Minolta MD Rokkor-X 50mm f/1.4 conversion to Canon EOS mount...

Please visit the following forum thread where you will find further discussion (Q&A) and sample photos taken with this lens on a Canon EOS 5D Mark II: http://www.motleypixel.com/forum/index.php/topic,608.0.html

Minolta MD Rokkor-X 50mm f/1.4 conversion to Canon EOS

I'm pretty sure this is the most detailed-documented procedure on how to convert a Minolta MD lens to Canon EOS. It is of my opinion that the best Minolta SR mount 50mm primes were the MD Rokkor-X 50/1.2 and 50/1.4. By this time in Minolta's manual SLR lens development they had figured out the best coatings, saved some weight and size, and engineered their best aperture diaphragm (hence MD for Minimum Diaphragm). This lens is Minolta's second gen. MD lens. The last and 3rd generation were perhaps just a good optically, but they builds were of more plastic.

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• minolta
• md
• rokkor-x
• 50mm
• f1.4
• canon
• eos
• conversion
• how-to
• motleypixel.com
• roy
• niswanger
• lathe
• machining
• turning
• fitting
• alt-lens
• manual
• focus

[VoiceofReasonMonkey]

I'm pretty keen to try this out!! I recently bought a couple of old Minolta Rokkor lenses and slapped them onto a Sony Alpha using an adapter. The thing is, the corrective optics in the adapter have a 1.4x magnification factor which is annoying since the camera already has a cropped sensor.

[motleypixel]

@VoiceofReasonMonkey and you're taking a decent IQ hit too. When you get around to it...do a controlled IQ test with the adapter (the one with glass) and one just native and you will see the difference.

[teeciewalk]

Great Video thanks for sharing will this work for a Nikon lens the current converters get bad reviews. The claim is that they are not sharp and you cant focus to infinity. I have some of my dad's old lenses and would love to use them on my Nikon

[motleypixel]

@teeciewalk what' the registry distance for Nikon...I would wager if it's + or - 1mm then it can be done and achieve infinity focus.

[mexicanwaluigi]

@motleypixel you can use straight nikon to eos no corrective optics necessary. I've used 450mm -F8 400 5.6, 3x nikon adapters, 1.8 pancake 50mm, 24mm F2 and even a 100 f2.8 with aperture flanges. The ones with aperture flanges wont even work on my nikon d5000 cause they get in the way and can damage it. They sit far enough away on eos that it doesn't collide with the mirror.

[mikeismad61]

I've tried a Mamiya 55mm 1.8 lens via a 42mm adapter - fun but overall not too impressive. Tricky to focus and not as sharp as my Canon 50mm 1.8 Mk1 lens. Still fun to try out and the adapter was real cheap on E Bay.

[VoiceofReasonMonkey]

@motleypixel I've ordered a couple of M42 to Sony adapters... I had a look at my lenses and the 28mm looks easy to convert because the bayonet mount unscrews and pops off like the one on your 50mm 1.4 in this video. My 50mm 1.7 MC looks tricky though- the mount isn't as simple to remove. Have you seen this type of mount before? The only conversion I've seen with this kind of mount entailed machining down of the bayonet. I don't mind doing that if I have to but I'd like to avoid it..

[VoiceofReasonMonkey]

@cyclekarl The time saved on not developing film in the long run will make up for it.. Plus it doesn't take that long to do the conversion and the results are amazing- old Minolta glass is beautiful. If you think it's a waste of time then you could just buy an adapter and put up with the slight loss of image quality.

[motleypixel]

@cyclekarl Who's calling who an idiot? Did I ever say digital was better than film? I don't think you're an idiot; rather, you are just naive to think that if the majority of photographers out there have an old manual focus lens that's collecting dust then ONLY way to use it is on a film body. News flash, most people shoot digital today so they either sell that old lens, OR PUT IT TO GOOD USE! Your initial comment is not warranted, take a hike.

[alecsgsx]

superb video!Rxs a lot for the effort!Regards.