Zenit TTL

[Anscojohn]

How can I see the depth of view in my Zenit;

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Gently push down the shutter release; but not so far as to release the shutter. ( Or just do this before you wind the film and tension the shutter.) This will stop the lens down to the shooting aperture. Although the image you see in the viewfinder shall darken, you can still look closely to see what is in focus and what is not. A good test for you is to ask someone to stand for a picture outside. Use the depth of field test to see if there are any telephone poles, etc. suddenly appearing in focus and "growing out of their head."

 

[srs5694]

Some M42 lenses also have auto/manual (A/M) switches. Moving that from the A setting to the M setting will stop down the lens, producing a depth-of-field preview. This has the advantage of not risking an accidental exposure -- but not all lenses have these switches.

 

[nick10]

Yes the Helios has this switch.Today I bought the battery for the meter.But it is 1.5V instead of 1.35V.Do you think it is a problem;

 

[mabman]

Yes the Helios has this switch.Today I bought the battery for the meter.But it is 1.5V instead of 1.35V.Do you think it is a problem;

The meter might be off a bit with the 1.5V. You can still get 1.35V batteries; they are zinc-air "hearing aid" batteries, available from many pharmacies and other electronics stores. Usually the "675" hearing aid battery model works in most older cameras. They don't last as long was the old mercury ones, but they're usually pretty inexpensive, so changing them more frequently isn't a big deal.

 

[katabatic]

Someone earlier recommended a Pentax 50mm f1.4 Takumar for the Zenit. Be VERY careful if you want to use this particular lens. I have the SMC version (the one with the extra pins/lugs on the back to support the full aperture metering on the SPF and ESII), and when I put it on my Zenit, the lens jammed and would not come off (a loud metallic 'clunk' when the lens was about 2/3 unscrewed). After about twenty minutes of pulling/pushing while unscrewing the lens, it somehow popped off, but I don't ever want to go through that again. OTOH, my 120 and 200mm Takumars and my 28mm Asanuma work with no problems, so it is, perhaps, the fact that the 50mm 1.4's rear element and surrounding metal stick out farther than on any other lenses I have. Just a thought....

 

[srs5694]

Concerning lens compatibility, some M42 lenses have extra pins that are designed to engage with non-standard features used on some lenses. Some Fuji lenses have a plastic pin on the aperture ring to enable open-aperture metering. This doesn't interfere with mounting the lens on non-Fuji cameras (or at least, I've successfully mounted my one such Fuji lens on my Zenit E), but I've heard that schemes used by some others do cause problems. I don't know if that was the source of the problem you report, katabatic, but it might be.

I've run into something that could be similar with K-mount lenses (or at least Tamron Adaptall adapters) intended for Ricoh cameras. These have little metal pins to provide an electrical connection between lens and body, but these contacts jam in screws for the lens mount of every non-Ricoh camera I use. The solution in this case is to use some clear tape to cover the offending screws. The pin doesn't engage with enough force to rip through the tape, so this does the trick.