Acquired a lens.. no idea what to do with it

[Zada]

I may be wrong, but it looks like maybe a T-Mount Nikon. If it is "T" mount, the T adapter could be exchanged for an adapter of your choice. But as already mentioned, it would be a waste of money. As it is, sit it on a shelf and keep it knowing it was your grandfathers.

I see.... Well thanks for the info! I shall just keep it for the sake of having it

 

[usayit]

Doesn't look like a T-mount...

Missing the knurled metal grip and release of the adaptall.. at least mine have them... I believe the majority of the T-mounts were Tamrons.. I don't recall seeing to many thirdparty T-mount lenses.

btw.. I think the whole T-mount idea was brilliant.. wish it were like that today.

 

[Alpha]

Max, I think you might be mistaken on the mount. It looks an awful lot like a Nikon mount. I'm pretty sure it is not autofocus as I don't see a drive slot. The lens might have an auto aperture mechanism, but I can't be sure since I can't quite make out the aperture leaver. The lens should work fine on any Nikon body but you might have to use stop down metering.

"auto" signifies that is has an auto aperture feature. Of course it's not auto focus. It appears that some Coligon lenses were in fact made in t-mount. Though the majority of results for Coligon lenses are Olympus mount, and the only listing I can find online for the 80-205 Auto Coligon MC is in Olympus mount.

 

[Helen B]

There are/were non-Tamron T-mount lenses, such as Soligor and Vivitar. I agree that this doesn't look like a T-mount though. It looks like it could be a Nikon-mount AI with auto aperture. You wouldn't need the ears or AI for a pre-set/stop down lens - in fact it would confuse the metering system. The auto aperture connection would be in the shadow just below the uppermost bayonet lug in the picture of the back of the lens.

Stop-down metering is what happens when the camera's meter reads at the working aperture - ie the aperture doesn't stay wide open when metering.

With an auto aperture lens the lens stays wide open, and the aperture ring just tells the lens how far to stop down immediately before the picture is taken. It also tells the metering system in the camera body what aperture has been set - that is what the 'ears' sticking out of the aperture ring did on the original TTL-metered Nikons.

Best,
Helen

Edit: A quick Google suggests that "Coligon" was a name used for some Taika lenses, and that they were made in a few different mounts, including Exacta.

 

[monkeykoder]

My guess (after a little bit of googling is that it is a Nikon mount and it does seem to have a lever close to the top.

 

[Zada]

Wow this is a lot more confusing that I anticipated. :raisedbrow:

Should I maybe take it to a camera store and see what they say??

Just to clarify...

If its a 't' mount... I can't use it
If its an Olympus... I can't use it
If its a Nikon... I can use it?

 

[jstuedle]

Doesn't look like a T-mount...

Missing the knurled metal grip and release of the adaptall.. at least mine have them... I believe the majority of the T-mounts were Tamrons.. I don't recall seeing to many thirdparty T-mount lenses.

btw.. I think the whole T-mount idea was brilliant.. wish it were like that today.

I've had a few T mount Vivitars way back in the day. Still have a 35mm that I let my grandson use on his Nikkormat FT.

 

[Battou]

The ears are leading me towards Nikon as well, but I don't know enough about Nikon lenses to know for sure.

 

[jon_k]

I'm quite sure it's an Olympus mount.

I'm sure it is not.

The OM system never used that ear thing. It was Nikon or maybe K mount? I don't know who it was. I've seen the ear thing before though, and wondered what the hell its purpose served.

None of the OM lenses I've ever seen used such a tab (and I'm glad cause that thing looks sharp and capable of cutting flesh if mishandled.)

 

[usayit]

Pentax never used the aperture ring "ear"

 

[Helen B]

Wow this is a lot more confusing that I anticipated. :raisedbrow:

Should I maybe take it to a camera store and see what they say??

Just to clarify...

If its a 't' mount... I can't use it
If its an Olympus... I can't use it
If its a Nikon... I can use it?

If you have a Canon you could use a T-mount lens with a simple Canon T-mount adapter.

If it is a Nikon (which it is) you can use it with an adapter: link. or here - in more detail

If it was an Olympus mount (which it isn't) you could also use it - see the second of the two links above.

None of these adapters will maintain the auto aperture function.

One of the advantages of Canons is that the flange focal depth (or distance), FFD, is shorter than almost all other 35 mm SLRs. This gives room for Nikon and Leica R etc lenses to be mounted via an adapter.

Those ears couple to a prong on the early Nikon TTL bodies. You had to mount the lens with it set at f/5.6 (and the camera prong fully clockwise), then twist the aperture ring from one end to the other to tell the camera what the maximum aperture was. It became a habit.

Best,
Helen

 

[Battou]

Those ears couple to a prong on the early Nikon TTL bodies. You had to mount the lens with it set at f/5.6 (and the camera prong fully clockwise), then twist the aperture ring from one end to the other to tell the camera what the maximum aperture was. It became a habit.

Best,
Helen

Ah, every time I have seen one of those I always wondered the function of the ears and pin, thanks. My Canon uses a pin on the back of the lens (shorter the pin the Higher the max aprature) I would not have realized I needed to do anything for that. I've been planning on getting my brother an older Nikon for a wile so...