Can I mount Barnack Hektor 135 to Cheap Plastic Nikon SLR

[Mustafa Umut Sarac]

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I want to attach hektor 135 barnack mount lens to the cheapest nikon slr I could find. I know I need screw mount attachment to do that but some warns about mirror problem. What is the truth and can I use that lens with slr film camera ?

[luigi bertolotti]

You cannot mount a Leica screw Mount lens as is (or even a bayonet Mount one) onto a SLR body (Nikon or other) : the lens flange to film/sensor distance is much higher in a SLR than in the Leicas , which do not have the reflex mirror : should you find the way to Mount the Hektor onto a Nikon SLR, you would obtain a macro-only lens which in no way focuses to infinity.

 

BUT, to be precise... indeed the Hektor has a removable lenshead that can fit on a "short Mount" (old Leitz accessory of the era) that was used to mount the Hektor on a Leica screw mount body with the mirror reflex accessory (Visoflex) ... which is longer than any SLR mirror box... one can find the way to attach a Hektor with short Mount (an old accessory which is not difficult to find, code ZOOAN/16495) , obtaining a usable setup... there seems to be a Fotodiox "Visoflex to Nikon SLR adapter" which can be used to this purpose. (https://www.fotodioxpro.com/leica-m39-lens-to-nikon-f-camera-lens-mount-adapter.html)

 

See here http://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/77279-short-focussing-mount-pict-added/ for some details and pictures of the ZOOAN for Hektor 13,5

Edited August 20, 2016 by luigi bertolotti

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[Mustafa Umut Sarac]

I want to keep everything cheap as possible , if I would go to ZOOAN route , it costs 80 dollars and an IIIC costs 125 dollars.

 

 

Lets finish the discussion with two questions.

 

 

- does hektor break the mirror if I would invest a screw to nikon mount and attach the hektor to slr ?

 

 

- if hektor does not break the mirror , what would be the range of distances where hektor focuses , does it focus 150 - 200 cms range for portaits ?

 

 

- does the lens sees bigger than on the barnack and would I not be able to shoot a regular portrait at 200 cms range ?

 

 

- what would be the macro specification when hektor on slr and how about the quality ?

 

 

if I would not be able to solve with slr , zorki route is there.

[luigi bertolotti]

Well, things are like this, supposing you already have a Hektor 135 :

- Buy a ZOOAN (80 $) AND the Fotodiox adapter (79,95 $ as from their site)

- Unscrew the lenshead of your Hektor from its standard focusing Mount, screw it into the ZOOAN : you have a lens with a short mount, see pictures of the Forum page I linked previously

- This is a Visoflex lens : screw it onto the Fotodiox adapter and you have a 135 that can be mounted on any Nikon SLR/DSLR. :

 

   * It does not interfere with the mirror of the Nikon

   * It focuses from infinity to 150 cm

   * It will look a not so big combo onto a (supposed) black Nikon body... a black prolongement (the Fotodiox adapter) of the body, and a rather compact chrome lens in front... the look on a Barnack Leica body is quite different... a thin body with a rather LONG lens (no ZOOAN, normal focusing mount with black leather on the base) - and don't forget that onto the (supposed) Barnack Leica (IIIC for example) you need ALSO an accessory viewfinder for 135 (100 $ around for an original Leitz SHOOC, less then half for a 3rd party one - russian for example)

   * Using the Hektor with original (not ZOOAN) Mount and the Fotodiox adapter on the Nikon, you have a macro lens of good quality : it's not so easy to assess which is its macro range... probably something around 1:2,5 - 1:3,5 ratio on full frame)

Edited August 20, 2016 by luigi bertolotti

[jaapv]

Sorry for the quick-and-dirty shots, I'm in a hurry...   This is an option, I should think, provided one can find an M-N adapter:

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[luigi bertolotti]

Sorry for the quick-and-dirty shots, I'm in a hurry...   This is an option, I should think, provided one can find an M-N adapter:

Correct... probably a bit more costly to buy. For the OP : it is composed by focusing unit OTZFO/16465 (top left in 1st Jaap's picture) , long ring OTSRO/16472 (bottom right, same picture) : with those you can focus infinity to 1,5m; finally, one can add (between the above two) the additional ring  OTRPO/16471 (bottom left same picture) for macro,

Pay attention.. as Jaap says, it needs a M bayonet to Nikon adapter, not the Fotodiox I quoted before : but Fotodiox has one on its pricelist, too (https://www.fotodioxpro.com/leica-visoflex-m-lens-to-nikon-f-camera-fotodiox-pro-lens-mount-adapter.html) , same price

It's a complicated and fascinating world...    

Edited August 21, 2016 by luigi bertolotti

[jaapv]

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Expensive?  I only have these because I entered a fantasy low bid on eBay  for the set and it turned out that nobody else bid... About 50 Euro IIRC (for the whole set including OUFRO and lens!). BTW, all rings together make the exact register distance for the M mount.

[giordano]

I want to keep everything cheap as possible , if I would go to ZOOAN route , it costs 80 dollars and an IIIC costs 125 dollars.

 

 

Lets finish the discussion with two questions.

 

 

- does hektor break the mirror if I would invest a screw to nikon mount and attach the hektor to slr ?

No

- if hektor does not break the mirror , what would be the range of distances where hektor focuses , does it focus 150 - 200 cms range for portaits ?

 

No. The lens register of the screw mount body is approximately 29mm; that of the Nikon SLR is approximately 46mm;

and an adapter for LTM lens on Nikon F-mount body adds roughly 2mm. So the Hektor would be mounted about 2 + 46 - 29 = 19 millimetres further from the film than on a Leica body. 

 

The effect of this is that when the Hektor's normal focusing mount was set to infinity, the actual plane of focus would be about 1m from the lens.

 

The only solution if you want to work at normal distances is to use the Visoflex focusing mounts and adapters already mentioned ...

or to mount the lens head on a Nikon bellows (if you have a lathe it's not very difficult to make an adapter) ... or finally to use your Zorki.

 

- does the lens sees bigger than on the barnack and would I not be able to shoot a regular portrait at 200 cms range ?

See above

- what would be the macro specification when hektor on slr and how about the quality ?

As above, the furthest focusing distance would be about 100cm (magnification about 0.16). The closest distance with the standard mount would be about 69cm (magnification about 0.24). You could get closer with Nikon or LTM extension tubes. 

 

This was an excellent long-focus lens in the 1930s but already a "classic" in the 1960s. It was never designed for close-up or macro work and Its performance would be far behind that of a modern macro lens.