Nikon lens STUCK ! Help!

EDV

EDV

Well-known member
Hello,

While trying to mount the Nikon Lens to my SGBlade the Nikon Lens got
stuck!! I was turning it around as it's supposed to, waiting for the
click but it just wouldn't click! so I kept turning the lens until it
just wouldn't move, and now the lens appears to be stuck, won't move
clockwise or anti-clockwise. What can I do!!!??? I don't want to break
or damage my valuable lens, but it's just totally stuck!!

If I don't find a solution to this I am considering sending it back as
my warranty still is active.
It would be a last resort but I'm ready to do it.

P.S. 35mm adapter section has been removed, so this is the next best thing. A lot of former 35mm adapter users here.
 
The SGBlade people suggesting me to send it back ( from Australia to England ) so that they can fix the problem. :(
 
The 35mm adapter section hasn't been removed. It's in 'The Vault' in the offtopic section. Doesn't make so much sense but it's there.

Is there some play in the mount? As in does the lens move if you push it gently from side to side? If the metal ring on the mount isn't tightly flush it is possible that the retaining pin (depressed by the lever you press to unlock the lens) was pushed in and that would be why it didn't click. Try pushing the lens against the mount as you twist to minimise friction on the bayonet. Don't force it, if I'm right it will either come apart easily or the pin will be digging into the bayonet. Try repeating the action with the unlocking lever pressed down at the same time (may need another pair of hands to help). If it's still stuck try removing the entire mount with the lens still attached. I don't have a blade but it should be the same, look for 3 or 4 teeny tiny allen screws around the perimeter of the mount. If you remove the mount you will be able to examine the problem from the other side, the back of the lens and the bayonet will be visible.
 
Yes, the lens does move slightly clockwise and anti-clockwise, but it seems stuck. I did try to force it to move one way or the other to no avail... The problem started because there was no clear "red dot" or "white line" on the lens. ( it's an old metal bodied 105mm Nikon ) I mounted it once, but it didn't do any click, only when I took it off it would click. Also , it seemed to be incorrectly mounted, even if it stayed there. I'm not sure about taking it appart, maybe I'll just send it back to the manufacturers. I just got an email from them now. They want me to remove the mount and send them mount and Lens only.
I'm thinking now.... what if I take it to my local Digital Camera dealer? They may charge me a small fee ( still lower than postage to England ) but they deal with Nikon lenses all the time
 
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By play I don't mean clockwise/anti-clockwise. I mean from side to side. The mount is basically just a solid metal tube (the black bit) that clamps onto the adapter at one end (via the allen screws). The other end has a shiny metal ring with the retaining pin that is the mount side of the bayonet system. I had a similar issue when I received my first redrock adapter caused by the screws holding this shiny metal ring to the mount had worked loose. There was about 1mm of play in them which resulted in enough friction to prevent me removing the lens. Once I examined the issue I was able to simply push the parts into normal alignment by pushing the lens into the mount as I twisted. Then it was a simple matter of tightening the screws on the ring.

I have the Nikkor 105mm in front of me now. There is a part that catches on the lever to prevent it turning more than a couple of mm past the locking mechanism. I suspect that what is happened is that the loose ring has allowed it to slip over the lever instead of catching on it. I'm going to loosen my ring (that doesn't sound so good...) and try and replicate your fault. How many times did you turn it before it got stuck? Did it turn a complete revolution or more?
 
Pressing the unlocking lever down as I turned did the trick! Thanks Egg Born!

I've attached this image to show where the problem started. This lens ( and my other equally old Nikon ) don't have any clear markings for aligning "red dot against red dot /white line" . Which of those is the reference point to be aligned with the red dot?
I trial an errored various ways until something went in, most probably , incorrectly and got stuck



I remember turning it less than half a complete revolution. Before that , I got it to mount with hardly any turning at all, but because it didn't "click" I assumed it was incorrectly mounted. It only "clicked" when I turned it the opposite way and the lens got released.
 
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Now it's free, first thing I want you to do is check whether the shiny ring on the mount is loose. It should be flush with the mount with absolutely no play. If it is loose find a small screwdriver and tighten up the screws. Press the lever down and make sure you see the retaining pin go in when you press it and more importantly pop back out when you release it. Test it a few times to be sure. You shouldn't be able to insert the lens incorrectly, only one alignment will accept the bayonet. There is a little screw sticking out slighting under one of the bayonet blades (on the lens) that should prevent it being inserted correctly.

Anyway, assuming that your mount is correctly aligned on the adapter your lens should finish with the white dot facing up so you can comfortably read the information. Look at the back of your lens. There should be a u-shaped cutout of the plate with a little groove machined next to it. That cutout is what catches on the retaining pin. If you line this up with the latch and press it gently against the mount and turn clockwise (standing at the lens end) it should push in after about 30 degrees or so. The manual aperture switch (your blue arrow) will be approximately facing up and after you turn clockwise 30 degrees anticlockwise to lock it the white dot should be facing up and the pin catch in the cutout.
 
Hey man, thanks for the detailed explanation. Unfortunately, with these type of things one really needs to "see" what you mean.
I did look up SGBlade assembly on YouTube, and I swear my lens can not be mounted like that at all!
I'm sure I'm doing something wrong but, well, take a look:

 
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There is something wrong there. The lens is only turning half as far as it should before it locks and it is clearly binding up. I suspect there might be a problem with the mount, the only thing I can think of is the copper ring that acts as a spring underneath the shiny ring may have bent and the bayonet is getting caught on it. We can check that but first lets eliminate the obvious. Do you have access to another nikon lens to try with the mount? If another lens works perfectly then the issue is with your lens. If it doesn't then the mount is the issue. Alternately if you have access to another nikon mount camera you can try your lens on another body.

Alternately the only moving part is the latch/retaining pin. Try pressing the latch down while you attach the lens. Since it was the problem before it might just be a little bunged up for some reason. The lens shouldn't be able to turn much past the white dot facing up. I would imagine it will probably line up with the top screw holding the mount on. There is a physical catch on the lens (a little screw under one of the bayonet blades) that prevents the lens turning past that point. It should only turn about 1mm past the locking point. If that doesn't work I'll walk you through removing the mount (it's really easy) to check whether it is stuffed or not. If the mount is no good a new one will be GBP25 according to the website. Not too bad for the camera world.

As far as actually using the adapter, I'll lay out the basics. First of all, does you adapter look like this:

http://www.philipbloom.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/dsc_3938.jpg

If so then you do have a flip module and it shouldn't be upside down. If it looks more like a tube then you don't have a flip and the image will be upside down.

Next up the image will be dark, this is normal. The 35mm lens is losing as much light as the aperture is set to (f-stops). The ground glass is losing somewhere in the range of a half to a full stop, maybe even a touch more. If you have the flip that's a further small loss. So you're losing maybe as much as 4 stops of light even before you hit the camera's own lens. That's why you want fast glass (low f-stops - preferably f2.8 or lower). Your 105mm fully open will tell you f2.8 but in reality it might be f4 or f5.6 by the time the light hits the camera. Outdoors won't be a problem but indoors, a 100W ceiling light globe isn't going to cut it. I use light from a window or use 2-3 150W fresnels to bring the light up indoors and when necessary pull out the 650W if I need to stop down or use a slow lens.

Finally the image should fill the viewfinder. To do this use need to set your backfocus correctly. Try this sequence:

1. attach the adapter to the camera
2. remove the lens and point your camera at a light source
3. zoom in until the white fills the screen (this will likely be near to or even beyond the macro zoom range)
4. once the white image fills the frame adjust your focus until you can see the grain of the ground glass
5. reattach the lens

The lens should now focus correctly. Once you have done this you don't touch the zoom or the focus on the camera (you can still use the iris for exposure). Be certain to turn off auto focus and auto iris controls. These will ruin everything you try to do. Adapters are a fully manual operation. You now use the 35mm lens exclusively for focus. Unless you are using a zoom lens you will now need to physically move the camera forwards and backwards to reframe the shot. You can control exposure with the lens aperture or the camera's iris. Both will control exposure but the lens will also control depth of focus.

This gives you plenty to go on with. Adapters are cumbersome but once you've got the hang of them and they're set up correctly they let you get the best out of your camera.
 
Egg Born Son said:
Do you have access to another nikon lens to try with the mount? If another
Click to expand...

Yes I do, but it's also very old and doesn't have any clear markings on it. I tried to mount it and found the smaller sized 105mm was easier to try to mount.

I have the Non-Flip tube by the way. I am taking my Nikon lenses to a Digital Camera shop tomorrow to check that
the lenses can be mounted okay on a Nikon DSLR. Also may check with a colleague of mine, but he only uses Canon. The SGBlade is still under warranty also, so if the Nikon mount is no good , I suspect I could get another one. I have contacted the SGBlade people explaining the problem ( I quoted a paragraph from one of your replies )
and a link to the video. We'll see what they say.

I am pretty confident once I attach the lens properly everything will work out. For now I 'll try to follow your suggestions and take a second look at this other video I found:



skip to 6:26

EDIT: okay, I think i got it now.
Not as simple to align without the white line, (my lens only has a white dot ) but it works. Looking at that last YouTube video kinda made it more clear. The lever must be pushed down as you insert and turn. I kept turning until it made a click.
 
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