Elmo Loc: Texas

I was wondering if anyone has adapted old, film-camera glass to more modern digital cameras? I have four (35, 50, 85, 135) Zeiss lenses for my old Contarex and am considering having them renovated and adapted to my Nikon D100 (and/or any more modern Nikon camera I may acquire). As you probably know, these old Contarex lenses need to be overhauled to replace the lubricant, else they will friction weld themselves into paperweights, and the overhaul ain’t cheap, so I want to be pretty sure before I commit the money that I’ll be pleased with the result. Anyone? Thanks!

CanonTom Loc: Birmingham

There are those here who will hopefully comment that know much more about this than I do. My thought is that provided you get the proper mounts on those old lenses to fit your new camera that it will likely work but I expect you will be limited to manual focus only. Certainly no IS or other more modern features. This might indeed be a worthwhile endeavor as your Zeiss glass is presumably of great quality. I would probably not think it worthwhile unless you're old lenses are in super condition. Also I have no idea of the cost of getting them serviced. Good luck.

CanonTom Loc: Birmingham

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Yup. And with very good results. I regularly use my 80mm f/2.8 Planar made in the 60s with my Nikon D700 and D800e. I've also used my Zeiss 50mm Distagon and 150mm Sonnar with the same great results.
--Bob

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

Zeiss - Contarex to Nikon, no. But I have a number of unaltered Asahi Pentax Takumar M-42 (Screw Mount) lenses that I sometimes use on my Pentax K-mount (Bayonet Mount) film SLR and Pentax K-mount DSLR cameras as well as my two screw mount bodies. All one needs is an adapter ring. I've had the rings long before and digital cameras. Same mount-film or sensor plane distance.

Why not just get used vintage Nikkor lenses for your D100. Many are rather inexpensive used. Both vintage Zeiss and Nikon lenses probably excess the resolution of your 6.3MP D100.

Wow, a CCD sensor too. Actually that would be a good camera to have converted to Infrared use. I have a IR Converted CCD 6.1MP Pentax K-100D camera. It works for IR fine.

A modern 24MP APS-C (DX) body or 54MP Full Frame (FX) body may match or exceed the IQ of vintage or standard modern lenses and really beg for the highest of quality lenses.

Elmo Loc: Texas

Lamiaceae is right, of course, that I have to compare the renovation cost of these lenses with the cost of good used Nikon glass. I have just solicited a bid, so we’ll see what happens. I’m guessing that renovating the Zeiss glass will be cheaper, but I may be wrong.

And CannonTom is right that I will be limited to all manual operation of focus and f-stop. To which I reply that it has always been so in my archaic life as a photographer. It will seem luxurious to have aperture priority.

JPL

I have adapted lot of old glass to modern digital cameras. But not yet a Contarex. If it is the old Contarex bayonet mount your lenses have then the it will be easy to adapt them to Sony mirrorless cameras. I see there are available adapters to do that. And you can adapt to more mirrorless formats. But if you will only do this if you can use the lenses on your old Nikon you should check first if there as an adapter available. The register distances on the Nikon and Contarex mounts is almost the same so there is not much space for an adapter and depending on other techincal issues with those mounts it may be impossible to adapter Contarex lenses to Nikon unless using adapters with glass to make it possible to focus the lenses to infinity. And that will downgrade the quality of the images to add an extra glass between the lenses and the camera.

Based on my own experiece I would not spend money on the lenses and then adapt them in a way that will degrade the results. And as those lenses are for the 24x36 mm format the best way to enjoy those lenses would be to adapt them to full frame Sony E mount camera. If you are happy to use the lenses on a crop camera then you can look at almost any manufacturer of mirrorless camera. That is the way to go to adapt old glass to modern cameras.

But first of all, check if there is any adapter for Contarex lenses to Nikon cameras available. I did a quick search and found nothing, but there are many manufacturers of adapters so maybe one of them has this kind of adapter. If you find nothing then you do not need to think more about adapting to Nikon. Then it is a question if you want to try mirrorless camera for your lenses. And by the way, I am sure that if the lenses were good in the old days they will give you good results on modern mirrorless camera.

Charles 46277 Loc: Fulton County, KY

I have adapted Pentax screw mount lenses to Canon (and adapters are made for the Nikons too) and they work just as they did on the old cameras except that focusing is harder--the digitals don't have the split image donut ground glass focusing aid. There are some similarities and some differences regarding screw mounts and bayonets. The reason Pentax screw mounts (any brand of 42mm screw mount) work in simple adapters is that the mount is small and fits down into the camera mount. Larger bayonet mounts won't do that--so either they won't focus on distant objects (too far extended from the sensor) or they require an adapter with glass correction for back-focus. I can't think that this extra glass will help quality. Even with screw mounts that mount the correct distance from the sensor with adapter, short or wide angle lenses won't work because they stick out in the back and might strike the mirror. (Not a problem with mirrorless cameras, but it is a problem with D100.)

It has always been my opinion that standard parts should be used where possible--there is little reason that the 42mm screw mount lenses should not have become standard for all cameras--the bayonet saves very little time, and it's not as strong. If there is to be a bayonet, it ought to be universal. (And no, the brand name mounts do not make people buy the brand name lenses.) Tripod threads used to be standard (large or small), but the quick mount pads of today are not.

I have lots of old lenses from Zeiss and Schneider (and some others) for view cameras--which I can use by attaching the Canon digital to the back of the view camera instead of a film back. So the view camera becomes an adapter for the big lenses--but again, not for wide angle lenses. I think the Contarex lenses were top quality from East Germany in the days of the USSR), though over the years the name of Zeiss was not always the best. The ones I have used were as good as any on the market (even the ones from Eastern Block). For a price, the mount on the camera can be removed and replaced with a Contarex one, but you would have to have good reason to justify this. It would give you full use of the whole set of old Zeiss (but would also preclude using new lenses made for Nikon). I wonder if the mount on the lenses themselves can simply be replaced with mounts that have the right registration (distance)--or Nikon mounts. This might cost more than a lens. The suggestion above (get a mirrorless camera for this) might be the most practical.

Most people don't have the glass serviced in old lenses (just the shutters within the lenses, if they have them), unless or until there is reason to. Small format lenses for 35mm cameras should not otherwise need work.

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

Elmo, welcome to the Hog!
I have used a few old manual Canon lenses in my Canons, but have pretty much given that up.
In the old maunual days, sure, that's all we had.
I personally would not waste the time, effort or money to try and resurrect an old lens, I don't care how sharp it's reputed to be.
For one, you're pretty much limited to still-shots and live view shooting to ensure good focus and that's still hit and miss, especially if it's a fast lens pretty open.
I'll just assume your style lends itself to that kind of shooting.
I would invest my money in modern AF lenses that can be used for every and any shooting situation and on ANY camera I own, than have sets of lenses for this or that situation/occasion. But that's just me, I have no need for old stuff!
Good luck
SS

JPL

SS is right about the focusing with dslr and old manual glass. It is cumbersome and even with live view it is a hit and miss. That is my experience also and that is why I wanted to try mirrorless cameras. With a good mirrorless camera it will be faster, easier and more accurate to manual focus than it ever was on a film slr camera. This is because many mirrorless cameras have focus magnifier, focus peaking and in camera stabilizing that will work with those lenses. I have one of those, a Sony A7r and have never used autofocus on that camera, only use it with new or old manual focus lenses. But for where it is all about working on fast moving objects I prefer other cameras and use them for that kind of photography.

For landscapes, portraits, studio work and whatever you want to photograph and you have 2-3 seconds to focus then it is no problem to use old glass with manual focus lenses, even at f/1.4. That is the fastest glass I have and use with manual focus on mirrorless camera.

kymarto Loc: Portland OR and Milan Italy

Ain’t gonna work if you want infinity focus on a Nikon.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

I have adapted old film lenses made by Nikon to my Nikon bodies by converting them to AI.
I have a very limited experience with Zeis lenses.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

I own the Nikon Zeiss F.2 lenses for my D810, they are manual focus and connect with the focusing pins of my Nikon to allow me to get the green dot alert when in focus, uses center spot focusing point and metering. They are fantastic. Good luck finding an adapter, I am sure it is out there. Keep these lenses as you will be hard pressed to find something sharper.

shagbat Loc: London

https://www.graphics.cornell.edu/~westin/misc/mounts-by-register.html

I think you will be unlucky Elmo, see link. The lens register distance on the Contarex is 46mm, the Nikon 46.5mm. If you exceed this 45.6mm, you will only have a poor macro lens. Hope I'm wrong! If you use extension tubes and reverse the 35mm lens, (an adapter for this is available,) it will make a very useful macro lens. Hope this helps.

RolandDieter

The issue is distance from the lens mount to the sensor. Canon has a shorter distance than Nikon, so adapters to mount Nikon lenses on a Canon camera are designed to make up the difference. Since Canon has a longer distance from mount to sensor adapters cannot reduce this. I have been able to put Contax glass on both Canon and Nikon ... the adapters for Nikon are paper thin whereas the adapters for Canon are deeper and more solid. I do not know if you can do this with Contarex, but the mount to sensor distance is the determinant. A good camera machine shop can make an adapter. If they are still around, Ken Hanson (Hansen?) in New York and Zorkendorfer in Munich Germany do wonderful work, but it's not cheap.