Mirror lenses (2)

Snegren wrote: Today the Vectis AF adapter arrived, gave it a quick test on the 400 Reflex (the reason for getting the adapter) and all-systems-are-go. AF works fine although not as refined as the modern day hypersonic drives, it gets there fast enough and does not hunt, MF works fine (cannot adjust MF on the camera, has to be through the A/M button on the lens which makes sense) and is nicely slow to adjust precisely. Test shots to follow soon.

Glad to hear that, Paul. Hopefully, you will experience the joy I have with that lens. Rare enough now; watch the prices go up.

One remark about above images. They are not cropped. I removed the "rectangular" insert in the lens mount, from what I can see it reduces vignetting to almost nothing.

Fred_S wrote: Even when I include my sold ones, I am no where near your numbers, so there must be another reason

It took me some time to arrive at a conclusion, but I think you may have a point, Fred!

Thanks for the comforting words, Mike!
My problem is I know the exact number. As you say, it's best not to know, so I will not burden you with it; I must carry this heavy load alone.

darosa wrote: Thanks for the comforting words, Mike! My problem is I know the exact number. As you say, it's best not to know, so I will not burden you with it; I must carry this heavy load alone.

I do know that once I start counting, it gets surprising and troubling. I have never completed a count.

When I started this MF thing, I had less than a half dozen lenses from the nearly forty years prior. When my wife saw one, she started asking "is that a new lens?", to which I replied, "no, it's an old one". Eventually, she caught on.

woodrim wrote: Snegren wrote: One remark about above images. They are not cropped. I removed the "rectangular" insert in the lens mount, from what I can see it reduces vignetting to almost nothing. I've been wondering about that but have been afraid to tamper with it. Was it straight forward? Any warnings? Does it cause wavy lines?

I'm not sure what you mean by wavy lines Mike.

If I remember correctly, it was straightforward to remove the plastic insert that holds the "rectangular" window, but obviously not for the fainthearted. I was super careful with the electronic contacts and the attached ribbon cable, break anything there and the lens is beyond salvage as focus is electronic.

You have to unscrew the assembly that holds the contacts (2 scews) and the 4 screws that fix the lens mount, that allows you to free the plastic insert. You then need to shave off the bits you don't want, I used a Dremel with a cutting disc for that. When I did this there were still 400 REFLEX lenses on the market for reasonable prices, they seem to have disappeared now. I think Vectis lenses have become collectible.



     

I’m a mirror lens lover, new to the forum. Very nice examples here of what these lenses can do.

This may not be the right forum to discuss, so I would appreciate any redirection to a better thread/forum, but I’m having issues with getting the MonsterAdapter autofocus adapters to work well. I have a Sony a7r3 and two copies of the LA-EA4, one of which I modified with the MonsterAdapter replacement circuit board and removing the semitranslucent mirror. This should enable focusing by more than just the single central point. However, I found that the result with the Minolta AF 500 is just sporadic hunting and lurching, and verrrrrry slow intermittent focus twitches, before it apparently gives up never having found focus. Or it turns the focus confirmation square green when it’s not in focus.

I recently got the LA-VE2 and I’m seeing similar behavior using the Vectis 400.

I have more than one copy of each of these lenses, and I can try different copies, but given that my AF 500’s all work fine with the unmodified Sony adapter, I am suspicious of the camera or its settings. I bought the camera used and don’t know what the prior owner might have tweaked in the settings. I’m not expert in the Sony system, primarily using other systems and mechanical film cameras.

Off-forum, someone suggested trying continuous AF, which I will do when it’s daylight. It’s just early morning right now where I live. Meanwhile, though, I thought it would be worth posting here in case someone has suggestions, as well as to post the problem and solution publicly for anyone else trying to search the web for answers, which I will hopefully find.