New EX3/Nikon adaptor. Whats Your Colour Of Choice?

[Steve Shovlar]

Hi Ned, now the reason Nikons are so popular is because they have kept the same mount for about the last 50 years, so all Nikon lenses will fit.

Trouble is the brand new Nikons don't have an apeture ring, which is really needed. So basically any old Nikons you have will work just fine.

Black it is going to be. Speaking to the anodisers, there's cosmetic anodised, and hard anodised, which is a totally different process. And you guessed it, hard anodised costs a lot more to do.

[Derek Reich]

you mentioned the possibility of a Canon EF mount earlier in this thread, and I wondered how that would work, since they do not have aperture rings either. however, have you considered making up a Canon FD mount?

[Steve Shovlar]

It would be a basic Canon mount, for use with canon lenses with Apeture rings. Once I have completed the Nikon moount I can move onto that.

[Paul Inglis]

The D lenses have aperture rings but the newer P lenses don't. All the lenses prior to the D series have aperture rings as far as I'm aware! Hope that helps clarify things a little!

[Mike Tapa]

I have a already designed a Canon FD to EX3, a PL to EX3 and am working on Canon EF (with electronic interface) to EX3

Prototypes on their way for testing soon.

I have ramped up production batches for my (the first) Nikon to EX3 in order to get the price down.

Mr Shovlar:
A word of warning.

I have been designing such equipment for 20 years and started my Ltd company 3 years ago with many hundreds of happy customers, this is my livelihood.
If this adaptor of yours bears ANY resemblance TO THE ONE YOU PURCHASED FROM ME,
rest assured, I will be seeking legal advice.

[Steve Shovlar]

Mike its nothing like yours I can tell you so no need to warn me of anything. You have made a nice adaptor no doubt about it. But mine is designed differently with genuine Nikon parts. Of course both ends are the same as one fits the EX3 and the other a nikon lens but the fittings are different as are the dimensions. Are you going to get onto Les Bosher and threaten him as well, because he has just announced he is making a batch.

All well moaning but an adaptor is an adaptor and the one Les Bosher is now bringing out will be similar to mine I guess. It's called business.

I remember a few years ago I was making a special hosepipe for caravans so they would have a permament supply without having to go and fill up the water butt all the time. Sold it on Ebay for a good profit. Until 2 others made exactly the same thing and sold it for half the price. That's business.

People see a place where they can make a bit of money and fill the spot.

I will be working on the Canon version as soon as the Nikon is launched, hopefully next week if all goes well.

[Mike Tapa]

I have known Les for a number of years.

Yes we do come up with similar designs but I dont have a problem with Les as he and I work independently.

"They are being made as I speak. Its taken a fair bit of work but we got it right straight away"

What work are you referring to? testing on your autocollimator and your test projector or just taking the measurements directly from mine?

What Les and I DONT do is to pass off someone else's hard work as their own.

If you had designed your adaptor from scratch, fair play, but miraculously coming up with one a few weeks after buying mine? .. thats just the lowest of the low.

I just hope these good people on here continue to support the "working man"

[Eric Gulbransen]

Not for nothing Steve, but wasn't this you less than a month ago?

Quote of Steve Shovlar from a post here on DVinfo dated January 15, 2009: " Seriously considering the Ex3 Nikon Adaptor, but the price is............well not cheap to say the least!

When I look on Ebay at those adaptors from Hong Kong for a fiver and compare, this adaptor seems extortionate in comparison. There's a Nikon adaptor from Hong Kong which is an extention tube. Has a similar Nikon mount and tube rather than a flange where the EX3 attaches, but is £4.99. Of course its not the same thing but not a lot different.

And its 57 times cheaper!

I understand the EX3 adaptor is of limited demand. I understand that MTS have to make a profit. I understand that no one is twisting my arm to buy it. But at £285 +VAT its Zacuto/VF Gadgets prices plus some extra.

Moan over. I want one but flippin' eck!!"


Pardon me Steve, but in 27 days you've gone from "moan"ing about spending a few hundred bucks for an MTF Nikon/EX3 adapter, to having already gone through funding/design/build/production/and now promotion of your new adapter line? In 27 days?

That my friend, is remarkable. Could you post a picture of your adapter here for us? I for one would love to see it.

[Steve Shovlar]

Originally Posted by Mike Tapa

I have known Les for a number of years.

Yes we do come up with similar designs but I dont have a problem with Les as he and I work independently.

"They are being made as I speak. Its taken a fair bit of work but we got it right straight away"

What work are you referring to? testing on your autocollimator and your test projector or just taking the measurements directly from mine?

What Les and I DONT do is to pass off someone else's hard work as their own.

If you had designed your adaptor from scratch, fair play, but miraculously coming up with one a few weeks after buying mine? .. thats just the lowest of the low.

I just hope these good people on here continue to support the "working man"

Mike, you are completely wrong with me. This is not the same as yours, which is a great bit of kit. The ends are the same but as with all adaptors, they are similar. Its like Letus accusing SG Pro of having a similar adaptor, because both look similar and do the same job.

If I had anything to hide I would certainly not use my real name on forums. I don't hide behind a handle because I don't need to.

Sure I get where you are coming from when you see someone else produce a bit of kit which does the same job. I have been there myself but thats life and that's business.

Like anyone else with a bit of business savvy, I see a gap and try to fill it.

Once my adaptor is back from the anodisers and ready for launch there will be pictures of it on my site for your perusal.

And then I can start making the Canon version.

[Steve Shovlar]

Originally Posted by Eric Gulbransen

Could you post a picture of your adapter here for us? I for one would love to see it.

You certainly shall next week. Considering I have access to CNC and milling machines I would have had this out earlier but for the CNC being fully booked.

And as I said earlier, Mike Tapa's adaptor is very good. But IMO far too expensive so I made my own with some aluminium and some genuine Nikon parts. Costed it up and realised I could offer it for a very keen price. I can't see what the problem is other than I am likely to be cheaper.

I guessed there would be some moans when I decided to make it, but as I have done nothing wrong and have noting to hide, well there's not a lot more I can say.

[Mike Tapa]

Originally Posted by Steve Shovlar

Mike, you are completely wrong with me. This is not the same as yours, which is a great bit of kit. The ends are the same but as with all adaptors, they are similar. Its like Letus accusing SG Pro of having a similar adaptor, because both look similar and do the same job.

If I had anything to hide I would certainly not use my real name on forums. I don't hide behind a handle because I don't need to.

Sure I get where you are coming from when you see someone else produce a bit of kit which does the same job. I have been there myself but thats life and that's business.

Like anyone else with a bit of business savvy, I see a gap and try to fill it.

Once my adaptor is back from the anodisers and ready for launch there will be pictures of it on my site for your perusal.

And then I can start making the Canon version.

And I understand what you are saying but what I find hard to stomach is that, although,you may be not hide behind an alias (like everyone else here) but don't have the decency to admit to everyone that you purchased my adaptor and basically copied it.

Like I said in an earlier post, what was this work you did to get it to work first time?
Did mine sit in a drawer and have no influence on your "design"?

Sorry, not business savvy, just a copycat

[Steve Shovlar]

It took me all of a couple of hours to design. There is so little to it. The Ex3 comes with an adaptor. I took the measurements from that for the camera end. the other end is a Nikon mount. So what is there to it? You are trying to say I measured yours? Why would I need to? I have all the measurements I would need at hand. I have the EX3 adaptor and I own several Nikon mounts anyway.

I have never denied I don't have yours. I needed one for a job. Yours is very well made, but I thought at the time it was extremely expensive.

What you are saying is I shouldn't make one? If I purchased a Letus and a Brevis 35mm adaptor, does that mean I am barred from making a 35mm adaptor? Because they all do the same thing.

[Alister Chapman]

Mike: If you feel your adapter is unique and has some unique or special features then you should have patented it.

Surely if anyone or any business was going to produce a product you would go out and buy similar products to see how others have done it. It's called research, it's not illegal or immoral, it just good business sense. Sure a direct copy is wrong, but finding back focus distances and measuring flange widths etc is not rocket science.

No one from VF gadgets started throwing accusations around when Jeff made his base plate that does exactly the same thing but is to a different design and this is not the place to accuse someone of stealing your ideas before you have even seen what he has done.

[Vincent Oliver]

Mike,

I think you should wait to see what Steve has produced and see if it infringess any of your Patents - I assume you do have a Patent on your product.

I don't think you are doing yourself any favours by publicly accusing someone of copying your design/product until you have at least seen it.

BTW. I don't hide behind an alias, nor do many other posters, please don't tar us all with the same brush.

I wonder if Sony is thinking about legal action against Kesington and Transcend for making a compatible card with their camera.

Good luck to you Mike and good luck Steve, may the best man win.

[Chris Hurd]

For those of you who have been following this thread, you'll notice that it was withdrawn from public view for a short while, and now it's been restored, minus a slew of inadvertent duplicate posts we suffered as the result of a forum glitch earlier in the day.

There are perhaps a few folks here who are still not fully aware of how the proceedings are conducted on this site. We pull threads from public view, edit them, and restore them on a regular basis, to preserve the clarity and flow of technical information. That is the goal. We're running a highly collaborative and orderly resource library here, not internet anarchy.

You can help with this process by using the "report post" function found to the left of every post on the forum. It sends an automated message to our moderators telling us the exact location of the issue (too many times I get an email saying "can you delete my post?" and I'm like "which one, exactly? we've got a million of 'em").

Please use the report post function and then step back and let us handle it... if you get in there and escalate the matter, you're just creating more work for us to do and more posts for us to pull, and that's how accounts get closed.

Finally, this nonsense accusing the original poster of acting in bad faith comes to a screeching halt and most definitely will not happen again. And now, back to our programming.