[Mike Cash]

Frank ... I never thought of doing that .... I notice the VF go dark ... and focus confirmation was hard to get ... plus me squinting at the same time ... hee hee.

I might try that next time.

What I do is to leave my lenses usually set at f4 and do my focusing. Then spin the aperture down to the shooting aperture just before shooting. Unless I'm going to be shooting at something larger than f4, of course.

The setting for enabling focus confirmation is the "FI with S lens" or some such. Most folks seem to misread that as "Fl" and think it is "focal length" and has something to do with the shake reduction. It is actually "FI" and stands for "Focus Indicator".

I also disable the display of the little red square since it is pointless when using M42 or M lenses anyway. I find it annoying.

[Zewrak]

Some M42 lenses prior to A/M switch incorporation have a very small lens barrel and the pin that actuates the aperture does not strike against any object on the dslr body. In order to close down the aperture to the ring value the pin needs to be held in somehow. I used a nylon tube drilled out to act as a sleeve, removed the back plate of the lens and cut the sleeve to sit between the plate and the heel of the pin. Problem solved and easily reversed.
There is now a constant tension on the aperture return springs - somust remember to store the lens at the widest aperture.

Superglue works wonders too and is easily removed if you dont want it modified anymore.

If you dont want to glue the pin, glue a bit of plastic beside it so that plastic bit holds it in.

[zx-m]

I have been using screwmount lenses on both my Spotmatic F and adapted ZX-M. Since the Spot F instruction manual said to use the "auto" setting, that is what I have been using. According to what is being said here, I guess I have been using the lenses incorrectly on my ZX-M. Thus, with regard to my ZX-M, I have just shot nearly an entire roll of film at wide-open aperture? Time for the trash can...