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OM mount Vivitar 400mm f5.6 - should this lever move?
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 7:54 am    Post subject: OM mount Vivitar 400mm f5.6 - should this lever move? Reply with quote
I bought this lens cheap, the shop assistant thought it was "broken", but couldn't remember what was wrong with it. They didn't want to sell it, but agreed when it worked ok on my Olympus E-520.

But now that I look closely at it, I see that what appears to be an auto/manual switch near the mount has a little bit missing, and it won't move.

I'm not familiar with this lens or any OM stuff. Could someone please explain how it's supposed to move? It's the thing at the top in the photo, with the red zero on it. You can see where the plastic is broken off next to the metal thing sticking out of it, leaving a screw half exposed. I'm guessing I'm supposed to push the metal thing in, then turn the whole knurled part that it's screwed to.



The tab sticking out of the mount on the right of the photo is what I must move to activate the aperture setting. What 's the one on the left? It never moves. I'm guessing that it's supposed to tell the camera what the aperture is set to. If it never moves, it is jammed or something?

If that's what's "broken" about it, then I'm happy, I don't think it will affect my use of it much. But I was hoping I could use it to switch between wide open and the aperture I've set, like I can do on another lens I have. I'm wondering if it's worth trying to fix it.


PostPosted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 8:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
it's a T4 mount I think have a look here 3/4s down the page.
http://www.vermontel.net/~wsalati/CasualCollector/t4_for_two.htm

The O=open and L=lock you should be able to remove the mount by sliding to the "O" position


PostPosted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 9:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
T4, ok, thanks, I've never seen one before. I'm wondering if it's jammed. If it was, it might explain the lost paint on the knurling of the adapter, where someone has been trying to force it off.

Never mind, I don't need to remove it to fit an OM to 4/3 adapter. But just out of interest, do T4 to 4/3 adapters exist? I couldn't see any on eBay.


PostPosted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 11:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
The T4 and TX mounts existed way before digital cameras, before autofocus, and the T4 at the dawn of exposure automation becoming common - the TX supports the early auto exposure cameras.

So no 4/3 T4 mount.

To open and close the mount - push the metal tab in and rotate towards "O" to unlock, to lock it just ratchets. The main bit is to line up the aperture tab/prong inside - there's an arrow to help with that. I have photos and I think I may even have scanned instructions, posted here and available on the flickr brochures in my sig.


PostPosted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 12:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Nesster wrote:
The T4 and TX mounts existed way before digital cameras, before autofocus, and the T4 at the dawn of exposure automation becoming common - the TX supports the early auto exposure cameras.

So no 4/3 T4 mount.

I understand that no such adapters would have existed back then, but I don't understand why there seem to be no old T4 adapters for sale at all on eBay. Surely there are people with old adapters wanting to sell them to those people who have bought a T4 lens and need a different type of adapter. Say, for example, I wanted to use this lens on an M42 camera, surely a T4 adapter for that once existed.

This is only an academic question, I don't need a different adapter.


PostPosted: Sat Oct 31, 2009 1:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Nesster wrote:
To open and close the mount - push the metal tab in and rotate towards "O" to unlock, to lock it just ratchets. The main bit is to line up the aperture tab/prong inside - there's an arrow to help with that. I have photos and I think I may even have scanned instructions, posted here and available on the flickr brochures in my sig.

Thank you very much. I was trying to turn the adapter itself, I didn't realise there was a locking ring. It popped off easily when I did it right.

And yes, the prong had not been aligned before fitting the adapter. Now that I've fitted it properly, the tab moves when I change the aperture. This must be why they thought it was broken.

Interesting that these quite knowledgeable staff did not even seem to realise it had an adapter on it. Experience with these things must be becoming rare.
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