# Opinions: bellows for M39/M42 lenses with 5D? good bad ugly?



## Zeidora (Nov 24, 2016)

I want to use some M39 and M42 mount lenses for macro-stacking with a 5D2 body. I am looking for pros/cons on various options. The main question is availability of various adapters. Auto functions are of no concern to me, and Tilt/Shift is not important at all. And, cheaper is better, all other things being equal.

Canon FD bellows: it's Canon but not sure about M39 to FD and FD to Eos adapters.
Nikon PB4/5/6: Lots of Nikon adapters out there. Not sure about pros and cons of 4/5/6. Prices are quite different and on high end compared to other options.
Contax: Have a C/Y to eos adapter, but M39 to C/Y seems rather rare.
Minolta: M39 to Minolta may be an issues, Minolta to Eos should be straight forward.
Novoflex: Quality of bellows themselves? I think they come in EOS mounts, so no issues there.
Olympus: Not sure about M39 to OM adapters.
Arca 4x5": Getting a AS lens board for M39 should be easy (or could be ordered from Grimes), but attaching the SLR to the Graflock back may be tricky. Upside, I have 3 Arca bellows and all the trimmings.

Thanks for any input!
Irony is, I had a OM and a C/Y bellows, but sold them both. Note to self: don't sell odd ball photo equipment.


----------



## Geaibleu16 (Nov 24, 2016)

Have you tried to look up Fotodiox lens adapters? and/or eventually tried to look up Leica adapters route from M39 to Leica M to Leica R to Canon EOS 5d? I have used use Leica R bellows with EOS adapters to copy old Kodachrome slides on a 5D with reasonable success.
Good luck.


----------



## Zeidora (Nov 24, 2016)

I think fotodiox makes M39 to eos adapter rings, costs about $10, so very reasonable. Will get one of those to use the M39 on extension tubes as a very quick and dirty approach. For higher magnifications, though, I am looking at proper bellows. Looked quickly at ebay for Leica R bellows, and they are not necessarily a bargain. And given the rather low volume of LeicaR equipment, I wonder about availability of adapters. Bellows draw does not look terribly long either, shorter than most others.


----------



## Mt Spokane Photography (Nov 24, 2016)

I recently purchased a Minolta Auto Bellows III, and a Minolta to EOS adapter with no glass can be purchased on Amazon. (don't get one with glass in it, you don't need infinity focusing with a bellows.

For M42 lenses, there are adapters to the Minolta Mount on the front of the bellows. There are also reverse mount adapters which will mount any lens.

However, I'd recommend purchasing the Minolta and a Minolta lens, because the stop down cable used makes it very easy to open the aperture for focusing, and stopping it down for the photo. Just press the plunger and it locks the lens aperture open, than pull the ring around the plunger, and the aperture stops down. All this can be done while looking thru the viewfinder, LCD, or as I did, while tethered to my computer.

You can get M39 X1 to M42 and M42to M39 adapter rings to use that same M42 to Minolta adapter. There are two M42 threads though, so look out there. M42 X 1mm is pretty standard, but the YS mount is M42 X 0.75, used on T-mount and Yashica. 

I also noted that the front lens mount on My Minolta bellows is attached by 4 screws, so it would likely be possible to attach almost any camera mount by drilling matching holes. The bellows itself has quick disconnects and can be disconnected so you can easily remove the lens mount with just a JIS screwdriver. You would lose than nice stop down cable ability though.

If you want lots of magnification, reverse a lens and mount it to the bellows.


----------



## Zeidora (Nov 25, 2016)

Mt Spokane, I saw your other post on the Minolta bellows. I am looking in to UV reflectance photography with full spectrum modified body and Baader UV-pass/vis-opaque filter. That's why I am looking at uncoated, non-commented enlarger lenses, rather than tradition macro head lenses. I'm aware of the Minolta head lenses, OM made some, Nikon as well, there are also the Zeiss Luminars, and last but not least could also use older 160 tube length microscope lenses with RMS thread.

Fully agree on lens reversal at high magnification. Enlarger lenses typically are more macro oriented, but reversal may still be advantageous at >>1:1. How it looks in UV is up to anybody's guess. Will be fun doing some tests.

Just found out that SK Grimes makes EOS to Graflock adaptor, have inquired about price. Drilling a AS lens board is pretty straight forward.

Depending on price, It may be worth getting M42 adaptor and then a M39/42 adaptor. I was not aware of the different thread pitches for M42. Thanks!


----------



## chrysoberyl (Nov 30, 2016)

Please be sure to post your photos!


----------



## Zeidora (Dec 1, 2016)

chrysoberyl said:


> Please be sure to post your photos!



Will take a bit longer. Got the Nikon EL 80/5.6 for $40 off eBay. The Baader UV 2" is around $400, got that. The EL80 has a strange filter thread of 34.5 mm, but found an adapter for 34.5 to 48 of the Baader for $28 from Russia (Grimes wants around $80). I can get ~infinity focus with the Kenko 12 and 20 mm, so I need around 32 mm of extension for infinity. Focus shift in UV apparently is minimal with the EL80. Ordered a M42 focusing helicoid 25–50 mm, and a M42 to EOS adapter and a M39 to M42 adapter. Still have to order the 365 nm flashlight. I think the UV LED I have is 395 nm.

Re extension, with f/5.6 on a 5D2 I run into diffraction limitation with c = 30 µm and effective f-stop of f/32 at 4.7:1. So could exploit bellows extension of up to 376 mm.

Re bellows, I just settled on a M42 type bellows for $30 with over 200 mm draw (longer than most). Price is right, and I have all the M42 adapters, and various additional extension rings, so that gives me a lot of flexibility. 

The EOS EF to Graflock adapter is $350, so I don't think I will go that route, particularly because the adapter adds quite a bit of extension, so infinity focus with WA LF lenses will not be possible, so that rig could not double for extreme TS beyond Canon TS/E lenses.

Hopefully I have some initial pictures before the end of the year


----------

