What to expect#
Aperture control: these are mechanical lenses with aperture rings — set the aperture on the lens and shoot in aperture-priority or manual.
Focus: use focus peaking and magnification in the viewfinder. Exposure metering works normally because the camera meters through the lens at working aperture.
Crop factor: on a 2.7× crop Nikon 1 (CX) body a 50 mm M42 screw mount lens frames like 135 mm. A focal reducer (“speed booster”) can bring back some width and gain about a stop of light.
M42 screw mount lenses you could adapt#
- Laowa 15mm F/4 Wide Angle Macro
- Pentax SMC Takumar 50mm f/1.4
- Pentax Super-Multi-Coated Takumar 400mm f/5.6
- Pentax Super-Takumar 50mm f/1.4
- Pentax Super-Takumar 55mm f/1.8
- Pentax smc Pentax Takumar 135mm f/2.5 (V2/43812)
- Tokina RMC Tokina 28mm f/2.8
- Tokina TELE-AUTO 135mm f/2.8
- Voigtländer Color-Ultron 50mm f/1.8
- Zeiss Carl Zeiss Jena 1Q Biotar 1:2 f=58mm T
- Zeiss Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 58mm f/2
- Zeiss Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 20mm f/4
- Zeiss Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 35mm f/2.4
- Zeiss Carl Zeiss Jena Pancolar 50mm f/1.8
- Zeiss Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 135mm f/3.5
- Zeiss Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 50mm f/2.8
- Zeiss Carl Zeiss Jena Triotar-v2 135mm f/4
Nikon 1 (CX) cameras#
- Nikon 1 J5 2015
- Nikon 1 V3 2014
- Nikon 1 S2 2014
- Nikon 1 J4 2014
- Nikon 1 AW1 2013
- Nikon 1 S1 2013
- Nikon 1 J3 2013
- Nikon 1 V2 2012
- Nikon 1 J2 2012
- Nikon 1 V1 2011
- Nikon 1 J1 2011
Other systems for M42 screw mount lenses#
Frequently asked questions#
Will M42 screw mount lenses autofocus on Nikon 1 (CX)?
No — adapted lenses are manual focus on this combination.
Does a M42 screw mount to Nikon 1 (CX) adapter affect image quality?
A glass-free adapter is just a precisely machined spacer, so image quality is unchanged when it is built to the right thickness. Cheap adapters can be slightly too thin or thick, which shifts the infinity mark.
Last updated October 03, 2026 · How we calculate · Sources