Lowest profile 1.4f including adapter?

[digital_grrl79]

I have the GF1, a Nikon adapter (very bulky IMO) and a 50mm 1.4. I love the results but find myself wanting to lose some of the bulk of the lens and adapter combined.

1. Are all Nikon adapters the same length?
2. Is there a brand of lens out there that has a lower profile adapter than the Nikon adapter?
3. Or, is there a 1.4 legacy lens that has a much lower profile than the Nikon 50mm 1.4?

Number 1 might be a really ignorant question but I felt I had to ask as it would be the easiest/cheapest solution.

 

[RDM]

I have the GF1, a Nikon adapter (very bulky IMO) and a 50mm 1.4. I love the results but find myself wanting to lose some of the bulk of the lens and adapter combined.

1. Are all Nikon adapters the same length?
2. Is there a brand of lens out there that has a lower profile adapter than the Nikon adapter?
3. Or, is there a 1.4 legacy lens that has a much lower profile than the Nikon 50mm 1.4?

Number 1 might be a really ignorant question but I felt I had to ask as it would be the easiest/cheapest solution.

I think an adapted 50mm C-mount lens might be more attractive and fit your need. Like the Nikon combo you suggest it would also be manual focus.

 

[arentol]

This one is only a 1.8, but it is very small, and should still be small even with an adapter:

Nikon 50mm f/1.8 Series E

 

[Jonathan F/2]

I think Leica/M-mount lenses have the smallest full frame adapter size, since they don't have to accomodate the mirror with SLR lenses. If you're going to stick with Nikon, the 50mm 1.8 AIS mark III is the smallest length-wise 50 you can get. It's actually sharper than the Nikon 50 1.4 lenses wide open, but the Nikon 50 1.4 sharpens up more when stopped down. Here's mine on a Voigtlander Nikon-F adapter:

View attachment 257270

 

[jhomer]

Nikon makes a gorgeous 45mm pancake lens but only f2.8 and every nikon is going to have the (relatively) large adapter. Look for small lenses in c-mount, leica m, and leica thread mounts as those have very narrow adapters.

Also the Contax G has a fairly narrow adapter and te 45mm is not too big a lens.... F2.0 but one of the best lenses ever.

 

[manzoid]

If price isn't an issue, probably an m-mount would be smallest.

Assuming price is an issue one of the newer minolta 50mm 1.4's might be a good choice. There are many versions though, so do a little research first. Googling the rokkorfiles is a good place to start.

If you are a little more flexible with aperture and/or focal length, the Konica 40mm F1.8 or a 50mm F2 Jupiter 8 are small enough with adapters to compare well with native lenses. If a smaller legacy combo exists in this focal range, I'd like to hear about it.

 

[RnR]

A couple of lenses with adapters for size comparison. From left to right, Konica 57mm f1.2, Konica 40mm f1.8, (behind) Nikon 50mm f1.8, Jupiter-3 50mm f1.5, and ofcause the famous Panasonic 20mm f1.7 for native context.

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[dwig]

...
2. Is there a brand of lens out there that has a lower profile adapter than the Nikon adapter?...

Yes.

The adapter's thickness is equal to the difference between the register distance (film/sensor to face of body flange distance) between the lens' mount, Nikon F in this case, and the m43 mount. The only significantly thinner adapters will be those adapting rangefinder lens mounts (e.g. Leica M, Leica Thread Mount aka LTM, ...) or other small format mounts (e.g. C-mount used by 16mm movie cameras and some video cameras, ...). Adapters for all 35mm based SLR mounts will be similar in length to the Nikon F > m43 adapter, differences will be relatively small.

 

[Cruzan80]

Nikon has one of the longest mounts out there. The only ones that are longer (and seem to be popular) are Leica R, any Arri mount, and T-mount. All of the others are smaller. Anything below Micro 4/3's on this list can work. Flange focal distance - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[MAubrey]

I would expect that a Voigtlander 50mm f/1.5 would be rather small.

The fact of the matter is that if you want compact 50's, then you can't have a particularly fast lens. You need to look at f/1.8 and slower.

 

[digital_grrl79]

I would expect that a Voigtlander 50mm f/1.5 would be rather small.

The fact of the matter is that if you want compact 50's, then you can't have a particularly fast lens. You need to look at f/1.8 and slower.

Thanks MAubrey :] I'm flexible on focal length if I can stay with a faster lens that is more compact. Any suggestions if I'm flexible on everything but speed?

 

[arentol]

Voigtlander lenses for Leica M mount are likely going to be your best bet. You can see here how thin a Leica M to m4/3rds adapter is:

Micro 4/3 System : Leica M Lens to Micro 4/3 Adapter (White)

You can get a new 35mm or 40mm Voigtlander pancake f/1.4 lens from B&H:

Rangefinder Lenses| B&H Photo Video

I would link you to some other Voigtlander options, but my favorite site for them seems to be down right now for some reason.

 

[McBob]

Native, the Leica Summmilux-DG 25

Adapted, my Olympus OM Zuiko 50/1.4 is svelte for a full-frame lens of that magnitude (OM Zuikos are all a little smaller than CaNikon counterparts), but not exactly dinky.

Lots of C-mount options available at f1.4 and faster

 

[digital_grrl79]

Voigtlander lenses for Leica M mount are likely going to be your best bet. You can see here how thin a Leica M to m4/3rds adapter is:

Micro 4/3 System : Leica M Lens to Micro 4/3 Adapter (White)

You can get a new 35mm or 40mm Voigtlander pancake f/1.4 lens from B&H:

Rangefinder Lenses| B&H Photo Video

I would link you to some other Voigtlander options, but my favorite site for them seems to be down right now for some reason.

Wow, that really is a slim adapter!!

 

[100thmonk]

Schneider 25mm 1.4 in cine mount

This is my go to lens..

[ame=http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&biw=768&bih=900&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=schneider+kreuznach+zenon+25mm1.4&oq=schneider+kreuznach+zenon+25mm1.4&gs_l=img.3...17394.19581.0.20466.8.8.0.0.0.0.144.761.2j6.8.0...0.0...1ac.1.4.img.TvbF3npYgIE#biv=i|10;d|l3qQOV8j4Ti4WM:]schneider kreuznach zenon 25mm1.4 - Google Search[/ame]

Although I use an ep2 .. This is tiny and sexy.. And the pictures are fantastic.

 

[994]

Voigtlander 40mm 1.4 with m-mount adapter is pretty compact.

FD 50mm1.4 on an EPL3 left, CV40mm 1.4 on an EPL5 right

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[danska]

Wow, that really is a slim adapter!!

Yeah I've used the Voigt adapter and the 40mm lens, it's very very small. I've used some wider Leica stuff 28mm f/2.8 Summarit? and they are tiny. Good way to go if you like Voigt lenses, personally I didn't care much for them.

 

[gcogger]

The smallest f/1.4 lens I've seen is the old Olympus Pen F 40mm. Mine protrudes about 46mm from the camera (including the adapter). Some info about it HERE.

 

[MAubrey]

Thanks MAubrey :] I'm flexible on focal length if I can stay with a faster lens that is more compact. Any suggestions if I'm flexible on everything but speed?

Absolutely: The Voigtlander 40mm f/1.4 is a M mount pancake lens to be had for around $350-$400. It's the speed you want at a slightly wider focal length: 30mm in length + 8.55mm adapter = 38.55mm long.

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You're not going to find shorter than that unless you're willing to go wider and slower. Voigtlander makes two 35mm pancakes: an f/1.4 and an f/2.5. I have the f/2.5. The 35mm f/1.4 is 1mm shorter than the 40mm (29mm) and the 35mm f/2.5 is 7mm shorter (23mm).

I have a pancake trinity: 14mm f/2.5, 20mm f/1.7, and 35mm f/2.5.

 

[dwig]

...
The fact of the matter is that if you want compact 50's, then you can't have a particularly fast lens. You need to look at f/1.8 and slower.

Not if you look for RF lenses instead of SLR lenses. There are a number of f/1.4 or f/1.5 (a mere 1/6th stop slower than f/1.4) lenses in Leica M mount and thread mount (aka LTM) that are rather compact. Check out this thread on the Jupiter-3 50mm f/1.5. It's an FSU (read: Former Soviet Union) clone of the Zeiss Sonnar and is generally rather reasonably priced. Check out this thread.

Leitz lenses are generally rather pricey. Also, the very fast 50s tent to be heavy. My 50mm f/1.5 Summarit is as heavy as my G1 body. It's reasonably compact, only 52mm long including the m43 adapter. While it's larger, I generally prefer to use my old Auto-Takumar 55mm f/1.8 (m42 mount, reasonably compact as SLR lenses go but still 62mm long including adapter) or my very compact 50mm f/2.0 Jupiter-8 (LTM mount, 45mm long including adapter).