DIY Control of Electronic Aperture for a Digital Lens [SOLVED] - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 16, 2023, 06:49:24 pm
content: I got my first camera in 25 years due to my older Canon taking a fall from its tripod. I went with a new the Nikon Z30 and saw a decent used Quantaray 200 to 55mm telephoto/macro lens that has a Nikon F mount for $10 on eBay. Now, I know why. There is no manual way to control the aperture. A brief search did not return anything helpful for DIY digital control or the protocol.There are 5 electrical contacts at the lens base arranged as a group of 4 +1. Has anyone sorted out the protocol for that control? I would simply set the aperture to something useful and control focus and ISO manually.Failing that, will the electronic FTZ (Nikon F to Z with electrical contacts) work with it? It does fit a non-electronic FTZ adapter.Regards, JohnEDIT: just found this:QuoteI2C? My Nikon Z has more pins than that.Apparently, drive is a screw/motor drive.

author: shtirka
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: March 17, 2023, 07:35:38 am
content: Quote from: jpanhalt on March 16, 2023, 06:49:24 pmWell to me that sounds like (at least from what you are initially describing) an SPI setup - though I doubt it would help much since there doesnt seem to be any sort of cheat sheet on what sort of instructions/commands are available for the actual lens controlIlya

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 17, 2023, 12:53:29 pm
content: Thank you for the reply. I assumed the RW1(tach) was not read/write or CS/SS, but rather a real tachometer feedback from the focus and aperture motors. That left only 2 wires. The source was a photography site, so I don't put much reliance in the labels. However, it could be most anything, even a special camera interface.

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 17, 2023, 11:10:40 pm
content: It took more than a few minutes, but I found it:https://nikonhacker.com/wiki/Lens_Serial_InterfaceGoogle search:https://www.google.com/search?q=https%3A%2F%2Fnikonhacker.com%2Fwiki%2FLens_Serial_Interface&source=hp&ei=4_EUZIHcJqO90PEPnuSCkAk&iflsig=AK50M_UAAAAAZBT_82_cUflJCVCdpET2qGqVkff8JEss&ved=0ahUKEwjB2b6_ieT9AhWjHjQIHR6yAJIQ4dUDCAs&uact=5&oq=https%3A%2F%2Fnikonhacker.com%2Fwiki%2FLens_Serial_Interface&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EANQAFgAYP0FaABwAHgAgAFwiAFwkgEDMC4xmAEAoAECoAEB&sclient=gws-wizHere are some other (of several) interesting links:https://hackaday.com/2013/04/24/hacking-a-sigma-lens-to-work-with-a-canon-camera/https://stanford.edu/class/ee367/Winter2017/burkle_danyliw_girvin_ee367_win17_report.pdfEDIT: It's a modified SPI without SS. The "tach" must be the handshake and functions R/W (A0)

author: cantata.tech
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 18, 2023, 02:32:57 am
content: Great work.I'm going to try this on my Nikon1 J5 and see if it works. I have a collection of vintage lenses.

author: cantata.tech
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 24, 2023, 12:11:31 pm
content: Quote from: jpanhalt on March 17, 2023, 11:10:40 pmI found this on github.https://github.com/lainy/NikonLensHas anyone tried it?

author: ajb
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 24, 2023, 06:46:07 pm
content: Quote from: jpanhalt on March 16, 2023, 06:49:24 pmIf the lens electronics would work on an F-mount body, then it should work just the same on a Z mount body with the Nikon FTZ/FTZ II. Since you'd need a mechanical/optical adapter anyway that seems like the easiest solution.

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 24, 2023, 07:17:34 pm
content: As I was messing with it, the iris miraculously opened (not really, there was an internal lever). In the meantime, I had bought a $9, parts-only Nikon D70 (plus $11 shipping). Seller said it powered on but the CF slot had a bent pin and didn't work. The bent pin was the diagonal GND pin, and presumably wouldn't affect detection of the card, so I investigated further and took the bottom off. A few of the screws on the bottom showed signs of having been removed by someone else. Got the bottom off, and it appears someone disconnected the FFC from the SF slot and wasn't able to get it reattached (opening the ZIF was not simply lifting the lever). I opened the ZIF, inserted the cable, and it works fine -- not only as a camera, but it controls the Tamron lens fine too.There are some aspects of that old D70 that I like better than my Z30. I will be using both.