Why does nobody talk about buying Chinese lens board adapters I got burned for $80

I picked up a set of three lens board adapters off that big auction site for about 80 bucks last month. They were supposed to let me mount Mamiya lenses on a Toyo 4x5. First shoot, two of them just snapped the retaining ring threads right off. Cheap pot metal I guess. Lost a whole day of studio work. Anyone else had bad luck with cheap adapters from overseas?

3 comments

3 Comments

norathomas2mo ago

Wait, wasn't the Mamiya board a slightly different shape than Toyo's hole pattern? I remember reading that those adapters have super thin walls near the screw holes which is why they crack so easy, not just bad metal. Probably better off just buying a proper Toyo board and having a machinist drill new holes for your lens.

amy1542mo ago

My circa 2017 purchase of three Chinese adapters cost me about 40 bucks, and I still have the scars to show for it. First time I used one, the whole thing just sort of crunched and split right down the middle like a cheap cracker. I guess I learned the hard way that sometimes you really do get what you pay for, especially with metal parts that hold expensive glass. Now I just keep them in a drawer as a reminder of my own cheapness and laugh at myself every time I see them.

paulschmidt1mo ago

@norathomas brings up a good point about the wall thickness. Those Chinese adapters are often just milled from cheap stock with no regard for where the stress points are. I had a similar experience with a Mamiya-to-Toyo adapter where the flange actually bent after mounting a 210mm lens. My advice is to check the thickness around the screw holes with a caliper before buying anything, anything under 1.5mm is asking for trouble, and your glass deserves better than that.