Has anyone used a Zenitar 16mm f/2.8 on a Minolta body?

JeremyLangford

JeremyLangford

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I was thinking about purchasing a Zenitar 16mm f/2.8 fisheye lens for christmas to go on my Minolta SRT-101 body.

But after researching it some, I don't think that the lens is made with a Minolta mount, but instead would have to be used with an adapter, which would make it impossible for my body to know what aperture I am using, and so I wouldn't be able to use my lightmeter very easily.

Can anyone confirm this for me or tell me this is wrong?

,thanks
 
I used a Zenitar on an m42 Praktica, the lens is not bad for the price.
with an adapter on the Minolta, the auto stop down mechanisim would not work ,and to boot there is no manual stop down setting lever on the lens.
the good news is m42 SLR bodies are cheap to buy.
 
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Ok. I have confirmed that using a Zenitar 16mm f/2.8 on my Minolta SRT-101 will require stop-down metering. I think I understand what stop-down metering is.

Correct me if Im wrong but the stop-down metering wont even be noticable when I have my lens wide open (f/2.8) right?

The only thing that will be different is when I take down my aperture and the viewfinder will get darker (just like the DOF-preview is on) but the the lightmeter reading will still be accurate due to less light coming in.
 
the problem is the aperture will not stop down on this lens as there is nothing acting on the stop down pin of the 16mm Zenitar when used on the Minolta SRT 101 with the lens mount adapter.
you cannot even set the lens on manual stop down like you can most Takumar and Pentacon m42 screwmount lenses.
 
Jeremy, the lens is more a novelty and at the price I don't think you can go wrong. Just make sure that an adapter from m42 to Minolta is available. If so you are good to go. Stop down metering isn't the worst thing in the world. You'll get the feel for it. All these people with rangefinder cameras manage with a handheld meter. Stu
 
xayraa33 said:
the problem is the aperture will not stop down on this lens as there is nothing acting on the stop down pin of the 16mm Zenitar when used on the Minolta SRT 101 with the lens mount adapter.
you cannot even set the lens on manual stop down like you can most Takumar and Pentacon m42 screwmount lenses.
Click to expand...

So is what i said correct? Or is there no lightmeter at all anymore?
 
Either use an adapter that pushes down the pin or tape it down. It's not that hard.
 
trust me, I have the 16mm Zenitar lens in m42 mount, a Minolta SRT 101 body, and a M42 to MD mount adapter right here in front of me.
unless you can figure out a way to hold down the aperture stop, the lens will always shoot at f2.8.
and even so, looking at the back of the lens and inside the Minolta body, screwing on the lens with the pin extended might cause some damage to both the mechanics of the lens and or the camera.
 
xayraa33 said:
unless you can figure out a way to hold down the aperture stop, the lens will always shoot at f2.8.
Click to expand...

Like I said.... tape it down.

I have the same combo as well, except my Zenitar already had the pin removed, so it works in M mode only.
 
Tape will work in a pinch but it is not reliable.
a more robust method for long term use with this lens in M42 is to buy a
one of the many SLR bodies in M42 .
you will have full functions,and
they are practically giving these away.
thats what I did.
 
xayraa33 said:
trust me, I have the 16mm Zenitar lens in m42 mount, a Minolta SRT 101 body, and a M42 to MD mount adapter right here in front of me.
unless you can figure out a way to hold down the aperture stop, the lens will always shoot at f2.8.
and even so, looking at the back of the lens and inside the Minolta body, screwing on the lens with the pin extended might cause some damage to both the mechanics of the lens and or the camera.
Click to expand...

So are you saying that there is no way to change the aperture?

Im sorry I am having a hard time understanding this. Could you just tell me what will be different about using that lens rather than the Rokkor 50mm f/1.4 I use now?
 
the Rokkor has full aperture communication to the camera's built in meter with no need to stop down the lens aperture to do so.
and the Rokkor also automatically stops down to the chosen f stop opening as you make an exposure and the aperture blades return to fully open after the exposure to give you a bright easy to focus finder.
the Zenitar will not stop down on the Minolta and there is no provision to do so on the lens body, unless you hold down the pin with duct tape at the rear of the Zenitar before you mount it to the Minolta, now the lens will behave like a lens on a rangefinder camera, the physical f stop will match what is chosen on the aperture ring.
like I said before, I am not a big fan of taping anything.
 
xayraa33 said:
the Rokkor has full aperture communication to the camera's built in meter with no need to stop down the lens aperture to do so.
and the Rokkor also automatically stops down to the chosen f stop opening as you make an exposure and the aperture blades return to fully open after the exposure to give you a bright easy to focus finder.
the Zenitar will not stop down on the Minolta and there is no provision to do so on the lens body, unless you hold down the pin with duct tape at the rear of the Zenitar before you mount it to the Minolta, now the lens will behave like a lens on a rangefinder camera, the physical f stop will match what is chosen on the aperture ring.
like I said before, I am not a big fan of taping anything.
Click to expand...

Ok. So there is something on the Zenitar that keeps the aperture from changing, but I can tape it down and then it will change?

And then after I do that, it will just be like shooting with depth of field preview on all the time, and the lightmeter should still work fine?
 
JeremyLangford said:
Ok. So there is something on the Zenitar that keeps the aperture from changing, but I can tape it down and then it will change?

And then after I do that, it will just be like shooting with depth of field preview on all the time, and the lightmeter should still work fine?
Click to expand...

That's it.
 
Kin Lau said:
That's it.
Click to expand...

Ok. So I do not want to buy this lens now. I am going to try and find a Rokkor 16mm f/2.8.

Thank you for explaing it to me though. Im glad I didnt buy it, expecting to have it work just like my 50mm.
 
Zenitar Works on My Pentaxes

Zenitar Works on My Pentaxes

I don't know why stop-down metering is such a big issue...match-needle is what most folks grew up with on SLRs.

But the suggestion to buy an M42-mount body's not far off the mark. I've used my Zenitar-16 with great success on two KA-mount Pentax digital SLRs.

And I agree with the poster above who spoke of the value of this lens. It is a hidden jewel! For the money it is one of the best buys out there. It lends itself to all kinds of creative uses. And don't think of it just as a semi-fisheye...when aimed properly it behaves very much like a rectilinear extreme wide-angle.

dc3
 
yes the light meter will still work.
but if the tape comes off and the pin extents , you might run into some problems taking off the lens as I mentioned in the above threads.
I solved this problem by buying a ten dollar M42 Praktica LTL body at a camera show and use it as a dedicated body for the 16mm Zenitar lens.
the lens is that good and worth the effort.
 
All stop metering means is that the aperture wont stay wide open until the picture is taken right? And so the light-meter can still work because instead of taking the reading from what the selected aperture is, it just sees that less light is coming in. Right?
 
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