Stu W
Well-known
Jeremy, I gave you a link to a seller on ebay who has the Zenitar in a Minolta mount. Email him and ask if the automatic function of the lens is retained or do you have to manually stop down to meter.
K
Kin Lau
Guest
JeremyLangford said:
The Rokkor 16/2.8 isn't cheap. You could easily find and buy a couple of Zenitars for the price of 1 Rokkor 16/2.8.
On my SRT101 and the Zenitar, even stopped down to f8 indoors, I can still see quite well. I shoot mine usually at f4.
I also like my Zenitar because I can move it between virtually all my cameras just using an adapter - except for the Nikons.
JeremyLangford
I'd really Leica Leica
Am I right about what the metering will be like though^?
JeremyLangford
I'd really Leica Leica
Stu W said:
I dont understand what you mean? What automatic function are you talking about that i might be missing?
ChrisN
Striving
He's referring to the automatic stopping-down of the aperture iris.
On the M42 lens, the iris is normally wide open, irrespective of the setting on the aperture ring. This allows the maximum light into the viewfinder and makes focusing easier as it also gives the least depth-of-field (and therefore the subjuect that is in focus appears sharp on the focusing screen).
When you trip the shutter in a camera designed for this lens, a mechanism in the camera pushes against a pin on the back of the lens and causes the iris to stop-down to the selected f-stop.
To allow this camera to accurately meter the exposure, you have to manually stop-down the lens to the selected f-stop - these cameras will have a control for this, and thus you have "stop-down metering" - the camera stops-down the lens iris to the selected f-stop so you can read the meter and set the right shutter speed and/or aperture.
Now, some of the M42 lenses have a button that allows you to lock the iris stopped down to the selected f-stop. That's what xayraa33 was referring to in post #2. With that extra control, you can just lock the iris stopped-down and the meter in the camera will read the light correctly, but of course the viewfinder will not be as bright. I have a Zenit Helios-44M (58mm f/2) that works like that, and I can even use it that way on my Pentax dSLR and the automatic exposure metering will work with the camera set in aperture-priority mode.
However, the Zenitar does not have that button to stop-down and lock the iris, but you can modify the lens either temporarily with tape as suggested by Kin Lau, or more permanently by getting inside the mechanicals of the lens and somehow jamming it closed. Depending on the lens this can sometimes be easily done.
On the M42 lens, the iris is normally wide open, irrespective of the setting on the aperture ring. This allows the maximum light into the viewfinder and makes focusing easier as it also gives the least depth-of-field (and therefore the subjuect that is in focus appears sharp on the focusing screen).
When you trip the shutter in a camera designed for this lens, a mechanism in the camera pushes against a pin on the back of the lens and causes the iris to stop-down to the selected f-stop.
To allow this camera to accurately meter the exposure, you have to manually stop-down the lens to the selected f-stop - these cameras will have a control for this, and thus you have "stop-down metering" - the camera stops-down the lens iris to the selected f-stop so you can read the meter and set the right shutter speed and/or aperture.
Now, some of the M42 lenses have a button that allows you to lock the iris stopped down to the selected f-stop. That's what xayraa33 was referring to in post #2. With that extra control, you can just lock the iris stopped-down and the meter in the camera will read the light correctly, but of course the viewfinder will not be as bright. I have a Zenit Helios-44M (58mm f/2) that works like that, and I can even use it that way on my Pentax dSLR and the automatic exposure metering will work with the camera set in aperture-priority mode.
However, the Zenitar does not have that button to stop-down and lock the iris, but you can modify the lens either temporarily with tape as suggested by Kin Lau, or more permanently by getting inside the mechanicals of the lens and somehow jamming it closed. Depending on the lens this can sometimes be easily done.
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K
Kin Lau
Guest
JeremyLangford said:
That is correct.
JeremyLangford
I'd really Leica Leica
Ok. Sorry about that. I finally understand what you guys have been trying to explain to me.
JeremyLangford
I'd really Leica Leica
Kin Lau said:
So having the pin taken out, would make the lens act just like the pin was taped down?
ChrisN
Striving
No - you would need to replace it with something that emulates the pin being pushed in.
K
Kin Lau
Guest
JeremyLangford said:
Mine came that way. I could probably take mine apart to see how it was done.
Here's an adapter that looks like it has a built-in collar that will depress that pin for you. http://cgi.ebay.ca/NEW-ADAPTER-M42-...ryZ30059QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem
JeremyLangford
I'd really Leica Leica
for those that have the lens.....Would an adapter like this keep the pin pressed in and have the lens working correctly for stop-down metering on a SRT-101?
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K
Kin Lau
Guest
Looks like it would... my M42->MD adapter doesn't have the extra piece of metal on the inside, but I do have a M42->EOS adapter that does have it, and that's exactly what it does.
JeremyLangford
I'd really Leica Leica
Kin Lau said:
thank you. looks like this lens isnt so bad after all.