N4646W

I recently revisited some of my older lenses. I had the diopter set on my DSLR's, and they have been working fine in manual focus (I very seldom use auto, old habit) .

Now using the older zoom lenses and a prime tele (all older Nikkor up to 600mm ) I couldn't seem to focus them. Puzzled, I found this strange as they had always worked flawlessly for me on film. For some reason, I got the bright idea that maybe my diopter adjustment was off (senior moment I guess). Sure enough, resetting the diopter cured the problem. But, when I go back to my newer glass I have to reset the diopter back. Just wondering if anyone else has run into this situation. I'm assuming it has to do with the design characteristics of the older lenses. Has anyone else run into this, or given up on an older piece of glass because of this?

Ron

RWR Loc: La Mesa, CA

Don’t know why that would be. My diopter adjustments remain the same whether for my oldest Exakta and Leica lenses or my newest Schneider T/S or Zeiss Otus.

N4646W

Neither do I, that is why I brought it up. My D800 seem to have the worst of it, D610 not so much, Wife's D810 worst of all. Readjusting the diopter for the cameras for each lens makes them focus much easier especially at their extreme limits and shots are nice and sharp. When using an eye piece magnifier I can really see the difference when focusing with the diopter adjusted. They are older lenses, maybe the mounts are starting to wear, but that does not seem like it would throw the diopter setting off, and the lenses do not indicate any slop when mounted. Could it be the lack of newer coatings that the newer lenses have? None of the fixed focal lenses have the problem, just the zooms, with the exception of a 400mm from my Bronica. That one could just be the adapter.

Ron

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Live and learn!

LarryFitz Loc: Beacon NY

Most of the time I use auto focus, some times manual. I found the if I am going to shoot manual it is best to first take an auto focus picture, then reset the diopter. Now it is good for whichever set of glasses it picked up, and how well my eyes are focusing. The eyes focus better after two cups of coffee.

JimKing Loc: Salisbury, Maryland USA

This is a puzzling discussion. The diopter adjustment allows you to essentially adjust the sharpness of the ground glass at the bottom of the pentaprism. The lens will make no difference whatsoever. My diopter adjustment will lock, but I wonder if some shooters hold the camera in such a way as to accidentally move the adjustment. I'm not an expert in the field but changing the lens making a difference in the diopter adjustment makes no sense at all.

N4646W

I tend to agree, but for some reason it is happening for me. As I understand it the diopter increases or decreases the magnification to make up for eye correction as would a pair of reading glasses. Could it be that by increasing the diopter the image is slightly larger allowing one (me) to get a proper focus, or see the actual image come to focus? It is strange, but I'll take it as I loved these old zoom lenses, and really can't afford to replace them.

Ron

ORpilot Loc: Prineville, Or

👍🏻👍🏻

I have no problems with my old vs new lenses even my Exakta lenses or Canon lenses on my Sony a6000.