Photodiox 4x5 to 35mm digital adaptor plate for stitching.

[DuncanJames]

I've tried searching here and it must be my crappy search skills as I'm sure there has been reference to this product in the past.

Really I'm looking for advice or reviews of the product. There is very little other than small snippets of info from users online. I don't know if that's a good sign that people are happy or bad that they just don't talk about it.

So does anyone have anything they could share with me, be it real world experience or point me to some comprehensive info of it's benefits and shortcomings?

[darr]

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/995354-REG/fotodiox_4x5_nk_p_pro_nikon_f_large.html

Visit the above link to see one made for Nikon F cameras

FotodioX Pro Nikon F Large Format 4 x 5 Adapter

[reddesert]

I made an adapter plate for a DSLR to a 4x5 using simple materials and tools. It doesn't slide like the Fotodiox back to allow mosaicing, just has one on-axis position. I have been meaning to post some pics of it in the DIY section.

The key fact about these adapters that limits their usefulness is that they have a very long back focus: the sensor is very far behind the usual 4x5 film position, and is sitting at the back of a long "tunnel" formed by the extension tube of the adapter and the mount of the DSLR. This means that:
- you'll have a hard time bringing a wide angle to focus,
- if you shift/rise the back or front a lot, the sensor can be vignetted by the DSLR mount,
- if you use a lot of back tilt or swing, there may be vignetting,
- using back tilt or swing gives a lot of image motion since the tilt axis is far ahead of the sensor.
So it probably works best with fairly long focal lengths used roughly on-axis.

Plus the practical issues with any picture taking that involves mosaicing (subjects that move, focusing across the field, etc).

The back focus length could be smaller if a similar adapter were made for mirrorless digital cameras, but it wouldn't completely resolve these problems.

I just made mine for trying out lenses and tabletop stuff, since previous posts had warned about the practical issues.

[DuncanJames]

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/995354-REG/fotodiox_4x5_nk_p_pro_nikon_f_large.html

Visit the above link to see one made for Nikon F cameras

FotodioX Pro Nikon F Large Format 4 x 5 Adapter

Thanks

[DuncanJames]

Thanks for posting, you've pretty much summed up most of what I've slowly discovered after many snippets of info around the web. I'm surprised there's not more to find of actual real world reviews.

Just on the off chance you may have some insight, do you think that a wide angle lens will be ok if it's mounted on a recessed lens board?

[alan_b]

Thanks for posting, you've pretty much summed up most of what I've slowly discovered after many snippets of info around the web. I'm surprised there's not more to find of actual real world reviews.

Just on the off chance you may have some insight, do you think that a wide angle lens will be ok if it's mounted on a recessed lens board?

I haven't used these adapters, but there are some inherent limitations to using them with short lenses. If the tube on the adapter is say 20mm, and the digital camera has a 43mm (Nikon) flange distance, you're looking at 63mm from the "film" plane just to the front of the adapter. Your lens is going to have some physical length behind the lens board: for a 90/8 Super Angulon, it's ~33mm. So, add that 33mm to the 63mm your adapter + digital camera is already using, and you're at 96mm. That's pretty close to the infinity focus distance of the lens, with the back of the lens basically touching the front of the adapter. (Various "90mm" lenses will have different actual focus distances.)

You'll need to figure out those dimensions for the digital camera, adapter, and lens you want to use. I'm guessing the shortest lens will be maybe 75mm, with a mirrorless digital camera.

[Bob Salomon]

This is probably more expensive but it is more practical and it works!

https://www.novoflex.de/en/products-637/macro/extension-bellows/universal-bellows-balpro-t-s/tilt-shift-bellows.html

[Dan Fromm]

In other words, a Nikon PB-6 with an improved rear standard that offers shift and swing. No mention of minimum extension. Mounted normally, shift but no rise/fall. Turn it on its side to rise/fall without shift. No rise/fall and shift at the same time. Snake oil.

[DuncanJames]

I have done a diy similar to that with an old bellows unit. Thanks for the link, Novoaflex is nice looking gear but my god the premium price is prohibitive.

[DuncanJames]

Thanks for all that, something to consider.

[reddesert]

Thanks for posting, you've pretty much summed up most of what I've slowly discovered after many snippets of info around the web. I'm surprised there's not more to find of actual real world reviews.

Just on the off chance you may have some insight, do you think that a wide angle lens will be ok if it's mounted on a recessed lens board?

I posted a thread about the adapter I made in the DIY forum, at https://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?154154-DIY-4x5-Graflok-to-DSLR-adapter-(and-drawbacks) . That may give some insight.

Some of the reviews at B&H suggested the shortest usable focal length was 150mm - this may be a vignetting limitation, rather than a back focus limit.

I tried putting a 90mm Angulon (very small rear element) into a short recessed board, maybe 10-12mm depth, and putting it on my setup, and it's hopeless. The camera allows the standards to be brought very close together (touching), and I still can't focus 10 feet away, much less infinity. I think you would need a similar doo-hickey for a mirrorless camera, as alan_b said, and the commercial adapters look like they have longer tubes than the absolute minimum, perhaps because they have to fit a variety of bodies with different protrusions.

[DuncanJames]

I posted a thread about the adapter I made in the DIY forum, at https://www.largeformatphotography.info/forum/showthread.php?154154-DIY-4x5-Graflok-to-DSLR-adapter-(and-drawbacks) . That may give some insight.

Some of the reviews at B&H suggested the shortest usable focal length was 150mm - this may be a vignetting limitation, rather than a back focus limit.

I tried putting a 90mm Angulon (very small rear element) into a short recessed board, maybe 10-12mm depth, and putting it on my setup, and it's hopeless. The camera allows the standards to be brought very close together (touching), and I still can't focus 10 feet away, much less infinity. I think you would need a similar doo-hickey for a mirrorless camera, as alan_b said, and the commercial adapters look like they have longer tubes than the absolute minimum, perhaps because they have to fit a variety of bodies with different protrusions.

I did see your thread, thanks very much for the info.