I succeed in less than an hour ...

[InTheSky]

I let you tried to discover what lens has been use for that on the NEX 7 . It was weird but simple to execute to make that lens to work again.



See you,

Frank

[Birma]

Hi Frank - nice shot . My guess is that it is a telephoto lens of some sort, and perhaps the bokeh suggests a mirror reflex lens?

[InTheSky]

Hi Frank - nice shot . My guess is that it is a telephoto lens of some sort, and perhaps the bokeh suggests a mirror reflex lens?

you are hot ...

[David Kilpatrick]

400mm from Vectis...

[InTheSky]

400mm from Vectis...

BRAVO ! yes the 400mm Vectis , the modification is a little bit not weird but it is working. I have found a way to feed the mechanical gear of the internal focus system directly with the fragile focus ring.

I'm waiting for good weather to come back with good image. so far the detail is there and I feel the lens suffer a little bit less of contrast then the 500mm AF Reflex, but this is just preliminary experiment. There is vignetting that need a little bit of adjustment in Lightroom and I was not expecting that from this lens.

Today we are supposed to have rain outside, so if I'm lucky and I got time after work, I will try some shot.

So far the lens is very light and the size with the modification is about the same as 200mm F2.8 HS.

Regards,

Frank

[InTheSky]

The lens:


Moon test :

View in not crop picture from the Sony NEX 7 :



Cropped :


Here is a video of some sample in a very not common environment (night shoot with a 400mm -> 600mm reach with eating light lens).
LINK: http://vimeo.com/49058896

more to come when I find time ...

Frank

[David Kilpatrick]

This is very impressive. I assume that the lens can not be focused, when removed from a camera, normally, but you have linked the focus ring to the mechanism to overcome this. I can't remember exactly how the AF used to work on this lens although I did have one. What mount parts have you used to make the adaptor ring?

David

[InTheSky]

This is very impressive. I assume that the lens can not be focused, when removed from a camera, normally, but you have linked the focus ring to the mechanism to overcome this. I can't remember exactly how the AF used to work on this lens although I did have one. What mount parts have you used to make the adaptor ring?

David

The focus system of Vectis is almost identical of the one in the NEX, without power you cannot do anything. So I put in the trash all the electrical system. The good new for the Mirror lens is that there is no aperture control . Here is picture I took last year when I received the lens (it took me about all that time to find a free hour to try to convert it... and I want to have a third kid next year ...) : LINK: http://www.pbase.com/nadeauf/vectis400mm8

View of the motor system :
ON THE RIGHT: the gear sensor link to the focus ring
ON THE LEFT: the motor turning the axle for the interface mechanism focus of the lens
IN THE BOTTOM RIGHT: the fragile focus ring dented to make the focus captor working

View of the internal axle gear to make the focus working, so the goal what to find a simple way to make this gear turn when you are turning the focus ring.


To create an home made adapter, I choose to use a very inexpensive approach : http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Macro-Extension- ... 2974wt_952 , this macro kind don`t have any electrical connection and the tube barrel is very thin. In fact I had bought is first to be able to focus closer with the Leica 40mm 2.0 and the Canon LTM 50mm 1.2. This the front element and the back element can be unscrew also to become a very thin macro adapter for NEX (about 5mm).
With the NEX full frame coming soon, this kind of macro setup can help to convert full frame lenses.

For the focus mechanism, I will take picture soon when I got time, because my current setup has not resist to the glue I use, the next phase is to use epoxy glue.

Regards,

Frank

[InTheSky]

Here is the pbase link to the current picture taken with the modified lens :
LINK: http://www.pbase.com/nadeauf/400mmvectisnex7

And also I include some picture to compare the size:



Regards,

Frank

[Rhtubbs]

Frank,

This is absolutely amazing! Wonderful!

Sincerely,
Ron

[Howard]

Excellent work! Can you explain further how you fixed the mount adaptor?

[gio67]

I,m really enjoying this thread and your descriptions of your work,
great stuff, keep them coming Frank