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Your Weekly Blog / Re: May 2026
« Last post by Jürgen Pfeiffer on May 13, 2026, 15:41:03 »urgent need for action
Nikon Zf, Biotar 58mm/f2
Nikon Zf, Biotar 58mm/f2
"NG 10 Years" competition: RESULTS !!!
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Well, there are issues with exposure when the lens is stopped down, let's say beyond f/11 or so. I had hoped using camera in M mode would help, but apparently that would only work correctly if the exposure parameters are obtained from a hand-held meter; or failing the availability of such item, by performing a exposure reading with the lens set to f/5.6 (in either A or M mode for the camera), then setting the camera to M and adjusting shutter speed and aperture according to what you had in mind initially. Awkward, but doable in a pinch I guess. Anyway, those small f-numbers introduce a slew of other issues concerning image softening, exposing dirt and grime on the sensor, potential IR hot spots, etc. etc. Also see next paragraph.My Shoten adapter arrived today as well. As the Nikon F-to-Z adapter wasn’t available, I got an M42-to-Z adapter instead. Yes, the Shoten adapter behaves exactly as I described in my post about the Funmount adapter (it’s probably the same electronics; the USB cable is certainly the same). If you set the aperture to less than f/5.6 on the camera, you’ll need to adjust the exposure.
With the Shoten adapter attached, the camera can be set all the way to f/36 in 1/3 EV stops. From f/13 onward, these setting also will change the lens parameters. . Thus another reason to avoid these f-numbers.The switch to another set of lens parameters comes with the first shutter press. The lens parameters are stored in a dedicated LENS.txt file (in adapter firmware) which you can download via the bespoke USB cable delivered with the adapter. The cable uses a magnetic clip on the adapter side and the fit is not firm, thus be careful when setting up the adapter. You adjust the lens parameters in Notepad or similar simple text editor. There are 10 lens slots available, confusingly labeled 1-10, but really ought to be the activation f-number instead: 1 = f/13, 2=f/14, 3=f/16, ...., 10=f/36. Do remember to store the updated file back to the adapter.
To avoid surprises if you have just a single lens for use with the Shoten adapter, then fill all slots with the same information, You do get the correct EXIF including the set aperture, which is one step improvement on Nikon's own 'non-CPU' lens menu. That latter will record the focal length (and maximum aperture), but not what aperture was used for the shoot.
I can only imagine what that hand looks like in the distant future