All, I was doing some macro recently with my A* 200 F4 macro lens, and I discovered that my MZ-S and ZX-5 do not correctly register when I put it into "A" mode. I've absolutely babied this lens, so you can imagine that I'm not terribly happy.
Anyway, I bopped over to Boz Dimitrov's Pentax pages and read up on the different mounts. According to the writeup on the "Ka" mount at his site, the "*" pin is supposed to be retracted when the lens has a manually-set aperture. When the aperture is set to "A", the "*" pin should extend so that it will make contact with the body. Well, all of my SMC-A lenses operate this way _except_ the A* 200 F4! The lenses that I checked included an SMC-A 50mm F2.8 macro and an A* 300 F2.8 lens. With all of these lenses, the "*" pin actually contacts the lens flange when it is extended. When measured with a multimeter, the resistance between the "*" pin and the lens flange is very low (1 ohm or so) when the lens is set to "A". The "*" pin of the A* 200 F4, however, looks more like the pins on FA lenses. It is surrounded with an opaque white synthetic material, and it does not extend or retract based on the position of the aperture ring. I checked it with my multimeter, and its resistance is always very high whether the aperture ring is set to "A" or to an F-stop. So, it looks like I've found an interesting exception to the "Ka" mount documentation at Boz' site. Further, it looks like my lens may have a (minor) problem. Can anyone else out there with an example of this lens check to see if it behaves the same way that mine does? Please cc: me ([EMAIL PROTECTED]). I'm reading the list via the archives, so I sometimes miss posts and responses. Thanks a million! --Mark p.s., apart from the "A" problem, my lens takes absolutely superb pictures! Here's a recent example from my flowerpot at home (near 1-1 magnification): http://www.westerickson.net/mark/misc/sundial.jpg - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
