Canon 7 and Series adapters

[pshinkaw]

I just acquired an Ednalite Series 6 filter adapter for my 50mm f1.8 Canon (Serenar) lens. The Canon uses an uncommon 40mm front thread size.

If you need one and have a chance to pick up Ednalite adapters, the number is "Ednalite 617"

This is a good way to fit your Canon rangefinder with filters and a lenshood. If you can't find a Series 6 lenshood, there is also a much more common Series 6 to Series 7 step-up adapter.

-Paul

[r-brian]

I recently went down to my local old-fashion camera store (where I happened to work for awhile) and rummaged thru the drawer of old filter adapters. Found two Series 6 adapters to fit my 50mm Industar 61, 40.5mm I think. One is an Ednalite #601. I already have a set of filters and a rubber collapsable hood. I need to decide if I want to keep both adapters or trade one.

Brian

[pshinkaw]

The 40.5mm is not the same as the 40mm. I think only the Canon's use the 40mm. There is also a 39.5, but I don't know which cameras/lenses utilize it.

The difficult part is figuring out the Ednalite part numbers. Without a guide, it is nearly impossible.

-Paul

[FrankS]

The adapters come in increments of 1 or 2 mm and rely on bending the metal tabs to customize the fit, I believe.

[bmattock]

It is true that push-on series adapters require bending metal tabs to fit them to a 40mm lens. However, there are/were genuine 40mm screw-on / series filter holders & lens hoods available. The afore-mentioned Ednalite 617 is one such beast (40mm to Series VI), and the Ednalite 705 goes from 40mm to Series VII. Canon also made a 40mm to Series VI adapter, which I have posted photos of here previously.

For some reason, people commonly confuse the Nikon, Olympus and a few others' 40.5mm filter size with the Canon 40mm size - they are not, of course, the same or interchangeable. Yet I have even had knowledgeable folks at good camera stores insist to me there was never such a thing as a 40mm filter size. Exasperating!

Karen Nakamura (www.photoethnography.com) has said that two Japanese companies, Kindai and Hansa, make the 40mm filters and hoods. I have no experience with those.

There is also a company in Great Britain, which I have posted a link to around here somewhere before, which will make filters and hoods and step-up adapters in special sizes for a small fee. I would also imagine that a local machine shop could knock something like that out in short order - it really is not that big of a deal, I wouldn't guess. Cut a bit off a piece of pipe, thread it at 40mm on one end and something more common on the other.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

[pshinkaw]

The Canon 40mm is a very fine pitch, finer I believe than the 40.5 mm that we are all so familiar with.

My Canon lens came with a 40mm Kenko UV filter. Chrome plated ring and much thinner than your everyday garden variety screw-in filter.

I set aside the Canon lens cap that came with my lens as too nice to lose. I replaced it with a black plastic Nikon cap with spring loaded buttons taken from a Nikkorex-8 movie camera (40.5mm) Since it spring loaded a little extra 0.5mm is not a problem.

The same lens cap was also supplied on Nikkor enlarging lenses. It is the best 40.5 mm cap I have been able to find.

-Paul

[pshinkaw]

This is an example of a superb lens cap.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=43479&item=3855096434&rd=1

-Paul

[FrankS]

Hey Paul, thanks! That link tweaked my memory and I checked my enlarging lenses for caps. The cap on my 50mm f2.8 Nikkor enarging lens fits the 40mm Canon filter that I have. (Stick a Canon lens with a Nikon cap on a Leica body for a real mish-mash of manufacturers.)