The aperture lever on this faulty Nikon FA does not stop down the lens when fired. So my plan is to use it for the 3 Leitz lenses from my wife's old Leicaflex set. By making a couple of modifications to the FA I have been able to get it to recognise these lenses as if they are Nikon AIS and work in all M, A, S & P modes.
I posted a Thread on fitting a stopper block inside the camera body which tells the FA the largest aperture setting of the lens. The FA uses this information for the S & P modes. (there was a url link here which no longer exists)
The next modification is to remove the small pin and spring next to the lens mount lock. This pin, when sitting up into a slot on the lens, tells the camera it has an AIS lens with a linear aperture lever which is also used in the S & P modes. I have reused the spring for the aperture hold button.
Leitax sell an "Almost Auto-Aperture" L/R-Nik adapter but for 92 Euro. http://www.leitax.com/conversion/leica/Auto-aperture/index.html But instead of this I made a hold open button that is simple and easy to use and looks quite okay on the camera.
The parts I used are a section of a 1mm ss fishing tackle clip with an eye end, the signal pin spring, very fine spring wire and a rubber button from an old TV remote. A slightly larger hole than the the tackle clip is drilled through the side of the F Mount and a corresponding hole through the L/R-Nik adapter, at the spot where the pin can catch the lens aperture arm when it is at the fully wide open position. The pin is held in place by attaching the micro thin wire to the end of the spring and running this through the hole and looping it back under the screw that holds the F mount. Once the screw is tightened hard down the end of the spring is held against the F mount. The other end of the spring runs up into the clip eye which has been slightly opened. The eye is then clamped together so trapping the top of the spring. Now the pin is held in position by the spring itself. The rubber button is hollowed out with a scalpel craft blade and pushed over the clip eye and spring eventually locking itself onto it.
When mounting or unmounting a lens, a word of caution is to just pull the button out slightly to ensure the end of the pin does not snag the lens mount.
Using the button requires that the correct aperture setting is established first. The aperture is dialled back to past F2.8 (widest) and the button pushed in. Then the lens is dialled back to the selected F stop and can be focused wide open. Just release the button before firing the shutter. The position of the button is quite ergonomic for use with the 2nd finger leaving the thumb and 1st finger to focus with.
This hold open button could be fitted to any old Nikon F mount camera. It doesn't have to be an expensive FA. This faulty FA only cost me $70AUD so it was worth tinkering with to make it useable.
I posted a Thread on fitting a stopper block inside the camera body which tells the FA the largest aperture setting of the lens. The FA uses this information for the S & P modes. (there was a url link here which no longer exists)
The next modification is to remove the small pin and spring next to the lens mount lock. This pin, when sitting up into a slot on the lens, tells the camera it has an AIS lens with a linear aperture lever which is also used in the S & P modes. I have reused the spring for the aperture hold button.
Leitax sell an "Almost Auto-Aperture" L/R-Nik adapter but for 92 Euro. http://www.leitax.com/conversion/leica/Auto-aperture/index.html But instead of this I made a hold open button that is simple and easy to use and looks quite okay on the camera.
The parts I used are a section of a 1mm ss fishing tackle clip with an eye end, the signal pin spring, very fine spring wire and a rubber button from an old TV remote. A slightly larger hole than the the tackle clip is drilled through the side of the F Mount and a corresponding hole through the L/R-Nik adapter, at the spot where the pin can catch the lens aperture arm when it is at the fully wide open position. The pin is held in place by attaching the micro thin wire to the end of the spring and running this through the hole and looping it back under the screw that holds the F mount. Once the screw is tightened hard down the end of the spring is held against the F mount. The other end of the spring runs up into the clip eye which has been slightly opened. The eye is then clamped together so trapping the top of the spring. Now the pin is held in position by the spring itself. The rubber button is hollowed out with a scalpel craft blade and pushed over the clip eye and spring eventually locking itself onto it.
When mounting or unmounting a lens, a word of caution is to just pull the button out slightly to ensure the end of the pin does not snag the lens mount.
Using the button requires that the correct aperture setting is established first. The aperture is dialled back to past F2.8 (widest) and the button pushed in. Then the lens is dialled back to the selected F stop and can be focused wide open. Just release the button before firing the shutter. The position of the button is quite ergonomic for use with the 2nd finger leaving the thumb and 1st finger to focus with.
This hold open button could be fitted to any old Nikon F mount camera. It doesn't have to be an expensive FA. This faulty FA only cost me $70AUD so it was worth tinkering with to make it useable.
