New to DSLR. I need help with older lenses.

[beequick]

I am new to DSLR cameras. I come from primarily P&S cameras, but I am finding that the photos are not as clear as I would like and missing the SLR look. I owned an older Pentax Optio and it was horrible. I did not let that persuade me in coming back to Pentax though. So I am about to purchase a K200d from Pentax (Primarily from a Basic SLR and price stand point). I really enjoy the fact that I can interchange lenses but I do have a question about that.

How do I know what lenses are compatible with a current Pentax K200d.

My mom has a plethora of Canon, Tamron, a super tamurac from an old Honeywell Pentax, Sears Canon...and some others. I really want to be able to use some of these older lenses. Is there anyone out there with knowledge on this subject?

Thank you,
Mike

[Marc Sabatella]

Anything that is K mount (designed to be used with Pentax, twists & locks into place, as opposed to screwing in) is compatible with no adapters. Screwmount lenses require an adapter. And K-mount lenses with no "A" position on the aperture ring will only work in manual ("M") exposure mode, but the camera *will* meter with them and set an appropriate shutter speed for the selected aperture when you press the green button. Only lenses that are designed to autofocus will autofocus, of course.

[Mike Cash]

Originally Posted by beequick

My mom has a plethora of Canon, Tamron, a super tamurac from an old Honeywell Pentax, Sears Canon...and some others. I really want to be able to use some of these older lenses. Is there anyone out there with knowledge on this subject?

You can use pretty much any lens Pentax has ever made. Forget about using the Canon lenses; they don't fit. With an inexpensive adapter ($30) you can use the old Super Takumar from the Honeywell Pentax. If fact, lenses from that era are quite popular among several of us. Take a look at the Takumar Club thread, with over 1,000 posts and 30,000 views. One of the most active threads on Pentax Forums.

[JonPB]

This site may help:
SLR Lens Mount Identification Guide

It is hard to tell, but if you post a picture of a given lens we can probably help you out more. The good news is that more lenses will work on a Pentax SLR than any other system.

[beequick]

Wow Pentax Forum. Thanks for all the comments You guys/gals are awesome!

[Noisychip]

Originally Posted by Marc Sabatella

And K-mount lenses with no "A" position on the aperture ring will only work in manual ("M") exposure mode, but the camera *will* meter with them and set an appropriate shutter speed for the selected aperture when you press the green button.

I think non-A and screwmount lenses will even work in Av mode, as long as you use them wide open. If you stop down at the aperture ring, all you have to do is dial in an exposure compensation of + 1 EV per stop. That way, you wont have to push the green button (which I keep forgetting all the time ...).

And there is a focus assist function in the viewfinder for manual focus lenses. It displays a green hexagon as soon as the central AF point is sharp. If the camera is set to AF, it wont even fire before it thinks the center is sharp You can keep the shutter pressed and turn the focus ring on your manual lens and it will fire as soon as the center is in focus (look for "focus trap").

One potential issues is that TTL flash is not supported with non-A and screwmount lenses AFAIK. Flash will work but fire at full power which I find quite useless when using fill-in flash in bright conditions.

Except for that, old lenses work very nicely

[Mike Cash]

Originally Posted by Noisychip

I think non-A and screwmount lenses will even work in Av mode, as long as you use them wide open. If you stop down at the aperture ring, all you have to do is dial in an exposure compensation of + 1 EV per stop. That way, you wont have to push the green button (which I keep forgetting all the time ...).

I don't dial in an exposure compensation and I have never used either M mode or the green button when shooting Takumars.

[pentaxman]

Originally Posted by Mike Cash

I don't dial in an exposure compensation and I have never used either M mode or the green button when shooting Takumars.

I can understand not using exposure compensation, but how do you meter without stopping the lens down? I have found the green button to be the most convenient way to do this. If you don't use M mode, what mode do you use? (I might learn something here)

Tom

[G_Money]

I assume by Takumars the poster means screwmount lenses. They have to be used stopped down to the selected aperture, the camera cannot actuate the diaphragm pin. Therefore if you want a shot at f8 the lens is always stopped down to f8, so it's like shooting wide open, but with a very slow lens.

[OrenMc]

I would add to beware of some Ricoh lenses. I haven't seen this happen but have heard that a pin from the lens will cause it to get stuck on the camera.

BTW Welcome!

[Mike Cash]

Originally Posted by pentaxman

I can understand not using exposure compensation, but how do you meter without stopping the lens down? I have found the green button to be the most convenient way to do this. If you don't use M mode, what mode do you use? (I might learn something here)

Tom

I always shoot them in Av mode. Unless I'm doing flash photography, of course, in which case I use X mode or sometimes M mode.

[Marc Sabatella]

Originally Posted by Noisychip

I think non-A and screwmount lenses will even work in Av mode, as long as you use them wide open. If you stop down at the aperture ring, all you have to do is dial in an exposure compensation of + 1 EV per stop. That way, you wont have to push the green button (which I keep forgetting all the time ...).

That might be true with screwmount lenses, but K-mount lenses with no "A" position do not work that way. You *can* shoot in Av mode, but the aperture ring is completely ignored. Set it wherever you like, but the camera will always meter and shoot wide open - it will not ever stop down in Av mode. Setting positive exposure compensation will only result in an overexposed wide open picture. On the other hand, if your intent is to shoot wide open, Av mode does indeed work exactly as it should. I used to do this in low light quite often, until I started realizing I was happier having more control of shutter speed, and get more consistent results in "M" mode just setting an appropriate shutter speed with the green button at the beginning of the session and mostly leaving it alone from then on.

[heliphoto]

Originally Posted by OrenMc

I would add to beware of some Ricoh lenses. I haven't seen this happen but have heard that a pin from the lens will cause it to get stuck on the camera.

BTW Welcome!

Good advice... I have seen it and it's an incredibly bad feeling when the lens stops turning too soon, and then won't come off .

[stevebrot]

Yet again, a short clarification regarding manual lens exposure modes and limitations:

• M-42 screw mount (A/M switch in the M position): Shoot in AV mode. Metering is stop-down since aperture is full manual.
• Non-A K-mount (no "A" setting on aperture ring): Shoot in M mode. Stop-down metering is available using green button or DOF preview.
• A-type K-mount (aperture ring on "A"): Shoot in any mode. Metering is open aperture in all modes.

Cautions:

• Some Ricoh (Rikenon) K-mount lenses have an extra pin on the mount flange that may drop into the auto-focus drive coupling. When this happens, the lens jams on to the mount and may require the services of a good camera technician to remove it. Note that this mount may also be found on Vivitar, Tamron, and other non-Ricoh lenses. Always be suspicious of any K-mount lens with "Ricoh", P, or K/P on the mount flange.
• Metering is not consistent for most m-42 and non-A k-mount lenses. The general strategy is to check the histogram for a particular aperture setting and adjust exposure appropriately.

Steve

[Ratmagiclady]

I have, by the way, run across plenty of talk about people removing said pins from Ricoh mount lenses.