> I have several older Vivitar lenses I'd like to try on the D. > Problem is the flange that protects the aperture control lever on > the rear side won't let them mount. Does anyone know of any > downside to cutting this flange down to the size it is on newer > lenses? It'll probably wreck the resale value but I'm really > curious to see how they do on the digi.
Below is a a description of the procedure, along with a couple of pix. There's really nothing "fancy" about the procedure, except you want to keep aluminum filings out of the lens innards. Unfortunately, the "original" line (mid-1970's) of VS1 lenses had a "generous" amount of baffling at the mount end, which causes problems with some K-mount bodies (and I think that the LX is the oldest body that is not happy with the extra flange these old lenses have). Here are some image links illustrating the removal of this flange: First, here are two VS1 35-85/2.8's, the left one of which shows the extra baffle, while the right one has been modified - <http://www.cetussoft.com/pentax/v358528/1ofeach.jpg> . Lacking access to a bench grinder, I resort to simply cutting of the excess baffle material with a hacksaw (but leaving the protective "hump" near the coupling lever, as in jen-you-wine Pentax K-mounts). (Another PDML-er reported using a thin file for this procedure.) I don't try to remove the baffle entirely, but I leave about a mm or so of it still sticking out (since trying to remove all of it would tend to scar up the face of the K-mount flange, and removing it entirely is not really necessary, anyway). I then smooth off the remaining edge of the baffle with a fine-toothed file, and finally I touch up the exposed (shiny) metal edge of the remaining baffle area with a black "magic marker" (for a little flare prevention). It is important, of course, to mask off completely the rest of the lens when the extra baffle is being removed from the lens (since you don't want any little aluminum filings "adding" to the lens' innards - <g>) - <http://www.cetussoft.com/pentax/v358528/lensmod.jpg> . It is also possible to ~carefully~ remove the K-mount flange from the lens and then remove the extra baffle after masking off only the flange - <http://www.cetussoft.com/pentax/v358528/flangmod.jpg> . I've used lenses that still had the extra baffle protrusion on the KX, the ME Super, and the Super Program, but I've found that the flange does come quite close to impacting the upper mirror box baffle in the LX (when first inserting the lens mount into the body, before twisting/locking it into position), so I've routinely performed this "surgery" on some of the "original" VS1 lenses (and, believe me, it is indeed worth the trouble for some of 'em - <g>). I suspect that this procedure would be necessary to use any of these ol' classics on most (if not all) of the newer autofocus bodies, and probably on the digital bodies, I would think. Fred
