Veteran Member Registered: September, 2017 Location: Medellín Posts: 1,322 | | Review Date: January 10, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $27.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Flange that depresses aperture pin. | | Cons: | Sand blasted finish, needs work before use. | |
I got this Kipon adapter for my Helios 44M-6 which doesn't have a manual switch. It's the only way to use non manual aperture M42 lenses beyond wide open. Also works with the aus Jena Flektogon 4/20 without having to depress the preview lever, which can induce shake and on my Yashica Auto Yashinon-DS 50/1.9.
The downsides are that burr at the hole for the locking spring screw can grind a bit on the threads of the lens and that the sand blasted finish isn't really smooth. Not even the surface where the aperture pin slides on and gets depressed. I really wish it had a polished chrome finish like so many other adapters. It really benefits from a bit of deburring and removal of the spring. I prefer not having to first remove the lens.
Regarding focus past infinity, turns out USSR era, e.g. Jena, and Russian lenses have a longer focal flange distance. When I use them on Zenit cameras, infinity is spot on, but on Pentax cameras it goes past. Just something you should know.
But all in all, it does work and fit very well. Don't get me wrong. It doesn't look nor feel cheap, comes in a nice big jewel case and tolerances are on spot, way better than most low budget M42 adapters. I try to keep it on just one lens because of the aforementioned finish issues.
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Site Supporter Registered: February, 2013 Posts: 456 | | Review Date: June 26, 2016 | Recommended | Price: $23.00
| Rating: 1 |
| Pros: | depresses aperture pin, is flush mounted to body | | Cons: | will probably not come off your camera. may wear lens threads, focus past infinity (perhaps lens variation) | |
UPDATE - this thing will not come off. Not an issue with me but unless you have a bricked ACB stay away. If not for that it is a solid 8 or 9.
This adapter is flush mounted to the body with no flange. If you own non-preset Russian, East German and a subset of Japanese m42 lenses, the pin depression ability makes your life easier. Auto/manual switches break after 50 years - the one on my Soligor 105mm did after all. Yes, you can do lens surgery and remove the aperture spring (and then remember where you put it) or you can glue and tape down the aperture pin (and wear out the aforementioned spring) but this adapter solves the problem for you.
It is unclear to me whether the adapter is wearing threads or simply cleaning them. This seems to be a potential downside, but as I also do a lot of extension tube work it is not something I worry about. Similarly the need for a key is not a problem. I have a Pentax K30 with a bricked aperture control block. It is now my m42 camera and the adapter might as well be permanently mounted.
The lens position issue mentioned by another reviewer seems a bit of a tossup. Each lens seems to tighten a little beyond dead center allowing focus past infinity - careful roll back to dead center can be done with a looseness tradeoff. On the other hand, using a Pentacon 29mm and the genuine Pentax adapter as a benchmark, the aperture mark lined up a little before dead center meaning it would not focus to infinity and would not be as tight seating to the body. YMMV. Old lenses from multiple manufacturers vary and there was a reason that m42 was abandoned. It may be that more than one adapter is required to cover this variability.
Until we have a DSLR revival of m42  we are stuck with adapters. I have not seen the wear issue cause a problem, but I am using lenses that average about $50 and not expensive Zeiss or Takumar glass so there is some reason to look at the genuine adapter in those cases assuming you can get to infinity. For my uses, the Kipon adapter is convenient and will allow infinity focus.
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Site Supporter Registered: November, 2012 Location: North Wales Posts: 2,870 | | Review Date: March 7, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $10.00
| Rating: 6 |
| Pros: | depresses aperture pin - just the job for some lenses/m42 mounts, tighter fit = more stable | | Cons: | rough machining, design, tighter fit needs key to insert/remove. | |
I obtained this second hand off eBay, it looked better than my current adapter, and it had a flange that would depress the aperture pin present on most M42 lenses. Potentially useful for certain lenses that would otherwise need a modification to stop down, and with swappable mounts: adaptall M42, T4/TX mounts.
Turns out it is just another Chinese made item (2017 update: albeit a pricy one - £25/$35 approx). A small screw holding on the locking spring interfered with and started chewing up the thread on my Helios 58mm. Something else was catching the threads as I screwed it on tight. My takumar 55mm has a very small pin beside the thread that is connected to the A-M switch, this caught on the base flange of the adapter, causing a few minutes of "it's stuck" consternation.
And the lens still doesn't orient perfectly - top of the lens ends up at "ten-to", though mind you I'm not sure that even the authentic pentax adapter achieves perfect alignment either (it doesn't - varies with lens. Reviewer kernos above confuses alignment with infinity focus, if the lens is flush with the mount then you will have infinity focus).
Twenty mins in the garage has sorted out the rough edges and now this is working fine. However in practice I only have a couple of lenses without an A-M switch, and I find it more helpful to be able to use that. Its function is negated if the pin is permanently depressed. And it turns out that the pin on my adaptall U-M42 screw mount is not depressed sufficiently: only gives me up to f5.6. However it did work well with my T4 M42 mount on a vivitar TX 300mm lens. The T4 mounts do have a stop down dial, but it's spring loaded and has to be held - a nuisance if you want to take hands-off, tripod mounted, pics.
If you like trying out M42 lenses then this, or a similar one, is a piece of kit you would want to have handy in your bag, even if only for occasional use.
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