Making Transactions to China

neilt3 wrote: Have you got any further with it ?

Thanks for asking - I agreed a solution with the vendor that minimised my exposure to the risk of double-billing for the import duties. The package has started moving again so there is some hope for a happy outcome in the coming days or weeks. More when it arrives!

Ten days have passed and the package is still meandering from London to Oxford. Latest update on the shipping company website is '2021-01-28 13:00Shipment in transit at GB. Thanks for your waiting.', same as it was more than 3 weeks ago. eBay says I should get it next week ...

Miranda F wrote: Yes, don't buy things shipped form China if you're in any kind of hurry ... I tend to go with UK stockists where possible. Usually the same Chinese stuff but at least it's posted in the same country ...

Very sensible advice. I do that when getting no-brand lens caps, etc., but this Vectis - E-mount adapter is available from just one location, alas! The niche product to end all niche products ...

Keep your eye open for that snail that's got it strapped to it's shell !

Have fun with it .

Good news - now we need to see some results. Are the Vectis lenses really worth the expense of the adapter? Do you get FF coverage?

Nice

Good to see it's finally arrived !

Howard_S wrote: I've played around with three lenses (22-80, 80-240, and 50 Macro) and the preliminary results are promising even though I find the focusing a bit stiff and sluggish - @neilt3 may have an observation there. I don't know if an ambient temperature of -1C is a factor ... !

The focus ring on these lenses do feel much stiffer to use than regular lenses .
The focus ring is some sort of rubber/plastic that probably hasn't been turned since it was sold 25 years ago , and has possibly stiffened up .
That said , I've been using these lenses on their film cameras for nearly 15 years , and they were always fairly stiff .
The cold probably doesn't help , but don't hold them too hard as compress the ring against the body and make it harder to turn .
I would imagine yours are just fine , and just feel wrong compared to regular lenses .

Howard_S wrote:     The macro pretty much covers full frame, and looking at the vignetting on the other two lenses at full height (4000px) the 22-80 probably needs a 5:4 crop, certainly at the wide end. The 80-240 will crop 4:3 at 240.

For the macro it might be worth mounting it on a set of Sony E mount extension tubes .
That would give you full coverage .

Howard_S wrote:            I'll prepare an Open View post in a few days using both FF and crop sensors. As for value for money - if you have the lenses sitting in a drawer, I'd say yes, if you don't mind manual focus. I'll now be keeping an eye open for affordable 17mm and 400mm Vectis lenses!

The 400mm lenses I have were bought for around £25 to £50 . They seem to sell for anything up to £200 now . I think people are using them with adjustable helicoid mounts .
The 17mm lenses come up vary rarely as they were sold for use with the digital RD-3000 . I forget what I paid for mine , but I wouldn't have paid more than around £50 each for them .
Now if they come up , I would imagine they would sell for quite a lot . especially as this adapter is now easily available .

If we're anywhere in the same part of the country , your welcome to have a try of my lenses to decide if there worth ( to you ) the price they sell for before you try to obtain them .

I look forward to seeing shots taken with your a7iii