Adapter review: The Fittings4you Exakta lens to Canon EOS camera adapter

The adapter

This review is about the Fittings4you Exakta lens mount to Canon EOS camera adapter. Now, I usually don't review adapters but I made an exception here, there are a few thing one needs to know before ordering an Exakta lens mount to Canon EOS camera adapter. My adapter is manufactured by Fittings4you but I suspect that my experiences apply to all brands.

The adapter fitted on the Oreston 50mm f/1.8

Specifications

Adapter:               Fittings4you Exakta lens mount to Canon EOS camera adapter

Camera mount:     Canon EF

Lens mount:          Exakta

Ihagee, the manufacturer of the Exakta cameras, never built lenses for their cameras. Manufacturers such as Meyer-Optik Görlitz, Carl Zeiss Jena, Schneider-Kreuznach and Isco Göttingen (to name just a few) were responsible for the construction of lenses with the Exakta mount. These manufacturers each built their own 'version' of the Exakta mount and this is important to know when using such an adapter. I found that my Meyer-Optik Görlitz lenses fit this adapter perfectly, however my Carl Zeiss Jena lenses simply won't fit. 

Another shot of the Oreston

Fitting the adapter on any kind of EOS camera is simple enough, I've tried several film and digital Canon EOS bodies and they all fit perfectly. There is no play whatsoever. However, there are a few practical issues when using Exakta mount lenses on a Canon EOS body. 

1. When using Meyer-Optik Görlitz lenses I found that when shooting with a film of full frame digital camera the mirror will not return to the 'down' position after taking a shot. I have not been able to test this with the Carl Zeiss Jena lenses I own since they won't fit this adapter but I would assume that this would be the case with any other brand too. A digital EOS with an EF-S mount has no such problems.

2. Exakta mount lenses usually come in two variants, those with and without an aperture coupling device that protrudes from the lens. The design of the built-in flash on the EOS xxD, xxxD and xxxxD bodies prohibits the use of lenses fitted with this device as there is simply no room to fit and to turn the lens. The built-in flash protrudes too far from the camera body. Lenses without this device work without problems.

Shooting

Unhappy leaves (Lydith 30mm f/3.5)

On my Canon EOS 90D the adapter fits snugly. I've been taking shots using the Meyer-Optik Görlitz Lydith 30mm f/3.5 and Oreston 50mm f/1.8. The fit of both lenses is good, no play whatsoever. This adapter will allow me to get to know these lenses a lot better and that is a big plus. Just too bad that I cannot use them on my full frame camera. But when factoring in the limits you can have a lot of fun with these old lenses on your Canon EOS camera with an APS-C (crop) sensor.