Mixed manufacturer equipment

[Soocom1]

Who uses a mix through adapters, equipment from different manufacturers for various effects or just to do?

I am not talking about companies making camera specific components specific to a particular camera like Tamaron, Sigma or Samyang or other third party manufacturer.

I am talking more about crossing manufacturers and different mounting systems:

Ex: Mounting Minolta MD lenses on a Canon digital, or putting a Mamiya KL or C lens on a Nikon, etc.
What have you done? What would you like to try?
What is your opinion?

 

[dennybeall]

Never bothered since I don't see any reason to do this. Perhaps if you owned a Pawn Shop and had free lenses and cameras coming at you it might be something worth playing with.
In the old "Everything Manual" days it was something we'd do occasionally to get a particular lens or something but now with electronics and communications between lenses and cameras it just doesn't offer any advantage.

 

[Derrel]

I spent part of a year experimenting with Nikon F-mount manual focus lenses, and a few Asahi Super-Takumar lenses on my Canon 5D camera. I also used the Nikon SB-28DX shoe-mount flash on my old Canon PowerShot G3, which was really an eye-opening experience; using a powerful bounce flash with tilt and swivel and zoom on a high-end advanced digital P&S type camera was a very good thing, and was sort of a fad in the early 2000's, before d-slrs were affordable.

I dunno...the Canon 5D adapter works VERY well with the Nikkor 85/1.4 AF-D, 105mm/2 DC and 135/2 DC Nikkor lenses, and I thought the Super Takumar 135mm f/3.5 had lovely, lovely bokeh. Shorter lenses though, like the Vivitar Series1 55mm f/2.8 1:1 macro were a bugger to focus, as was the 55mm Takumar. I bought a generic-type 35mm f/2.8 for $12 at a yard sale and tried it on the 5D...optically, not a good lens. Disappointing.

Of course, this was eight years ago...before we had mirroless options, or even Live View and focus peaking, and so on...

M42 thread mount onto Nikon F requires a glass adapter, and the one I bought was awful...just ruined the lens quality.

I have an Olympus OM-mount lens to Canon EF camera adapter...that works just okay with the 28mm/2.8 Oly lens. AGain...the shorter lenses were hard to focus on the 5D or 20D bodies; the telephoto lenses were easier to focus. For slow, deliberate work, or with Live View, I think that would be okay. FOr subjects in motion...forget it, too many misses focuses.

 

[Soocom1]

My first foray into med. Format left me with low priced options. So I wound up with a Russian Salyut C (predecessor to the Kiev 88).
In the mean time I collected a number of the Pentacon6 lenses as a result and purchased the adapter for my (now stolen) Minolta 7D.
the large 16mm Fish eye Arsat made some absolutely incredible shots. i kept the lenses but dumped the camera. Got a Bronica 645 that i sold quickly and then a RB 67. Same situation.

I have a ton of left over Minolta MD lenses laying around that the glass is still in perfect shape so I got that adapter to my Canon EF system and the shots are on par.