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01-26-2013, 08:38 AM   #1
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Q accessory NOT worth it!

Just a word of warning for the Kiwi K to Q adapter. Got one yesterday, and after using it for maybe an hour today with the M50/1.4 it started to wobble and then fell apart! The front lens mount, aperture ring and rear part separated... So I recommend to stay away from this one.

01-26-2013, 08:49 AM   #2
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QuoteOriginally posted by pero Quote
Just a word of warning for the Kiwi K to Q adapter. Got one yesterday, and after using it for maybe an hour today with the M50/1.4 it started to wobble and then fell apart! The front lens mount, aperture ring and rear part separated... So I recommend to stay away from this one.
Check for a loose screw or a missing screw. That happened to me with a Fotodiox adapter that I bought. It was a loose screw. Once I tightened it up it was good. Two years later and it's still good.
01-26-2013, 09:27 AM   #3
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Maybe it was a loose screw, but I'm not going to look for it. It shouldn't fall apart after an hours use, no matter what the cause. I've alredy contacted the seller demanding a refund.
01-26-2013, 10:28 AM   #4
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Sounds brutal! I haven't experienced anything like that with mine but I will check the screws now. Do you also fin the aperture mechanism to very inaccurate?

01-26-2013, 10:59 AM   #5
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QuoteOriginally posted by VisualDarkness Quote
Sounds brutal! I haven't experienced anything like that with mine but I will check the screws now. Do you also fin the aperture mechanism to very inaccurate?
I didn't have much time to use it! I just noticed that it has a very short throw, so I guess exact settings are tricky. But I used the aperture ring on the lens instead.
01-26-2013, 11:44 AM   #6
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This is a cheap Chinese adapter, is it not? The QC on any of them is dubious at best. My K to m43 adapter had a very tight lens mount and when I contacted the seller about this, they told me to gently squeeze the mounting tabs on the adapter with a pair of pliers. I removed the chrome portion of the adapter to do so, I found metal filings from the machining process lodged in the gaps. The scary part is that these brass needles could eventually end up inside the camera where they can do some serious damage to the sensor or the rear element of the lens.
01-26-2013, 04:04 PM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by pero Quote
Just a word of warning for the Kiwi K to Q adapter. Got one yesterday, and after using it for maybe an hour today with the M50/1.4 it started to wobble and then fell apart! The front lens mount, aperture ring and rear part separated... So I recommend to stay away from this one.
Sorry to hear. On the same note, has anyone had bad experiences with any C-Mount > Pentax Q adapters? I ordered the one from adorama and one from amazon, both in the mail. Will report back if there are any problems.

01-31-2013, 02:52 AM   #8
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A follow up to my OP. I returned the adapter to the seller who examined it and found that none of the screws securing the different parts together were fastened. He seemed sincerely surprised at this and said he'd never seen it before. Apart from this there was nothing wrong with it according to him. So he offered me money back or a new one checked by him personally (haven't decided yet).

Just wanted to forward this info to give a balanced, neutral view of this in case anyone is considering the KIWI adapter. I guess I was just unlucky with my copy.

Oh and by the way I also found that I couldn't use the quick plate for my Manfrotto tripod/ball head with this adapter (quick plate attached to camera of course, there's no tripod ring on the adapter). The adapter "hits" the front end of the quickplate. Don't know if this is a general thing or specific to this ball head/quick plate. But the adapter has a bit different shape to the other third party ones I've seen.
01-31-2013, 03:20 AM   #9
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I would get an adapter with a longer throw for the aperture ring, apart from that I find the KIWI to be decent.
01-31-2013, 02:53 PM   #10
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QuoteOriginally posted by excanonfd Quote
This is a cheap Chinese adapter, is it not? The QC on any of them is dubious at best. My K to m43 adapter had a very tight lens mount and when I contacted the seller about this, they told me to gently squeeze the mounting tabs on the adapter with a pair of pliers. I removed the chrome portion of the adapter to do so, I found metal filings from the machining process lodged in the gaps. The scary part is that these brass needles could eventually end up inside the camera where they can do some serious damage to the sensor or the rear element of the lens.
The first thing I do with any cheap adapter is take it all apart, clean it and then put it securely back together. That's the price to be paid for buy something so cheap. You can't expect much for $5-$10. I'm actually surprised they can even sell something this cheap at all. It's not particularly high volume. I think of these adapters as DIY. Kind of like a kitcar. It'll get you most of the way there, the rest is up to you.
01-31-2013, 04:22 PM   #11
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QuoteOriginally posted by lenshoarder Quote
The first thing I do with any cheap adapter is take it all apart, clean it and then put it securely back together. That's the price to be paid for buy something so cheap. You can't expect much for $5-$10. I'm actually surprised they can even sell something this cheap at all. It's not particularly high volume. I think of these adapters as DIY. Kind of like a kitcar. It'll get you most of the way there, the rest is up to you.
Actually it cost around $70, not $5-10. I've never seen an adapter for $10. If it had cost that little I wouldn't even have bothered to post about it, I would just have trashed it.
02-01-2013, 03:09 AM   #12
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Yeah, it's too expensive to fail like that och guess what? My adapter just failed too but luckily I noticed it before it actually broke in two pieces. To have either my Da*300, Q or my macro fall to the ground would have been brutal.

I made a short clip where I show it, sorry for the bad unprepared Swenglish though.
02-01-2013, 04:32 AM   #13
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Yep, mine had focussing troubles before falling apart too. I guess you could just tighten the screws and get it to work again. I'm not sure but I think you have to unscrew the front silver ring and dismantle it and below you'll find three screws holding the front and rear parts of the adapter together.

But the question is how long before they turn loose again, and why do they loosen up? Maybe it will work if you just tighten them, but I'd keep sharp eye on how it behaves. Like you say, it would be a nightmare to drop a lens because of this (happened to me once with a cheap tele converter - thank god it was a rather cheap lens too, but I was still mad as hell).
02-01-2013, 05:12 AM   #14
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I screwed it back together now and it feels solid again. The problem is that there is no real locking of the screws and the screw out too easy despite tightening. I think I will take it apart again and apply some strong loctite to see if it works better.
02-03-2013, 07:09 PM   #15
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Best keep an eye on the Kiwis, check them before using.
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