Moving to a new system - but keeping the NX lenses

I just came back from a shoot with a full bag on NX lenses. The age of my NX-1 begins to show and the fake leather on the housing is disintegrating. It feels like it's high time to get a new camera. 
What has held me back so far is the fact that I own an almost complete set of NX lenses (at least all the better ones). I am wondering: Why is there nobody making adapters so the NX lenses can be used on other systems?
I think many on this forum would benefit if they could move over to another system while keeping their beloved lenses.
How can we make this happen?

It won't happen!

Primarily because the NX lenses are "fly-by-wire" so there's no control of the focus, let alone the aperture, if not mounted on an "intelligent" sub-system, ie. an NX camera or a very sophisticated adaptor that could translate the commands from one system and apply them to another.

Even in cloud-cuckoo-land where someone actually made the effort to make an NX/Fuji adaptor, (probably for several hundred $/£ each), there'd be cries from the wilderness about why not for Canon/Nikon/Sony etc. etc. etc.

The only lenses that may have some re-use possibility would be the third-party units with manual aperture and manual focus. For those, an adaptor could happen, maybe by 3D printing or an enthusiast with a lathe.

Either repair or replace what you've got or sell the lenses whilst there's still some people still using the NX system … when they disappear the lenses will have no value at all!

Good luck

kypfer wrote:

It won't happen!

Primarily because the NX lenses are "fly-by-wire" so there's no control of the focus, let alone the aperture, if not mounted on an "intelligent" sub-system, ie. an NX camera or a very sophisticated adaptor that could translate the commands from one system and apply them to another.

Even in cloud-cuckoo-land where someone actually made the effort to make an NX/Fuji adaptor, (probably for several hundred $/£ each), there'd be cries from the wilderness about why not for Canon/Nikon/Sony etc. etc. etc.

I agree, but such an adapter has been made for Minolta Vectis APS film lenses, where the issues are similar. I would imagine there are more NX lenses around than Vectis ones, and they are certainly more interesting.

The only lenses that may have some re-use possibility would be the third-party units with manual aperture and manual focus. For those, an adaptor could happen, maybe by 3D printing or an enthusiast with a lathe.

This is certainly possible and some DIY versions have been made, but all the OP's lenses seem to be Samsung ones.

Heritage Cameras wrote:

kypfer wrote:

It won't happen!

Primarily because the NX lenses are "fly-by-wire" so there's no control of the focus, let alone the aperture, if not mounted on an "intelligent" sub-system, ie. an NX camera or a very sophisticated adaptor that could translate the commands from one system and apply them to another.

Even in cloud-cuckoo-land where someone actually made the effort to make an NX/Fuji adaptor, (probably for several hundred $/£ each), there'd be cries from the wilderness about why not for Canon/Nikon/Sony etc. etc. etc.

I agree, but such an adapter has been made for Minolta Vectis APS film lenses, where the issues are similar. I would imagine there are more NX lenses around than Vectis ones, and they are certainly more interesting.

OK … maybe there's "hope", but the Vectis mount had a "back focus" of 36.00 mm, so bags of room for electronics etc., the back focus of the NX mount is somewhat less, so everything would be rather more cramped

Probably need to find a designer who's interested, get a quote per unit, then get a crowd-funding operation going … good luck

kypfer wrote:

Heritage Cameras wrote:

kypfer wrote:

It won't happen!

Primarily because the NX lenses are "fly-by-wire" so there's no control of the focus, let alone the aperture, if not mounted on an "intelligent" sub-system, ie. an NX camera or a very sophisticated adaptor that could translate the commands from one system and apply them to another.

Even in cloud-cuckoo-land where someone actually made the effort to make an NX/Fuji adaptor, (probably for several hundred $/£ each), there'd be cries from the wilderness about why not for Canon/Nikon/Sony etc. etc. etc.

I agree, but such an adapter has been made for Minolta Vectis APS film lenses, where the issues are similar. I would imagine there are more NX lenses around than Vectis ones, and they are certainly more interesting.

OK … maybe there's "hope", but the Vectis mount had a "back focus" of 36.00 mm, so bags of room for electronics etc., the back focus of the NX mount is somewhat less, so everything would be rather more cramped

Probably need to find a designer who's interested, get a quote per unit, then get a crowd-funding operation going … good luck

At least for Nikon Z an electronic adapter would be possible. There already exists one for Sony E to Nikon Z, which has a shorter flange distance than NX. But I don't think there is enough demand for such an adapter, even with Nikon still badly missing in the native DX lens department.

armin304 wrote:

At least for Nikon Z an electronic adapter would be possible. There already exists one for Sony E to Nikon Z, which has a shorter flange distance than NX. But I don't think there is enough demand for such an adapter, even with Nikon still badly missing in the native DX lens department.

There's certainly enough demand from me

Is it really that hard to connect the right wires? There is only a few connectors - iris up, iris down, focus in, focus out, and of course power for the motors/stabilizers...

I obviously have no idea what will be required to make such an adapter - but maybe someone could give it a shot with a 3D printer and see what happens

White Widow wrote:

armin304 wrote:

At least for Nikon Z an electronic adapter would be possible. There already exists one for Sony E to Nikon Z, which has a shorter flange distance than NX. But I don't think there is enough demand for such an adapter, even with Nikon still badly missing in the native DX lens department.

There's certainly enough demand from me

Is it really that hard to connect the right wires? There is only a few connectors - iris up, iris down, focus in, focus out, and of course power for the motors/stabilizers...

I obviously have no idea what will be required to make such an adapter - but maybe someone could give it a shot with a 3D printer and see what happens

There's far more to it than "just a few wires". It's all down to electronic signals, which are generated by the camera and responded to by the lens. These signals will be in a specific "language" or "protocol" and almost certainly differ from one manufacturer to the next.

So having ascertained which wire is used for which signals, the signals from the camera will need to be translated into a language that the lens "understands", then the response from the lens, to confirm (or otherwise) that the signal has been received, understood and acted upon needs to be re-translated so's the camera knows what's going on.

Therein lies the development time and the firmware updates for the adaptor for when things don't go according to plan for all lenses in all circumstances. So the developer will need to have access to, if not actually own, all lenses and possibly a range of cameras, so things can be tested and checked. There's also the potential scenario of differing camera or lens firmware levels causing different problems.

It's a long arduous task which is only likely to be engaged in by someone who has a vested interest, 'cos it's unlikely anyone would get funding to investigate a combination which may or may not ever work, let alone sell and make a profit!

There is a documentation of the NX lens protocol at http://blueringlab.com/2016/03/samsung-nx-mount-protocol-general/ but I also think it won't be commercially viable to create an adapter for any other mount system.

I guess you guys are right - it's unrealistic to hope that there will ever be an NX to other system adapter.

If there was at least a solution with limited functionality - maybe just iris but no autofocus - that would be something already. But it's probably just a pipe dream and I better get ready to dump the entire system at some point.

ArendjeF wrote:

LS,

3D printing Samsung NX

https://www.thingiverse.com/search?q=samsung+nx&dwh=635e11191f524ff&type=things&sort=relevant&page=1

Of those, the most useful in this context is probably this one:

Adapter for Samsung NX lenses to Sony E mount
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4793699

...but it's only really usable with manual lenses (such as the Samyang one it's shown attached to). With AF lenses you'll be stuck at full aperture, and a fixed distance (infinity if the adapter is the correct thickness) on most models.

HenrykC wrote:

The game changer would be a "manual" selector strapped to the adapter. The dumb adapter would give the required distance to the lens but could also include connections to the lens control terminals. The "manual" control unit with battery would be either strapped to the lens or part of the adapter. The control unit would supply the correct current for the required aperture and focus setting. Get cracking.

That's how some of the earliest electronically-coupled adapters worked! These days, everything's (more or less) internal, which is more convenient but presumably more difficult to develop.

HenrykC wrote:

I don`t think it is the same. The adapter would have dials for the required settings with indication of selected value. The required voltage is set on the dials for the corresponding aperture or focus distance. The camera would be used in manual mode only and not electrically connected to the lens.

"The required voltage"

it's all digital, no analog control like you mention

also, each lens sends it's ID back to the camera, which often has different "tweaks" for each lens. A common one is used to fix distortion, but there are many others

additionally, each lens has it's own firmware

https://matteverglade.com/lenses/nx-firmware/

White Widow wrote:

I guess you guys are right - it's unrealistic to hope that there will ever be an NX to other system adapter.

If there was at least a solution with limited functionality - maybe just iris but no autofocus - that would be something already. But it's probably just a pipe dream and I better get ready to dump the entire system at some point.

it's possible to use your own DIY fixed-iris:

"Heart Shaped Bokeh In Background"

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/56207087

HenrykC wrote:

Surely the final signal to the aperture motor (say) is just a dumb fixed value (perhaps voltage) to stay put at that value till the adapter dial is moved again. I am just guessing, not knowing anything how these things work.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/101689817@N04/

very nice photos! thanks for posting them /nt

Judging from what was posted above, it looks awfully complicated to make such an adapter. But it has been done for other lens/camera combinations before, so in principle, there may be an undiscovered/undeveloped solution out there.

Maybe it's just a matter of how viable the market is. Samsung NX has been on the market for a few years and there must be thousands of lenses in circulation. And many NX lenses were of stellar quality. I'd be willing to pay a proper price for an adapter like this...

White Widow wrote:

Judging from what was posted above, it looks awfully complicated to make such an adapter. But it has been done for other lens/camera combinations before, so in principle, there may be an undiscovered/undeveloped solution out there.

Maybe it's just a matter of how viable the market is. Samsung NX has been on the market for a few years and there must be thousands of lenses in circulation. And many NX lenses were of stellar quality. I'd be willing to pay a proper price for an adapter like this...

Samsung NX has been OFF the market for a good few years, and therein lies the issue!

The only (diminishing) market for an adaptor will be with those who already have an investment in the high-end lenses and would find it more attractive/economic to continue using those lenses with an appropriate adaptor, than to sell up and start afresh.

Whilst there maybe "thousands of lenses in circulation", how many of them are actually worth adapting, as opposed to simply using an alternative manufacturer, and how many of the owners of said lenses would be willing to pay for an adaptor to enable them to pay even more for a body to use it on

As I wrote above :- "... find a designer who's interested, get a quote per unit, then get a crowd-funding operation going … good luck "