M42 lens on Nikon F601M

Agulliver · Dec 13, 2018

So I have a few M42 lenses and a nice adapter to attach them to Nikon bodies. My CZJ Tessar 50mm has a setting which allows the aperture blades always to close when I turn the ring.

However my Sirius Glass 28-200 zoom, quite a nice lens and sharper than the Tamron I had been using with the F601M, doesn't. There's nothing to push the pin in either...so I'm kind of stuck at f4. Is there some way to override the pin and use all available apertures with this adapter other than something drastic like gluing it down?

AgX · Dec 13, 2018

There is a variety of automatic diaphragm principles applied at M42 lenses. Some indeed are automatic only. To stop these down one needs the respective actuator at the camera.
Maybe there is an adapter with a respective rim, pushing-in that pin

Alternative approaches
-) bent the pin a little bit then push it into its hole, if you got it right it will stay there. A fellow here even re-did this and could use the lens as usual again.
-) take a common adapter and cement to it such rim, maybe a thin piece from a tube or a ring cut out of a sheet

neilt3 · Dec 13, 2018

You can adapt the lens in a way that is reversible without messing about with glue .
You need a bit of plastic tube , the plastic tube of a cotton bud ( Q-Tip etc) is ideal .
Cut a bit about 3 or 4mm long , you'll need to check this : it's as long as however far the pin pushes in in normal use .

Carefully unscrew the mount fixing screws of the lens .
Lift the mount off .
Put the newly cut tube over the aperture operating pin .
Put the mount back on and put the screws back in .

Easy as that , takes a couple of minutes to do , lens works the same as if permanently in stop down mode .
Aperture is now always at the selected aperture .

If you come to sell the lens or want to use it on an M42 camera , take the mount off , remove the plastic tube , reassemble and it back to standard .

bernard_L · Dec 13, 2018

So I have a few M42 lenses and a nice adapter to attach them to Nikon bodies.

And you can focus to infinity? The Nikon register distance (46.50 mm) is larger than M42 (45.46 mm). Or, the adapter has some glass inside?

Agulliver · Dec 14, 2018

Yes, the adapter has glass...I've tested it with two lenses with a digital body (CZJ Tessar 50mm and Sirius Glass 28-200) and the infinity focus is fine, all functions seem great apart from the fact that the Sirius lens can't be manually forced to stop down.

blockend · Dec 14, 2018

The F601M was a strange beast, I didn't know anyone else on Photrio owned one. For the uninitiated it was a manual focus version of the F601, but required Nikon's AF lenses to provide automation! A nice camera let down by a rear door latch that would disgrace a Christmas cracker toy. Most people went for the F601 that was similarly hamstrung by the door, but at least provided AF.

choiliefan · Dec 15, 2018

Hamstrung by the door latch and that infernally expensive battery.

Agulliver · Feb 2, 2019

The battery isn't so bad...its now used in common vaping devices so the price has come right down. I discovered this last year when looking online for the best deal. I ended up buying a new battery from an online vape shop!

However the back door latch is indeed it's achilles heel. Mine finally broke while I was photographing Funchal Carnival on the island of Madeira almost 12 months ago. I was standing atop a low wall to get a good view, someone jostled me and I dropped the camera into a flower bed. At least it didn't fall on the concrete. Duct tape does work as a temporary fix!

ic-racer · Feb 2, 2019

Why not a Nikon mount lens?

George Mann · Feb 3, 2019

They have been making a metal replacement hinge for this camera that people sell on eBay.

Agulliver · Feb 10, 2019

I've not come across such a well priced Nikon mount lens in the UK. But yes, if that had been around when I bought the Sirius, I might have bitten.

M42 lens on Nikon F601M

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