Anyone have success w/WIDE Nikkors?

Looking for some experienced insight here...so we recently decided to try to standardize on a fully manual lens line that we could use on both the Canon APS-C cams and the Panny GHx's (for filming, not necessarily stills). The Pentax SMC M's are out because (1) they're stupid expensive and (2) the 35/1.4 is nonexistent.

So I decided to try the old Nikkor AI/AIS lenses and dropped some dough @ KEH on the 35/1.4. Got a Nikon F to 4/3 adapter, put the lens on, and focal range is practically nill until I stop down somewhere around f8. Lens is completely useless.

Thinking it's the adapter, I ordered a Pixco Nikon F to EOS adapter to try the same lens on one of our Canon APS-C cams - same problem. I know the cheap Pixco adapters are decent because we're using a bunch for some Pentax M glass and they're fine.

So, does anyone have any experience with these Nikkors and these Fotodiox/Chinese 4/3 adapters? I have read people having similar experiences with Nikon lenses and these adapters where some just don't work. Does anyone have success adapting wide Nikkors to the Panny GHx/AF line and getting full aperture and full focal control? I thought about going to a camera store to try to put this lens on a D3S to see if the lens behaved the same way on the new cam as it did originally on an F series body.

Any answers? I will probably start the RMA process with KEH today which is a real shame.

Thanks!

 

Thanks for the reply...when shooting at f1.4-5.6, infinity focus equals about 6 feet. So either the lens is seriously messed up or these adapters do not work with very wide lenses - which i find hard to believe because the lens behaved EXACTLY the same adapted to a 550D. So that would mean BOTH adapters (Voigtlander style for the GH1 and Pixco F to EOS) would be defective at the wide end - and that seems highly unlikely.

I don't care about overshooting infinity focus a bit - that's not a big deal since all of these DSLRs are used for close-up "beauty" shots while intercutting with traditional vid cameras locked down for wide shots.

 

Thanks Warren T, I do believe this is a bad lens. I've tried multiple adapters on both the Canon APS-C cams and our Panny GH1s and have never had this problem with Canon FD glass or Pentax SMC M lenses. Just so we're on the same page, you are able to use your 35/2 @ f2 and focus on objects 10 feet or more from the lens?

We're not interested in using new lenses because the focus rings are terrible compared to the old lenses and most of the lenses are too slow. We're putting follow focus gears on our glass and throwing these cams up on our shoulders for filming purposes. Generally, we never stop down these lenses beyond f2.8.

 

Thanks Warren, I'm sure this 35/1.4 has malfunctioned internally and you have just confirmed that (as long as you tried @ f2). And f6, that's not the adapter i'm using...it's just the cheap Voigtlander knockoff.