RJ Adapter issues? Canon FD vs. nFD

[photoSmart42]

Hey, all.

I recently got my RJ adapter for my Canon FD lenses, and I'm having issues with old FD/FL mounts (the ones with the rotating locking ring). On most of them I can only turn the locking ring half-way, which means I don't get to use the full aperture range of the lens. It gets really tight as I twist the ring. Adapter seems to work fine on the nFD lenses that mount by just twisting the entire lens. Anyone else had similar issues?

RJ offered to look at it if I return it, but I'm hoping there may be a simple fix I can do myself to avoid the many weeks it takes for the adapter to travel back and forth to China.

Also, my adapter doesn't have the green alignment dot on the outer ring, whereas I've seen some others in reviews that come with it. Are there different versions of the adapter floating out there?

 

[lcubed]

are you sure there's no green alignment dot??
the outer ring should turn to engage the aperture pin in the FL or FD lens

 

[photoSmart42]

Yup, no green alignment dot on the outer ring. When I say I'm turning the locking ring, I'm talking about the locking ring on the lens body, not the aperture locking ring on the RJ adapter. With the old FD/FL lenses, you mount them by turning the ring. On the new FD lenses, you mount them by turning the lens itself.

I measured some dimensions on the two different mounts I have, and it seems the upper lip on the RJ adapter is thicker than the lip on the 1:1 macro extender (35mm vs. 20mm between the top lip and the top of the 'wings'), which I think is what causes the tight fit for the RJ adapter. Guess I should decide if it's worth the hassle of trying to grind down the adapter as opposed to sending it back and maybe getting one with the same issue.

 

[lcubed]

maybe the rj fd lens adapter has been changed.

mine has markings of "RJ Camera FD m4/3"
above that is a ring w/ the green dot. that ring
rotates a pin which engages the FL/FD aperture
mechanism. in the open position, the green dot
might act as a alignment point w. the red dot
on nFD or FL lense.

if there's no markings or green dot, i'd contact RJ
for an appropriate replacement rather than tweaking
the adapter.

 

[pellicle]

Hi

if you have breech locking lenses then they operate a little differently. I am unable to turn my lock mechanism far, but this has nothing to do with aperture operation.

just check that you're mounting properly ... (the lens ... not other things ;-) because that will make the difference. The locking ring just 'toruques down' the lens onto the camera body.

Check carefully that if your adaptor does not have the moving aperture ring (to engage or disengage) you are engaging correctly with a small rotation of the lens before fully bringing the lens to the adaptor.

this is a simple action much easier demonstrated than described

 

[photoSmart42]

if you have breech locking lenses then they operate a little differently. I am unable to turn my lock mechanism far, but this has nothing to do with aperture operation.

Actually that's exactly what's happening. Because the locking bayonet ring on the lens doesn't close all the way, it doesn't move the aperture signal lever to the full position, and thus it doesn't activate the full aperture signal pin. If you unlock and rotate the locking ring on the older FD lenses, you can see the aperture signal lever moving along its groove as you rotate the ring. The position of that signal lever dictates the maximum aperture you can use with the lens. So if that lever is only half way, when I engage the aperture lever I can see the iris only closing half-way, and I can't rotate the aperture ring on the lens to the highest setting either. It indicates to me that it does more than simply torque down the lens.

I guess maybe I'm not explaining it correctly. The guys at the photo store who sell FD lenses couldn't get it to work either, so I'm pretty sure it's not something I'm doing wrong. Again, this doesn't seem to be an issue on the newer FD lenses that simply require the lens to be twisted in place (bayonet mount), only on those where you have to twist the bottom lens ring (bayonet ring). Some are tighter than others.

I really think it's a tolerance issue with my adapter, and it sounds like I got some sort of non-standard adapter since it doesn't have the green align dot. Time to return it.