Shout out to Fredmiranda.com from Lee Filters USA....but bad news for Canon TS-E 17mm owners waiting for a solution from LEE Filters:

"Thank you for your inquiry. Due to technical limitations we are unable to make a holder for this lens. However, I’ve seen some creative homemade solutions on the forums at www.fredmiranda.com < ;http://www.fredmiranda.com>;

Sincerely,

John Adler
LEE Filters USA
(800)576-5055"

I added a page on building this filter holder at my webpage. It is mostly a supplemental to this thread with some clarifications.

I ended up using a Lee Foundation kit rather than the hood which I still have and can use in a pinch. I also have a second copy of the Lee 4x4 polarizer. The first one arrived broken, but B&H replaced it.

Write up.

http://ben-egbert-photo.com/?page_id=195

Images.

http://ben-egbert-photo.com/?page_id=206

Well thanks to simon (rags n old iron) a Canadian board member I was able to adapt an x-pro filter holder to both my 17 tse and my adapted nikon 14-24 without using glue..

I did try the LeeSW 150 but it was kind of fiddly (you can't use the hard lens cap, they give you a soft cap) and there is all this hardware atttached to it all the time. It also cannot be used on the 17. I also never liked the way the x-pro attaches until I saw this thread. The key to me was the 17 lens cap.

I took the lens cap apart, cut off the part that protudes and then drilled four guide holes for the x-pro attachment screws. I then looked at the leftover cap and saw that it (loosely) fits over the 14-24. So I cut off the front and also drilled four guide holes for attachment. I put some electrical tape around the edge to make for a tighter fit.

Just pointing at a blank wall and using live view the 17 shows vignetting when shifting horizontally but not not vertically until you hit the limits. I don't use the tilt more than a few degrees so I didn't check that. On the 14-24 there is defintely some vignetting at at 14mm.

Nice work John. I am surprised the other part of the cap worked on the 14-24, that is really good news. Thanks for the update , and finishing the project.

John, a potential problem with that rig is light coming from behind, through the open slots, and reflecting off the filter into the lens. If you've ever simply hand held a 4x6 filter in front of the 17mm ts-e, you'll know all about those reflections.

Jeffrey wrote:
John, a potential problem with that rig is light coming from behind, through the open slots, and reflecting off the filter into the lens. If you've ever simply hand held a 4x6 filter in front of the 17mm ts-e, you'll know all about those reflections.

I hope to add some baffles to the back of the lens mounting rings.

Hoping I can apply some of the ideas in this thread to a similar solution for a Samyang 14mm.
Someone does make an adapter, but like many here, I prefer the DIY to $$$

Dan

Jeffrey wrote:
John, a potential problem with that rig is light coming from behind, through the open slots, and reflecting off the filter into the lens. If you've ever simply hand held a 4x6 filter in front of the 17mm ts-e, you'll know all about those reflections.

That is so true! You gotta close those gaps or you can forget about long exposure shots. Even with the very tight original custom adapter, when shooting exposures of 20 seconds or longer I usually cover the back of it.
Fred

dswiger wrote:
Hoping I can apply some of the ideas in this thread to a similar solution for a Samyang 14mm.
Someone does make an adapter, but like many here, I prefer the DIY to $$$

Dan


I used the very same items, minus the 17TSE lens cap of course, on the Samyang 14mm before I sold the bits and pieces to John. It works well except for the flex on the Samyang hood which seemed precarious at times, but it worked well enough for me with the X-Pro and universal adapter. The DIY seems fine, but all the X-Pro parts cost a small fortune new though.

Sweetf8 wrote:
Fred Miranda wrote:
JulianDeLaRosa wrote:
Fred Miranda wrote:
Basically by removing the thread ring, you gain 7mm as illustrated on the picture below:
Red section = 7mm
Hi Fred. What did you use to cut the thread ring? Thanks!

How Julian,
I am no tool guy , but have a dremel and it was very easy to cut the ring off. Just use a thin metal cut accessory for the dremel and cut through one of the sides of the ring. It will come apart.
Fred


My ring didn't come apart even after several cuts. It took me more than an hour to sand it off also using a dremel :(. After gluing, I painted the inside with fine grain pigmented enamel flat paint bought from Micro-Tool (part# CF3-F).

I've tried it with the Cokin Z Pro holder, it's bad! Vignetting with both shift and tilt. While with Lee holder, tilt was OK, I got about 6-7mm shift both ways w/o problem.

You could use the screwdriver to nail the ring a bit and it would come apart easily.

Anybody knows how to remove foam strip on Lee big stopper? I tried to use this filter with fred's adapter and my 17mm tse can see this foam. So i think to remove it.

There have been a great deal of suggestions and replies on this topic. However, the issue of how much vignetting exists with shifting on the 17mm stills seems to be a hazy issue...

Can anyone give a rough indication of this please. As an architectural photographer, I have little use for the Tilt aspect of the 17mm (well, it's great fun out of work) but shifting is essential. A little vignetting is tolerable and to a certain extent correctable. Can anyone here say how much exists with the lee system and the modified lens cap approach to this?

Many Thanks,



Max.

The adaptor is hand made, no two are likely to be alike. On my web page, I have some examples of how much vignetting my adaptor gives. Here is a link.

http://ben-egbert-photo.com/?page_id=389

Thanks Ben,

These photos are a great help. So is this the same setup as shown on the start of this forum post?

Many Thanks,


Max.

Its the same, that is I started with a lens cap, cut it down and glued on a Lee Adaptor that I had.

The variables are that it is cut by hand and no dimensions are given. I cut mine flush to another part of the ring as described at my web page. But it will probably vary with user. The accuracy of a hand cut plastic part is also going to be poor.

Then we all use various Lee adaptor rings. But the WA series are all alike once the inner threaded part is cut and removed. So the next variable is how concentric it is glued to the lens cap. Mine is a bit off center which is evidence by unequal vignetting.

ben egbert wrote:
The adaptor is hand made, no two are likely to be alike. On my web page, I have some examples of how much vignetting my adaptor gives. Here is a link.

http://ben-egbert-photo.com/?page_id=389


I'm not sure what you mean by "clicks". Do you mean each mm it was shifted? I guess you can't use it at full shift?

n0b0 wrote:
ben egbert wrote:
The adaptor is hand made, no two are likely to be alike. On my web page, I have some examples of how much vignetting my adaptor gives. Here is a link.

http://ben-egbert-photo.com/?page_id=389


I'm not sure what you mean by "clicks". Do you mean each mm it was shifted? I guess you can't use it at full shift?

Each one of the marks on the dial I call it a click to avoid units I am never sure of. You can't use full shift with any adaptor I have seen. Maybe that big one that bolts on, I have no experience with that,

The shift marks on the Canon TS-E lenses are one millimeter each, and the marks for tilt are one degree each. For the tilt especially it is important to know that for matching up with tilt tables that show angles in degrees.

ben egbert wrote:
n0b0 wrote:
ben egbert wrote:
The adaptor is hand made, no two are likely to be alike. On my web page, I have some examples of how much vignetting my adaptor gives. Here is a link.

http://ben-egbert-photo.com/?page_id=389


I'm not sure what you mean by "clicks". Do you mean each mm it was shifted? I guess you can't use it at full shift?

Each one of the marks on the dial I call it a click to avoid units I am never sure of. You can't use full shift with any adaptor I have seen. Maybe that big one that bolts on, I have no experience with that,


Thanks for the info. I usually use it fully shifted so I guess that custom holder is no good for me.

This thread is great and I am proceeding with the spare hood and Lee WA adapter -- thanks for everyone's help! I have a spare 72mm WA which seems to have a much wider flange than the 77 and 82 that people have used above. I will see if it works before gluing and will report back.

Quick question though -- how to fit the little spring back into the old hood locking lever rocker? Where does that spring go exactly? How do you fit it in place and refit the rings?