Christian Schonberger Posted July 19, 2016 Share Posted July 19, 2016 (edited) Hello all, Just received my Zenitar 16mm lens for my K-3. Not a huge wide angle, but exactly what I was looking for. Good enough for smaller spaces and run and gun. Much less barrel distortion than what I had expected. There is a spring loaded metal pin which must be pushed-in so the aperture/iris will work. Mounted on the K-3 it remains protruding and the aperture does not work. I am thinking about taping it over, using a small plastic sheet part that doesn't interfere with the rotating mirror. I am afraid that the gaffer tape will come off inside the camera though - causing irreparable damage. Any suggestions how to keep the pin pushed in securely will be highly appreciated. Thanks in advance, Christian Edited July 19, 2016 by Christian Schonberger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Aapo Lettinen Posted July 19, 2016 Premium Member Share Posted July 19, 2016 very thin steel disc/spacer under the rear screw on filter would be nice for that, I don't know if it would affect back focus too much though. would probably be custom made stuff so glue+tape would be much easier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark A. Rapp Posted July 19, 2016 Share Posted July 19, 2016 Hi Christian, I just got my K3, so I've been doing a lot of research on the camera. I'd read here that you can push the pin up into the barrel and off-set it a millimeter or two so that the pin rests on the edge of the hole. Tell us if this works, or if you find another solution. Right now I'm only using the stock zoom, but I'm planning on buying some primes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Schonberger Posted July 19, 2016 Author Share Posted July 19, 2016 (edited) very thin steel disc/spacer under the rear screw on filter would be nice for that, I don't know if it would affect back focus too much though. would probably be custom made stuff so glue+tape would be much easier Thanks. Yep. I have some thick styrene sheet (which I even can stack for added strength) used for miniature and architecture models. Guess I'll cut out a big enough form that fits and distributes the forces, so I can use gaffer tape. I don't want to use any super glue or anything that damages the lens itself. Yes: a steel disc sounds good, but as you said: it would affect the height of the rear screw-on filter, which needs to be screwed down all the way. There must always be one in place, even the clear glass one. Thanks for the reply. Edited July 19, 2016 by Christian Schonberger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Schonberger Posted July 19, 2016 Author Share Posted July 19, 2016 Hi Christian, I just got my K3, so I've been doing a lot of research on the camera. I'd read here that you can push the pin up into the barrel and off-set it a millimeter or two so that the pin rests on the edge of the hole. Tell us if this works, or if you find another solution. Right now I'm only using the stock zoom, but I'm planning on buying some primes. Hmm, that sounds great - will try that. The 16mm Zenitar is an excellent wide® angle lens allowing to go closer to the subject and do some nice, smooth hand held very few barrel distortion. I would have bought the Peleng 8mm but the barrel distortion is just too much. It is O.K. (I think) for static shots and slow tracking along the optical axis. Things look weird and u-cinematic (for my taste) when doing pans, tilts and steacam style hand held, orbiting the subject. The Zenitar is a very good compromise. Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Schonberger Posted July 19, 2016 Author Share Posted July 19, 2016 (edited) Hi Christian, I just got my K3, so I've been doing a lot of research on the camera. I'd read here that you can push the pin up into the barrel and off-set it a millimeter or two so that the pin rests on the edge of the hole. Tell us if this works, or if you find another solution. Right now I'm only using the stock zoom, but I'm planning on buying some primes. Hi again, Just tried to push in the pin and put it slightly to the side: didn't work. I tried to push it in gently to get it back out again: bang: it fell inside the lens. Fortunately I got some nice watchmaker tools and I removed the three screws. I got it: the pin activates a spring loaded side lever (thin black steel) that acts on an inside pin (spring loaded itself, and that spring got loose, but I managed to put it back in place with watchmaker tweezers). The iris/aperture works perfectly on its own. So I removed the pin/lever mechanism on the plastic part that holds the inside filters, placed back the two screws (to minimize any open holes - and assembled everything back again: voilá: works perfectly! Not for the faint of heart, but a K-3 owner needs to be at least some sort of fine mechanic. Anyone who can afford a skilled camera technician wouldn't buy a K-3 in the first place :-) Edited July 19, 2016 by Christian Schonberger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Schonberger Posted July 19, 2016 Author Share Posted July 19, 2016 O.K. here is a photo of how I did it. Below are the two parts (silver colored pin and spring loaded mechanism to release the aperture/iris mechanism when pushed-in) that I simply removed. Note on right side: I put the two screws back in to minimize numer of unnecessary holes in the lens. It works 100%. Hope this helps. Lets' see how the Zenitar performs. Best, Christian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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