Kipon Tilt-Shift Lens Mount Adapter For Nikon G Mount Lens to Sony E-Mount Camera

2017-05-09T20:01:07

The version I am reviewing is the Nikon G for Sony e-mount. This adapter has a sturdy feel, movements are smooth, it looks like a high precision tool. It has 4 controls: a knob for locking the tilt, a slider for the shift, a pin for locking the rotation, plus a slider to control the aperture of G-lenses. The 12mm tilting range translates to about 5 degrees, and the -15mm to +15mm shifting range translates to about +/- 24 degrees, the shifting plane being at about 36mm from the sensor plane. The adapter delivers what it is intended for, as long as vignetting is avoided. It's very cool to see the effect of shifting on perspective control, and for me tilting creates opportunities in macro work. I tested vignetting with a set of zoom and vintage prime full-frame lenses, on a Sony NEX-3N and on a A7ii. Because vignetting depends on the image circle, unsurprisingly the adapter will work better with full-frame lenses on an APS-C body, but decent results can be obtained on a full-frame with the prime lenses I tried. Tilting generally creates no vignetting or a very slight one, except for recent zooms for which the image circle seems very tight. My good shifting performers on the A7ii full-frame are the Nikkor-D 50mm f/1.8 (12/15mm), the Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 AIS (7/15mm at infinity), the Tamron Adaptall 90mm f2.8 (72B - 8/15mm at infinity) and f2.5 (52B - 15/15mm at infinity, 7/15mm at 1:2), the Adaptall 28mm f2.8 and 24mm f2.5 (7/15mm). And my worst performers are recent zooms like the Nikkor 24-120 VR f/4 (unshiftable on the A7ii) and the Nikkor 18-35G (max. shift 4/15mm at 18mm). The Sigma 12-24mm, version 1, can be shifted up to 8/15mm at 18mm on the A7ii. Shifting may interfere with the rear protuding element of some lenses. In case of doubt, check the lens unshifted before mounting it on the camera, to see if the rear element protudes past the shifting plane. I didn't use the Nikkor-S 55mm f1.2 with the adapter for this reason. "Good performers" here only relates to vignetting. Close to the edge of the image circle, image quality is generally not the best, even though vignetting is avoided. All my shifting measurements were taken vertically. There are some drawbacks, though: - When tilting vertically, the locking knob is at left and the rotation locking pin at right. On a Sony A7ii, the rotation locking pin is close to the grip and hard to reach. - With some larger lenses, the lens-adapter-camera outfit is clunky to use hand-held and won't balance well on a tripod. - When using a tripod, depending on your plate, the rotation movement can be limited by the knob which locks the tilt. - Shift and tilt are not in the same axis. When perspective is adjusted vertically, focus can only be adjusted horizontally. Would I recommend it? Yes, if you already own some full-frame prime lenses.

Patrice S.

2017-05-08T19:56:24

This adapter has a sturdy feel, movements are smooth, it looks like a high precision tool. It has 4 controls: a knob for locking the tilt, a slider for the shift, a pin for locking the rotation, plus a slider to close down the aperture for G-lenses. It allows a 12mm tilting (about 5 degrees) and a -15mm to +15mm shifting. The shifting plane is at about 36mm from the sensor plane, giving a maximum shifting angle of about + / - 24 degrees. Shift and tilt are not in the same axis. When perspective is adjusted vertically, focus can only be adjusted horizontally. I checked vignetting with a set of zoom and vintage prime full-frame lenses, on a Sony NEX-3N and on a A7ii. Because vignetting depends on the image circle, unsurprisingly the adapter will work better with full-frame lenses on an APS-C body, but decent results can be obtained on a full-frame with the prime lenses I tried. Tilting is generally not a problem, except for recent zooms for which the image circle seems very tight. In my good shift performers on the A7ii full-frame there is the Nikkor-D 50mm f/1.8 (12/15mm), the Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/2.8 AIS (7/15mm at infinity), the Tamron Adaptall 90mm f2.8 (72B - 8/15mm at infinity) and f2.5 (52B - 15/15mm at infinity, 7/15mm at 1:2), the Adaptall 28mm f2.8 and 24mm f2.5 (7/15mm). And my worst performers are recent zooms like the Nikkor 24-120 VR f/4 (unshiftable on the A7ii) and the Nikkor 18-35G (max. shift 4/15mm at 18mm). The Sigma 12-24mm, version 1, can be shifted up to 8/15mm at 18mm. I said "good performers" because they allow some shifting without vignetting, but consider that lenses are not at their best on the edge of their image circle, even though there is no vignetting. All my shifting measurements were taken vertically. There are some drawbacks, though: - When tilting vertically, the locking knob is at left and the rotation locking pin at right. On a Sony A7ii, this locking pin is hard to reach because of the grip. - With some larger lenses it's not convenient to hold, and may not balance well on a tripod. - When using a tripod, depending on your plate, the rotation movement can be limited by the knob which locks the tilt. Would I recommend it? Yes, if you want to play with both perspective and focus plane, on different focal lengths, and already own full-frame prime lenses of these focal lengths. Otherwise there are also used T&S lenses that are no so more expensive.

Patrice S.