Camera support for use of unchipped manual lenses

Abstract

As interchangeable-lens cameras evolve into tightly integrated electromechanical systems, it is becoming increasingly awkward to use optics that cannot electronically communicate with the camera body. Such lenses are commonly referred to as “unchipped” because they lack integrated circuitry (aka, chips) that could interface with the camera body. Despite the awkwardness, there is a large community of photographers who prefer to use manual lenses. Not only is there an increased demand for vintage lenses, but the variety of newly-manufactured fully-manual lenses has been growing dramatically in recent years. Although manual lenses will never provide all the features and performance of lenses created as integrated parts of a camera system, the current work explores a variety of methods by which digital cameras can significantly improve the usability of unchipped manual lenses.