-05:00

We see Sony announced the A6500, a camera with features that all A6300 owner wanted in their camera in the first place. It's almost predictable that the newer models is hundreds of dollars more than the one it replaces. In the case of the A6500, it's around $400CAD more than the A6300. The marketing geniuses at Sony does not actually "replace" the current model, but sells them side by side. The older models become lower spec'ed cameras and the new model becomes the top of the line model with the top of the line price, but that does not take away the fact that it's still a replacement until they sell off the current inventory of older models. Sure, the A6500 checks all the boxes in the bells and whistles department, but it actually costs $200 more than then full frame Sony A7, and is very closely priced to the Sony A7II.

The prices of new lenses and camera bodies steadily increase with each new announcement, and not just incremental increases either. For Sony, they seem to want to play the up market game, and price their new products accordingly. Yes, we know the Sony cameras are increasingly more capable than those models before, and have features that many other camera makers don't have, but how far can they go before they end up being a niche player like Leica? It won't be long if each new model is $400-$500 more, and in the case of the A7R II, the price is mindblowing $4000 in Canada.

Yes I am whining because I don't have the deep pocket of those who have a lot of disposable income. I would love to upgrade my A7, but not at these rediculuos new prices. If a crop sensor A6500 costs close to $1800, I can't imagine how much the A7 III will cost. My guess would be around $3000. I upgraded from NEX-5 --> NEX-5N --> NEX-6 --> A7 because each model didn't cost significantly more than the one before, except the A7 but it was in a different product category.

I guess I will continue to enjoy my trusty A7, but one day it will die, and I will likely replace it with something affordble, like a used A7 or A7 II. I would rather spent the money on lenses, as the A7/A7II are still very capable cameras.

Hooked - Yashinon 4.5cm f1.8 from Lynx-1000 Rangefinder on Sony A7

Wollensak Velostigmat 85mm f3.5 from Ciro-Flex TLR

2016-12-13T23:04:00.000-05:00

I picked up this Ciro-Flex TLR at an antique shop a while ago. This American made 6x6 TLR was cruelly put together, but was built like a tank; very American like. But there are parts missing; for one thing, the focus mechanism is not working, and the viewfinder is stuck. I have little interest in TLRs other than the lens that's attached to it, and in this case, the Wollensak 85mm f3.5, which looks really nice, and I like Wollensak lenses.

Ciro-flex with Wollensak 85mm f3.5 lens.

The lens was attached to the camera by a retention ring inside the film chamber. It was really recessed and non of my spanner wrenches is long enough to reach the ring. I ended up cutting up a piece of steel cabinet scraper plate, just small enough to get to the retention ring. It all worked out really well. These cabinet scrapers were bought at a garage sale and I had the intention to make custom spanner wrenches with them, since many times a standard span wrench could not be used due to space constrains, or length or both. If I do get around making them into custom spanner wrenches, I will have a write up on it.

The removed lens was put on the converted Vivitar focus helicoid with a couple of filter rings, and I took it out for some test shots.

Mystique bokeh - Wollensak 85mm f3.5 & Sony A7

It turns out images are quite interesting, but I immediately noticed the flare in pretty much all images, even though I had a hood, but obviously not long enough. Still, I am quite happy with few of the pictures. The bokeh is quite nice, and of course it looks different depending on how close the lens is from the subject. Most of the bokeh shots turned out very smooth, which should be good for portrait.

Rust - Wollensak 85mm f3.5 & Sony A7

The lens is relatively sharp, at least at the center, but the edge is only passable even at smaller apertures at infinity. Perhaps the lens was not mounted properly, or this particular copy isn't the best. Still, I like how the lens renders the pictures. It has a nice personality.

Anchor - Wollensak 85mm f3.5 & Sony A7

Perhaps I should machine a more precise adapter to fit this lens on the helicoid and see if it performs better. I have only used the lens a couple of times, so it's still very early to form conclusions. But, so far, I like it on the Sony A7.

Minolta Chyoko 4.5cm f3.5 Rangefinder Lens Conversion Part II

2016-12-07T21:11:00.001-05:00

This little lens is a pure joy to use. The lens barrel is made of brass, so it's very dense and focuses like silk, after I re-lubed the helicoid. This is one of the things you can not get from modern lenses, aside from Leica and few other exotic and expensive lenses that come out of Germany. It does not contribute to the quality of images, but it sure makes creating images more pleasurable.

Obviously, a lens with an f3.5 maximum aperture is not a great low light shooter, but it has other desirable attributes that shine over the short comings of the slow-ish maximum aperture. Bokeh is one of its strong suits, and I adore it. It has not the smoothest bokeh in all situations, but it's distinctively enjoyable. With highlights, you can see a strong outline on the rings, which to some, is not a good attribute of smooth bokeh, but I like it. Reminds of the same kind of effects from a Trioplan/Triplet lens. It's visually bold, as compared to bokeh from a Planar or Sonnar. Your mileage may vary, of course. You may hate it, or like me, you may like it a lot.

Most very old lenses aren't great when it comes to sharp corners at wide apertures, and this is one of these lenses. It's by no means very bad, but stopped down to around f11-f16, it's quite respectable. It won't win any sharpness contests, but definitely usable, especially with a bit of sharpening applied.

The 5-blade aperture gives a more star-like shape when stopping down than other lenses with vanilla 5-blade apertures; the blades are shaped differently, giving the shape a bit more pleasant appeal visually , to me at least.

So, if you overlook the slow maximum aperture, this is actually quite an enjoyable lens to use, and it makes images with nice bokeh.

All images below were taken with the Minolta Chyoko 4.5cm f3.5 & Sony A7:

Minolta Chyoko 4.5cm f3.5 Rangefinder Lens Conversion Part I

2016-12-04T11:12:00.000-05:00

I know a lot of people just could not understand why anyone would even bother with a standard lens having an f3.5 maximum aperture. Today's modern 50mm lens of f1.8 is considered slow. So yes, why bother?

All I can say is that each lens has its place, and justification for its existence. f3.5 is slow for low light photography, but there are many places where it can still make wonderful photographs, and you often find the photos they render is not reproducible by modern lenses. The Minolta Chyoko 4.5cm f3.5 is one slow lens that I really, really like.

Minolta "A" in its original form. Note the round design. Very hard to hold and use.

This lens came from the Minolta "A" rangefinder, introduced in 1955 as an entry level rangefinder. I have never held a more un-ergonomical camera than this one. I think the design is terrible. The camera feels like a melon in my hands, but we are only interested in the lens, so it's ergonomics is inconsequential. The lens came out quite easily from the camera with just a few screws from the front of the camera.

Lens is very easy to remove. in fact, the lens can be removed without touching much of the camera body.

Lens as it came out of the camera. Note the shutter mechanism at the rear of the lens. Since we don't need it, it can be easily removed, and the best part of this, is that you don't have to worry about keeping the shutter open like most rangefinders with shutter assembly built into the lens.

The focus mechanism of this lens had very little damping so I decided to disassemble the lens to clean it and re-lube it. To do that, the front group of elements need to be unscrewed, but do be careful when removing it; this lens group is used to secure the aperture mechanism. I made a mistake of tilting the lens while removing the lens group and the aperture assembly came out of its place. Took me a long time to put the blades back.

Front lens group removed. Note the aperture blades are just sitting there without anything else to second it in place. The lens group is the only thing keeps it secured. Don't tilt the lens while removing the lens group, otherwise prepare to spend a lot of time trying to put them back.

All the parts of the lens disassembled. It's quite easy and simple. Just remove all screws, but don't lose any screws and remember the sequence.

The disassembly of the lens is quite easy by removing the screws. Be sure to note where the specific screws go and don't lose any. The only tricky part, is putting the helicoid back. You DO need to put the parts back at the specific location or the distance scale will not line up. I usually mark where the parts separate, and this will help later. Otherwise, you will have a lot of trial and errors and this is not a fun thing to do, believe me.

After the helicoid is taken apart, I used Ronsonol lighter fluid on a Q-Tip to clean off the old grease, and re-apply a light grease. In a future post, I will talk about the different greases I tried and why I ended up with what I am using, which is Slickoleum Light Grease, that I also use for my bicycles chain and other parts. This grease is light and provides the right amount of damping than the others I have tried.

Once the lens is cleaned and reassembled, the next part is the machine a spacer between the lens and the Pentax focus helicoid, which will act as part of the spacer between the lens and the Sony E-Mount. With a lathe, this was very easy to do, especially when I decided to just glue the parts together, instead of drilling and tapping screw holds and use screws to hold them.

Simple parts required: on the left is a mount from an M42 2x teleconverter which I cut out. Middle is the spacer I machined from aluminium. The M42 mount will be glued to the top of this part. What's not shown is the rough marks I make on the surface to make the glue adhere better. On the right, of course is the lens.

The other side of the parts. Note the screw holes on the lens. If I wanted to, I can drill and tap the spacer and screw them together, but I find glue is strong enough. I am still having trouble getting perfect alignment for screw holes. I need a drill press, which I don't have, to do this properly.

This lens has a rather long flange distance. At first I thought it could be used on my Nikon D810, but no dice; it's still shorter than the very long F-Mount flange. However, the distance allows the Pentax focus helicoid to be used as part of the space between the lens and the E-Mount, but just barely.

Minolta Chyoko 4.5cm f3.5 mounted on the Pentax Focus Helicoid and then on the Sony A7. The lens itself has a focus mechanism, and can be used for medium to infinity focus. For close up, I use the focus helicoid, or a combination of the two, for extremely close up.

In part II, we will take a look at what the lens can do. You already had a peek from the picture in the last post, showing it's interesting bokeh. We will explore more next time.

Blog Note

2016-11-30T23:00:00.000-05:00

My apologies for the lack of posts lately. It's not that I don't have anything to write. In fact, I have written many articles but never published them. I just find that my interest in the blog is weaning off. Originally, I planned to do the blog for a year, or two years max, but did way more than that and it surprised me. True, many of the posts have little or no substance but it was fun for me to write, and the blog kind of drove me to take more pictures and an excuse to acquire more gear :)

Another factor of the slowing down of my blog is the Flickr stream that I now maintain more actively. It has taken up a lot of my time. I often find that after processing my pictures, usually in the evening after work, and upload them to Flickr, I no longer feel like doing any more photography related activities for the rest of the evening.

Finally, the lathe project has taken up additional time, but I am very glad I got it. So far, it has been extremely enjoyable and incredibly satisfying and rewarding. What used to take me days to do with filter rings and other materials to make a lens work, I can now do it in a few hours, with more precision and better looking. I have learn so much, in a very short time, about lathes in general. It's so true that reading about sometime and doing it are not the same. Some things one must do it to learn, to acquire the skills, and to appreciate. I have already found too many short comings of my micro lathe and started looking at larger lathes that allow me to cut threads, work on larger objects (not just for lenses), and be more efficient.

I do plan to update this blog more frequently, and probably more emphasis will be placed on lens conversion and using those lenses. Also in the pipeline is doing some video of the lens conversions, but that will take even more time. We will see what 2017 brings.

Berrilicious -- Minolta Chiyoko 4.5cm f3.5 from Minolta "A" Rangefinder & Sony A7

Rangefinder Lens Conversion - Some Experiments

2016-10-03T23:31:00.000-04:00

So far I have done a few rangefinder lens conversions. Some failures, some success. On the whole, the later ones tend to be a bit better than early ones, so there is a slight improvement, which is encouraging.

From the very beginning, when I started doing rangefinder lens conversions, I like to preserve as much original parts of the lens as I could, especially the focus mechanism, but some lenses, because of the way they were designed, create a obstacles, and external focus helicoid must be used. I like these lenses to have its original focus ring because they look aesthetically pleasing. One of the issues with these lenses is their very long minimum focus distance, often at 0.8 to 1 meter, which makes close up pictures impossible.

The lens has been converted with an M42 mount. When mated to the adapter on the left, infinity can be attained. When mated to the adapter on the right, close focus is possible but no infinity focus.

As you can see, the two adapters have different thicknesses. On the left, is about 3 mm thick for close focus, on the right is about 1 mm thick, for infinity focus.

Lens with normal adapter which will focus to infinity with minimum focus distance of about 1 meter.

In the past, the only way to get close up shots for non-lens-interchangeable rangefinders is to use close-up lenses. This, however, changes the optical characteristics of the lens. Since I am removing the lens from the camera, essentially making it an interchangeable lens, other close-up methods can be used, in this case, extension tubes. So I have been experimenting with the idea of adding extension tubes. Most commercial extension tubes have a minimum of 10mm, which is too thick for my taste. I like to have some background characters in my pictures to show off the bokeh of the lens, so I don't really do super close-up, which usually renders the background to complete blur without any character. This means I have to make my own extension tubes.

Sample close-up picture at about 0.5 meter.

For my latest conversion, a 4.5cm f2.8 lens from the Yashica J rangefinder, the lens has an M42 mount at the rear, which will screw onto a thin M42 to E-Mount adapter and will achieve infinity focus, but will have a long minimum focus distance of about a meter. In order to get closer focus, I initially created a 5 mm extension tube, but found it to be too close so I created an adapter from an E-Mount reversing ring and an M42 ring, with a thickness of about 3 mm, which I find is a good balance between close focus and leaving enough background details. This two adapter method is not as elegant or as practical as being able to focus from close up to infinity in a single lens, but I think it's a compromise I can live with.

I think this will be the direction I would like to take for new lens conversions. We will see how it goes.

Empire Sandy - Yashinon 4.5cm f2.8 @f11 & Sony 7.

Nikon Is Anti-Legacy Lens

2016-09-30T22:28:00.002-04:00

If you have a Nikon film camera with manual focus lenses, and you have just upgraded to one of Nikon's entry level DSLRs, you may find that the lenses you have do not work well with your new DSLR. It simply won't meter and you can not set the focal length of the lens. But, if you own a pro or semi-pro Nikon body, this is not a problem at all. You can use any manual focus lenses, as long as you can mount it, and it will meter and stop-down if you set the lens data in the camera.

The inability to use legacy lenses on some of Nikon's DSLRs baffles me. None of other camera makers does this. On any Canon, Sony, Olympus, etc., one can use Aperture priority or manual mode and the camera will give you the correct exposure. The mirrorless camera does this better than the Canon as the meter always seems to overexpose as you stop down, but at least it's not crippled and you just need to dial in the proper compensation.

I was recently given a Nikon 1 V1 with a 1 inch sensor, in exchange for some work I did. I thought I could finally use some of my c-mount lenses that have small image circle and are not fully usable on the M4/3 or APS-C cameras. Upon some research, I found that the V1 (and probably all the Nikon 1 cameras) would only work in manual mode without any metering for manual focus lenses. Every time I take a picture, I will have to set/check exposure. WTF? And this camera has no live histogram!

On the other hand, the D810 works well with legacy lenses. Why Nikon cripples basic features on some of their cameras that are available in all other brands' cameras is a mystery to me.

Pop Crew - Emil Busch Glaukar-Anastigmat 13.5cm f4.5 & Nikon D810

The New Canon EOS-M5

2016-09-15T20:39:00.000-04:00

The original Canon EOS-M, introduced 4 years ago, was sort of a laughing stock among mirrorless cameras, especially when it comes to auto focus speed. If you haven't watched the "Mirrorless Party" video, or its sequel, done by The Camera Store, you will get a good chuckle out of it. You may not know it, but this is the 5th iteration of the M line. We had the original M, M2, M3, M10, and now M5. Why the fourth model was M10, only the genius of Canon marketing knows, but the M5 is back in the proper place, as far as model number goes.

I had zero interest in the previous M cameras, simply because none of them had built-in view finder, electronic or optical, and the feature set was pretty spartan with a lackluster sensor to boot. I care not much the lenses, as I would be using manual focus lenses most of the time anyway, but it is always nice to have the option of auto focus lenses, especially primes. The M line has no fast primes, except the 22mm f2, which I heard is actually quite a nice lens and is affordable. Canon has many low cost and excellent primes for the EF line, and those can be used with an adapter that supports full AF operations, but then again, mounting those on the M with an adapter would make it look bulky.

One of the aspects of this camera that slightly interests me, is the improved sensor. The dual pixel AF should speed up the focus speed considerably compared to previous M bodies, but I would not expect it to be even comparable to the newest mirrorless cameras from Fuji, Olympus, Panasonic, or Sony. If the sensor in the 5D Mark IV is any indication, the one used on the M5 should have similar performances in terms of noise and dynamic range, which is definitely a step up from previous Canon sensors.

The downside? It's not full frame. I am not a full frame snob. I still have the APS-C NEX-6, two M4/3 cameras, and now a Nikon 1 V1 with a one-inch sensor, but I have gotten so used to the look of full frame sensor that I use it most of the time. I wish Canon would produce a full frame Mirrorless using current sensor technology.

So yeah, I won't be getting the M5, but it's getting interesting. The build is definitely more robust than previous Ms and hopefully, this one will become the entry level model, and a more upscale, full frame M1 [note the missing 1 in the M line, reserved for the top of the line model :)] is in the works.

Blossom - Canon 35mm f3.5 from Prima Point & Shoot & Sony A7.

A Single Leaf

2016-09-13T21:27:00.000-04:00

I was held captive for 10 minutes this morning by a single leaf that fell on the ground. The yellow leaf, detached from the tree, seemingly smiling under the golden morning sun ray, hit me with such force that I had to stop, put away my bike, looked at it for a moment and then took out my camera. I never question the power of nature to affect the emotion of human beings with its beauty. In this case, one lone leaf left me awestruck. Spent the next 10 minutes photographing this leaf in various positions. Below is one of the frames.

One Lone Leaf - Meyer-Optik Trioplan 50mm f2.9 & Sony A7

Minolta Rokkor-QF 40mm f1.8 Conversion Part Deux

2016-08-13T12:45:00.000-04:00

I first converted this lens with filter ring and glue, as I wrote in this post with more pictures here. It was a relatively easy conversion so I decided to redo it with the lathe, to hopefully make it look and work better.

Most of the conversion work was already done so this second conversion was pretty quick. I just needed to machine the spacer with the required thickness for infinity focus, drill and tap holes on the lens board and the newly machined spacer to attach them together, and then do the same for the E-Mount adapter, which was original a Rollei to E-Mount adapter with a missing lens release pin, and I decided to to use it as the mount.

The part at the right is the spacer I machined. The left part goes inside the spacer.

I am quite happy with this particular conversion. The lens fit together very well with no play and wiggles, except at the mount if you really twist it hard. I did messed up the spacing of the mount and it's not perfectly centered, and this has the effect of off-setting the aperture index mark slightly. Not a big deal but I could have done much better. When I get more adapters, I will redo it, or, my next exercise, make my own E-Mount! Another small problem is the focusing is not as smooth as I would like, probably because the focus guide hole is a bit tight. Hopefully I can tweak it and make it feel a bit smoother.

Home made drill bit sleeve for the collet.

For this project, I used the milling attachment that came as part of my lathe. It was used to mill the path for the focus guide to go through, and also used to hold the parts for drilling, as I don't have a drill press. There is also a set of collets that came with my lathe but none fit the tiny drill bits, so I made a sleeve from the shaft of a Dremel bit. A hole was drilled with the same drill bit that this sleeve will hold. Once the hole was drilled, I cut a slit on one side of the shaft, thinking that should be good enough and it should give and clam on the drill bit when put on the collet. But because it was made of hard steel, the sleeve didn't clam on the drill bit at all, so I had to cut more slits on the other side and is now working like a charm.

All done. Looks pretty good, eh? You can see the aperture index mark is off to one side.

This has been a good exercise for me. This gives me more confidence that I could do more complex conversions later on. Below are pictures I took after the new conversion, with the Sony A7.

Update on the Progress of the Lathe Project

2016-07-27T00:52:00.001-04:00

I have been quite busy with other stuff lately so I haven't really spent as much time as I would have liked on learning to use the lathe. But, so far, I have done a few small projects, mostly with positive results. Now that I know what the lathe can do for me, it would be hard to live without one. It is, of course, not without lots of frustration. The learning curve is steep, especially since I had no prior experience with a lathe. Below is a very condensed summary:

The 1/4 horsepower motor is not powerful enough to do quick, smooth deep cuts. It often stalls when making what I consider reasonable thickness of cuts. Boring a larger hole or making a parting cut could take a long time and this simply drives me crazy. I have to remind myself that the Taig Micro Lathe was designed to make small parts and I need to be patient.

The lack of thread cutting capability as a default feature on this lathe is now a small annoyance. I actually have a need to cut threads, and it's more often than I originally thought I would need. Outfitting the Taig Micro Lathe II with thread cutting feature would mean an expensive upgrade (for me).

The small size of the lathe is one of the best features. It sits on a small desk with space to spare. That, alas, is something of an Achilles heel. This means working with anything larger 3 inches in diameter is difficult. Also see point #1.

It's hard to describe the feeling when a project is completed. It's a feeling that should be experienced. A sense of purpose, accomplishment, and the whole process was therapeutic.

So far, I have used the lathe to help convert a few lenses to work on Sony E-Mount, from very simple turning of the lens barrel to actually making parts. The pictures below shows few of the lenses I have done. One thing I have learned, is that drilling and tapping small holes and making them aligned perfectly is no easy task without proper tools.

Three Amigos - Konica 45mm f1.8, Argus Cintagon II 48mm f2, and Minolta Rokkor-PF 45mm f2. The Konica and Minolta lenses share the same 12-17mm focus helicoid for focus. Both uses an M42 mount I savaged from old lenses to mount to the helicoid. If I could cut threads, I would have no need to use old parts, because eventually, I will run out of them. The Cintagon II modification is only partially successful. It works, but not well. You can see extra holes on the part that I made. Those are mistakes :) I think I will get rid of its original focus mechanism and use a helicoid for focus instead, or converted to L39 or M mount.

In all, I really enjoy using the lathe to make lenses work better on my camera. Hopefully my skills on using it will improve and the conversions will look and work better in the future.

Bokeh - Minolta Rokkor-PF 45mm f2 (from the AL rangefinder) & Sony A7.

Meyer-Optik Trioplan 50mm f2.9

2016-07-21T23:14:00.000-04:00

In case you have not heard, Meyer-Optik has crowd-funded and released a "new" 50mm f2.9 Trioplan lens. Great news for those who love the soap bubble bokeh, but you will have to shell out a cool $600. The Trioplan is a very simple optical design based on the Cooke Triplet, and there are huge number of lenses with Triplet design in different focal lengths. $600 is a ridiculous amount of money for a simple lens. You can buy the same lens in the used market for a lot less. In the mean time, a lot of alternative are available, but let's get on with the old 50mm f2.9 Trioplan.

Meyer-Optik Trioplan 50mm f2.9 & Sony A7

This lens came from a Beltica folder camera that I bought from the Trunk Sale organized by the Photographic Historical Society of Canada (PHSC) last Sunday. The camera (lens, actually, since all the shutter/timing etc are in the lens, not the camera) still works perfectly, but I took it out (but is easy to put back in if needed) and adapted it with an M42 mount. The lens has its own focus mechanism which is good from about 3 feet (1 meter) to infinity. I am not a big fan of very long minimum focus distance, such as this one, so I put the lens on a Pentax focus helicoid and uses the helicoid to focus instead. If I really want macro level close focus, I could use both the focus on lens and the helicoid, but I found that the lens' bokeh is destroyed/masked when focuses too close; all you will see is very shallow depth of field with pretty much uniformly blurred background, which to me, is boring.

Meyer-Optik Trioplan 50mm f2.9 & Sony A7

The lens is coated and looks quite nice, but still very susceptible to flare, even with a hood in place. Care should be taken when shooting against the light.

As expected, the Trioplan 50mm f2.9 produces very similar rendering as other Triplets, but each has its own unique traits. For comparison, I used the Balda-Werk Rigonar 50mm f3.5 quite a bit, which is also a triplet. I much prefer the Trioplan. Perhaps the extra 1/3 stop of light makes a bit of a difference, but I find the Trioplan much more pleasing with less harshness in the out of focus area.

Like most Triplet lenses I have used, the corners of most of them are not very good, even when stopped way down. So this is not really a landscape kind of lens. The center of the lens, however, is quite sharp.

I quite like shooting with this lens, especially when mounted on the butterly smooth Pentax focus helicoid. I like the rendering of the lens, but most importantly, I didn't have to pay the exorbitant price for one.

First "Real" Lathe Project - Argus Cintagon II 48mm f2

2016-06-28T23:27:00.003-04:00

My buddy Cliff got me some aluminium rounds and now I can actually do some "real" lathe project :)

The aluminium rounds came in 12-inch lengths. I really should have them cut into 2 inch pieces, because cutting a 2.5" diameter round took almost 20 minutes with a hack saw by hand. I originally thought that I would cut each piece to the lengths I want, so I won't waste any materials as they are quite expensive, but that does not seem like a great idea now. In any case, the very first lens I want to make usable on my A7 is the Argus Cintagon 48mm f2 lens that came from a Argus rangefinder.

The reason I choose this lens is because it's the easiest one to do. All it needs is a proper length of tube between a mount and the lens. I thought it would be a piece of cake. I just needed to bore out the piece, drill and tap the screw holes and it's done. What could be simpler?

The pieces - Left: thin mount, middle: tube I worked on, left: the lens

Well, it's not really hard, but it has taken far longer than I thought. As my first time turning and facing a piece of solid metal, there were (and still are) lots of things to learn. What tool bits to use, truing the work piece, etc. While boring out the required space to fit the lens, the weakness of a micro lathe is quite apparent. There is simply not much power/torque for deep cuts/turns. Everything must be done slowly, even on soft metal like aluminium.

I am happy to say, the piece is is almost done, except I need to drill, and tap the screw holes for the tube on the side, and the mount at the back, and there is only one problem. I don't have any small tap tools, drill bits, and a drill stand. This whole business of lens conversion takes so many other tools and accessories that I didn't think of at first. In any case, I ordered a Flexshaft for my Dremel 4000 from Amazon, and it came in a couple of days. I am going to mount it on the cross-slide, somehow, and drill the holes on the side with the tube/lens mounted on the lathe chuck. For the mount, the holes need to be drilled on the back, I think I will mount the Flexshaft on the tail-stock and hold the mount/tube with the chuck. For all this to work, I have to make a mounting jig for the Flexshaft and secure it on the cross-slide and tail-stock.

All fitted together. Still need to be screwed together.

It's almost impossible to buy a set of micro tap and tiny screws locally at reasonable prices, if you could find them at all. I order a thousand pieces of M2 (two millimeter x 5mm) screws, a set of small drill bits and a set of 10 micro taps with size from M1 to M3.5, with handle for about $40 from AliExpress. The only problem is, shipping usually takes at least a month, and on top of that, Canada Post is likely going on strike next week and who know for how long. In the mean time, I have an urge just glue this thing together until all the parts arrive :)

It's very gratifying to see all the pieces fit together and I am very glad I bought the lathe. I think I am going to enjoy this.

Argus Cintagon II 48mm f2 Sample