Adapter for Nikon objective to Nikon body /bellows.

mrwildie · Post by **mrwildie** » Tue Dec 04, 2012 7:19 am

Hi everyone
I ask for your help.
I’m going to buy a Nikon BD plan 10x 0.25 objective. I’m a bit confused as to which adapters I will need to use with this lens.

I intend to use it on a Nikon d300s body and BD 6 bellows. Do I have to screw it to the end of my macro lens (Nikon D60)? Or reversed macro or enlarger lens? Do I need a cone adapter? Can I attach it to the bellows or camera body via some other kind of adapter?

I have been down this road before and you were all very helpful but I got side tracked opening a photo studio. I kept all the info you gave me in a file but unfortunately not the PC the file was stored on. Can you help?

Gary

Planapo · Post by **Planapo** » Tue Dec 04, 2012 11:38 am

Gary,

You may wish to look here first :
http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/v ... hp?t=11976

If you are not perfectly sure which Nikon objective you have or going to buy, you could show us a snap shot of it so that we can guide you to the matching adapters and make sure you don't buy the wrong parts.

--Betty

mrwildie · Post by **mrwildie** » Tue Dec 04, 2012 1:39 pm

Hi

You're amazing thank you very very much!

Gary

mrwildie · Post by **mrwildie** » Fri Dec 14, 2012 11:39 am

Planapo wrote:Gary,

You may wish to look here first :
http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/v ... hp?t=11976

If you are not perfectly sure which Nikon objective you have or going to buy, you could show us a snap shot of it so that we can guide you to the matching adapters and make sure you don't buy the wrong parts.

--Betty

Hi

Thank you for your interest your very kind. Here is the lens I'm thinking of buying... sorry image quality isn't that good. If you could let me know which adapter's I will need to buy to enable me to put this lens to good use, that would be great!
Many thanks
Gary

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Fri Dec 14, 2012 12:05 pm

First, read http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/v ... hp?t=12147. It is a long article, 4 pages total, but there is a lot of good information in it.

The BD Plan 10/0.25 210/0 just needs extension, no other lenses. So, all you need are mechanical screw thread adapters. That objective has a big thread, 26 mm x 0.75 mm, so it takes a different adapter from most microscope objectives. I think a good approach is to put an M26-RMS adapter like http://www.ebay.com/itm/26mm-M26x0-75-t ... 1195149261 on the back of the lens, then use an ordinary RMS adapter like http://www.ebay.com/itm/RMS-Thread-M42- ... 0352400700 to finish getting to standard M42 thread. If your bellows has a nikon mount, then you will also need an adapter from M42 to Nikon, like http://www.ebay.com/itm/M42-Lens-to-NIK ... 019800938. For this application you want one of the cheap M42-Nikon adapters that does not have any glass in it.

The BD objective has an illumination path around the outside of the objective that must be blocked off for this application. A simple way to do that is to cut a mask of black paper and put it between the objective and the M26-to-RMS adapter.

Another option is you could go with just an M26-to-M42 cone adapter like http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mitutoyo-M26-mi ... 0510393427. This makes for fewer parts and a few dollars cheaper, but has the drawbacks that 1) the thread specification is not exactly correct although it's close enough that my sample works OK, and 2) it's more fiddly to block the illumination channel.

The objective needs to be positioned roughly 200-300 mm away from your sensor, depending on exactly what magnification you want. At 200 mm it will give the rated 10X.

--Rik

Planapo · Post by **Planapo** » Sat Dec 15, 2012 2:46 am

Rik has already provided you with comprehensive information on the adapters.
Besides the cone shaped RMS to M42 adapter, there's also a flat one from the same, well known and trusted seller: ebay 200470968028 or http://www.ebay.com/itm/RMS-Thread-to-M ... 2ead0036dc

One nice thing you should know about these BD lenses: Their outer silver barrel can be unscrewed and then you've got a nice tapered black front end that gives you more space for lighting. You can see what it looks like in the 3rd photo from above (the 10x objective is the 2nd from the RHS in the photo) of this thread: http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/v ... 6f9b97a053

--Betty

mrwildie · Post by **mrwildie** » Sat Dec 15, 2012 6:27 am

rjlittlefield wrote:First, read http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/v ... hp?t=12147. It is a long article, 4 pages total, but there is a lot of good information in it.

The BD Plan 10/0.25 210/0 just needs extension, no other lenses. So, all you need are mechanical screw thread adapters. That objective has a big thread, 26 mm x 0.75 mm, so it takes a different adapter from most microscope objectives. I think a good approach is to put an M26-RMS adapter like http://www.ebay.com/itm/26mm-M26x0-75-t ... 1195149261 on the back of the lens, then use an ordinary RMS adapter like http://www.ebay.com/itm/RMS-Thread-M42- ... 0352400700 to finish getting to standard M42 thread. If your bellows has a nikon mount, then you will also need an adapter from M42 to Nikon, like http://www.ebay.com/itm/M42-Lens-to-NIK ... 019800938. For this application you want one of the cheap M42-Nikon adapters that does not have any glass in it.

The BD objective has an illumination path around the outside of the objective that must be blocked off for this application. A simple way to do that is to cut a mask of black paper and put it between the objective and the M26-to-RMS adapter.

Another option is you could go with just an M26-to-M42 cone adapter like http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mitutoyo-M26-mi ... 0510393427. This makes for fewer parts and a few dollars cheaper, but has the drawbacks that 1) the thread specification is not exactly correct although it's close enough that my sample works OK, and 2) it's more fiddly to block the illumination channel.

The objective needs to be positioned roughly 200-300 mm away from your sensor, depending on exactly what magnification you want. At 200 mm it will give the rated 10X.

--Rik

Thanks Rik and yes there are some real gems of info in there... super job!

Gary

mrwildie · Post by **mrwildie** » Sat Dec 15, 2012 6:33 am

Planapo wrote:Rik has already provided you with comprehensive information on the adapters.
Besides the cone shaped RMS to M42 adapter, there's also a flat one from the same, well known and trusted seller: ebay 200470968028 or http://www.ebay.com/itm/RMS-Thread-to-M ... 2ead0036dc

One nice thing you should know about these BD lenses: Their outer silver barrel can be unscrewed and then you've got a nice tapered black front end that gives you more space for lighting. You can see what it looks like in the 3rd photo from above (the 10x objective is the 2nd from the RHS in the photo) of this thread: http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/v ... 6f9b97a053

--Betty

Exellent! I have one of these adapters from my last attempt to break into objectives

Many thanks .
Gary

mrwildie · Post by **mrwildie** » Sat Dec 15, 2012 6:59 am

Hi Rik/Betty

I had the BD x10 snatched from my grasp... got my eye on a nice BDx20,
not where I wanted to start from but if I can get it at the right price I'll be happy enough... for now.

Gary

Planapo · Post by **Planapo** » Sat Dec 15, 2012 11:32 am

got my eye on a nice BDx20

Gary,

Keep in mind that of these BD 20x NA 0.40 objectives two types exist, differing in working distance: One with 2.5 mm and another, additionally labelled "ELWD", with 8.5 mm (values for front barrel part not unscrewed).

--Betty

Charles Krebs · Post by **Charles Krebs** » Sat Dec 15, 2012 1:44 pm

Gary,

You might want to download this PDF:
http://www.krebsmicro.com/mplan.pdf

(As far as working distance goes look at the values for the brightfield versions, since this is what it will be using a "BD" with the outer collar removed).

mrwildie · Post by **mrwildie** » Sun Dec 30, 2012 8:47 am

Hi

Thank you all for your invaluable information. I managed to purchase an objective on the 17th of this month (Dec)...Nikon BD x20 from someone in America it was about $100 or so. Haven't got it yet, I'm blaming the holiday-for the delay-so is the seller.
I now have the adapters I need...so when the x20 finally arrives I can crack on with all necessary test shots and get some work posted up.

Once again thanks for all your input.

All the Best
Gary.

Joseph S. Wisniewski · Mon Dec 31, 2012 12:24 pm

Sorry to read that you've already bought the BD plan. Normally, I advise beginners to avoid those, and stick with regular M plan 210mm objectives.

To all intents and purposes, the BD plan are just the M plan wrapped in a larger barrel for the "dark field" illumination system. That's like a "ring light" around the objective. You can't light up the dark field with a bellows, in fact, the dark field ring leaks light back into take bellows to "contaminate" your picture, so you want to cover up or fill in the dark field ring on the objective. I saw a couple of people say to block it off, but I don't think anyone mentioned why, or how really important it is to do it. You will lose a ton of contrast if you don't block it.

That's the first strike against a BD. Second strike is that, like others mentioned, the large BD shell makes it harder to position lights around your subject, and it eats up your "working distance", which is why, on a bellows, you want to remove the outer shell from the BD objective. You get your working distance and maneuvering room back.

Third strike is the oddball mount. Regular M plan objectives use the RMS mount, a standard for nearly a century, and so much easier to fid adapters for.

Now that you've got it, pay the most attention to the advice about getting rid of the outer shell and filling in the ring. But seriously, consider switching to M plan in the future. You will save money, time, and aggravation.

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Mon Dec 31, 2012 2:44 pm

Yep, all those aspects are true, and that's why BDs sometimes sell for a lot less than M Plans.

On the other hand, the illumination path is easy to block, the outer shell is easy to remove once you know the trick, and the BD-to-RMS adapter costs $14.

See http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/v ... 4868#74868 for an illustration of what happens if you fail to block the illumination path.

--Rik

mrwildie · Post by **mrwildie** » Thu Jan 24, 2013 12:08 pm

Hi Rik

I attempted to removing the outer shell of the BD objective I bought .. I used a per of pinch-nose pliers and attacked the job via the open end of the lens grabbing the inside struts with the pliers whilst gripping the gnarled ring on the outer barrel with a per of adjustable weldings grips and applied gentle but firm pressure to turn and free the barrel, but failed. Could you please instruct me as to how to go about this procedure correctly.

Regards
Gary

Adapter for Nikon objective to Nikon body /bellows.

Adapter for Nikon objective to Nikon body /bellows.

Thanks!

Objectives continued

A Big Thank You!

Remove the outer barrel of a BD objective.