Broken Aperture?

S

shoook

Active member
Hey guys my grandpa gave me an old Canon FD 50mm 1.4 lens. It seems to be in fine condition but when I change the aperture I can't notice any difference in light and when i look directly into the lens I don't see anything move.

I'm not very familiar with lenses, how can I tell for sure if the aperture is working?
 
I don't no exactly about FD lenses, but with most SLR lenses you need to also be pressing in a lever or pin for the aperture to close. This is normally done by the camera when the shutter fires. This allows people to focus with the aperture open, only closing down the aperture when the picture is taken.
 
Yes, there is a small sliding lever on the back of the lens. Try sliding it around and seeing if the apature closes then...
 
Sliding the lever won't be enough I think. FD lenses needs to be engaged to a mount to have aperture control.
 
Old FD lenses (silver breechlock ring mount) don't actually need to be on a mount to have the aperture work after you push the lever until it clicks in place... but they do need to have the breechlock ring spun into the mounted position. Find the little pin near the indexing pin at the top of the lens (behind the breechlock ring, looking from the back) and press it in, and then the ring will spin.

The newer bayonet mount FD lenses do need to be on a camera. Or you can simply put a cap on the back, but then you can't reach the lever (which won't click into place) or see through the lens!

Duncan
 
I went through the same thing just weeks ago when I bought my fd lenses for my M2E. If you have the silver base breech lock style the pin will be able to lock into place so you can control the aperture. In the other case (the same style I have) you need to wedge a piece of something (toothpick or q-tip shaft) into the opening to keep the pin pushed forward. It sounds a little crazy but it works. Frobozz helped me out when I couldn't figure it out. Thanks again Frobozz.

Here's a link to a thread that might help better explain:

http://www.redrockmicro.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3285&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
 
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