if anybody doesn't really care of the outcome, since it's a cheap lens, send them off to me, I'll convert it for free... for the time being. Just help out with the shipping. This is a pretty exciting find! I'm willing to do it for the folks here on FM...
No, unfortunately since the front element is removed, if the AF switch is on the barrel will just move back and forth. Once you switch it to MF, all you have to do is move in back and forth until it snaps into focus. Whats cool about this lens discovery is all the exif data, shutter speed, etc. is recorded!
I just found out how to gain 3" of working room and AF to boot!!
- - - - - - - - - - -
If you are crafty, and not really care about this lens.... you can do it. On the front lens element, there are actually 3 lens elements, you need to preserve the middle element. So you'll need a hammer, sharp knife, tape, lens pen, lens brush, compressed air... yes you'll have shattered glass.
You won't be able to get these intense close-ups but you'll still get close.
PM me if you want more detailed instructions. They really need to move this to a "do it yourself" section
Here are my own results with a converted 35-70. I have pretty much torn that sucker apart so I doubt I can reconstruct things enough to add the middle-front lens element. But, there's always the 35-105 that I could work with!!!
I have been following this thread with intrest. so this morning I decided to rip apart an old 35-80 Canon lens I don't use any more. Unfortunatly I couldn't remove the three small retaining screw that nold the front element in place. So out came the trusty dremel to drill out the screw heads, two minutes later I had my newly modified macro lens.
I have included a few test pics and noticed at full zoom there is quite a bit of lens flare, that getslss as the zooming element retreats back into the body and acts as a hood, the bright sun from the side won't have helped either.
I was a little bored one day, I've always been fascinated by how optics work, alignments and disalignments.... what would happen?
I remember back in the early 90's a bunch of my "nikon shooter" pals complaining to me about how crappy the rebel and the lenses offered were, and how easy it was to dismantle the lenses. So when I received this lens a couple of weeks ago, I was just a little curious...
As far as how did I know keeping the middle element in tact would give me better working room... well, the first one I removed, the rear elemt on the front piece was facing concave, the one in the middle I assumed was just a magnifying optic cause it was flat on both sides. The front element was facing convex, as is most lenses. So trying it with the outer most element and the middle element, gave no results at all, just nice dreamy bokeh pics. So I smashed the outer element and went to town.
My theory was correct, the inner element was just a magnifying optic....
Tim, I think the reason you are getting flare, is that the inner element extends outward too much, to where light enters through the sides of the mechanism that pushes the element forward. You may want to try a hood, one that won't interfere with your working distance. Maybe a collapsable one...?
Hey Cartin, is that an ol' minolta rokkor mounted on the 18-55? You know, I have a 58mm lens coupler, I put my 50 1.4 in reverse on my 85 1.8, and it gets pretty extremely close too. I guess curiosity got the better of me. I originally wanted to play around with an enlarger lens mounted on the 35-80, but the lens had a fair amount of fungus, so kept things simpler.
