In my previous post I mentioned adapters that allow you to couple virtually any mainstream lens to any camera. They work great with any lens that has an aperture ring however, many lenses do not have an aperture ring at all and the only way to change an aperture would be over your camera controls. There are a few options to solve this problem.
The most obvious one is to purchase an adapter that has an electronic communication between lens and the camera. In this case you have control over the lens functions straight from your camera. This is a very convenient, but also the most expensive option. Basic adapters of this type begin at about 110 $CAD (Neewer) and go all the way up to ~1,200 $CAD (Metabones). Although, many of these adapters act as a Speed Boosters, increasing the lens speed, the price can be too high for a beginner filmmakers.
Less expensive option would be an adapters equipped with an aperture ring. This type of adapter has its own aperture diaphragm, allowing camera operator to change aperture settings directly from adapter instead of from the lens. They are light, easy to mount and operate. Priced in the range between ~30 $CAD up to couple of hundred dollars depending on brand. This option might be the best if you want to stay on low side of the budget.
I would recommend doing some research about options I mentioned above. Video and photo equipment market is very competitive, and some brands can offer a model similar, but much cheaper than the one from an established competitor. Facebook Marketplace, Kijiji, pawn shops, would be another place to look for a deal.
My last option would be a bit crafty and only recommended when all other options are not available. If you have a basic adapter without any functions and controls, it is impossible to control aperture without an aperture ring. Looks like a dead end. Unless you have another camera that can change an aperture on your lens, as well as an ability to lock depth-of-field. In this case you can lock an aperture, remove the lens, and mount it on passive adapter of your main camera. This trick might work in a constant light conditions where you do not have to change an aperture. Of course, if you have time and patience you can do it repeatedly if you need to change aperture more than once.
This trick saved me once when my main lens with the F-stop=4 was not enough for filming in low light conditions. But we had a photographer with Canon who had a spare EF lens with F-stop=1.8, so I opened aperture at maximum on Canon, then fixed the aperture and mounted it on my Panasonic GH5 over EF to MFT passive adapter. And 1.8 aperture was exactly what I required for that project.
It is not a best option, because it requires a lot of extra steps, special equipment and a lucky star above your head, but works well as a last resort.
I only covered a tip of the iceberg in this post. Adapter is a very nice tool to have, because it delivers surprising results especially when you couple it with new camera and an old lens.
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