[ripit]

I have been interested in getting an adapter to use camera lenses as a spotting scope/telescope for a while. I have seen a few adapters (vivitar, tamron jessop etc), but they seem to be a bit rare and or expensive (there are defiantly some cheap ones but they seem quite hard to find). So I'm not sure if I am understanding this right, but if you take an eye piece from a telescope (or microscope?) and mount it at the correct distance, with that make it a spotting scope/telescope? I understand that the image may be upside down and or mirror image unless I use something like a star diagonal to correct it.

Her is one article that discusses it some

Digiscoping - the other way around (Lens to telescope) - Bob Atkins Photography

So do I understand it right that all is needed is any normal common eye piece mounted at the right distance to convert a camera lens to a spotting scope?

[LaurenOE]

Here are a few..

Kenko Lens2scope Adapter for Pentax K Mount (Black) K-LS10-PKAB

Kenko Lens2scope Adapter for Pentax K Mount (Black) K-LS10-PKSB

Bower 10x High Power Lens Converter to Telescope SLYTEL B&H

If you already have a Pentax spotting scope and Pentax Camera

Pentax PF-CA35 K-Mount SLR Camera Adapter 70510 B&H Photo Video

I also own one of these.

https://www.pentaxforums.com/accessoryreviews/pentax-monocular-converter-k.html

The genuine Pentax version is a Unicorn. You will NEVER find one for sale. They come up rarely if ever. It took me years to get one!

[monochrome]

In the 70's Pentax made a Monocular Converter K which did just what you were asking. They are now quite rare - almost impossible to find - and when one comes up on eBay you have to Snipe to even have a chance.

I once had a Tamron version that worked with their Adaptall-2 lenses. The big problem was it didn't have a tripod mount, so it was nearly useless as a spotting scope attachment for a telephoto lens.

[monochrome]

The genuine Pentax version is a Unicorn. You will NEVER find one for sale. They come up rarely if ever. It took me years to get one!

There was a guy offering 6 For Sale for $49 each BIN once. I was in anti-LBA mode so I didn't hit the bid.

[LaurenOE]

In the 70's Pentax made a Monocular Converter K which did just what you were asking. They are now quite rare - almost impossible to find - and when one comes up on eBay you have to Snipe to even have a chance.

I once had a Tamron version that worked with their Adaptall-2 lenses. The big problem was it didn't have a tripod mount, so it was nearly useless as a spotting scope attachment for a telephoto lens.

There was a guy offering 6 For Sale for $49 each BIN once. I was in anti-LBA mode so I didn't hit the bid.

I can't even imagine NOT buying at $49..you must have kicked yourself so hard that day!!!

I have one in the box. It cost me DEARLY, but I got one.
It was my "Moby Dick" for years.
Probably one of the rarest pieces of Pentax gear that I own.

[monochrome]

(Kneeling, looking at floor)

We are not worthy. We are not worthy.

Yeah, sure, now. Then, in 2004, I was so proud of myself. (i had just sold off virtually everything. Three years later I "found" a K35/3.5 and Viv 105/2.5 Macro NIB I had hidden from myself - and here we are).

[LaurenOE]

Speaking of rare and Bojidar's page, I am the ONLY person on earth who has this lens.

(Obviously not, but I have NEVER seen another one)

CPC Phase 2 24/2.8

That is my lens and the image credit!

It was a fluke that I bought that lens because I bought it at a Navy exchange in Hawaii in the mid '80s when Pentax was marketing off brand lenses outside of the USA.

Incredibly rare!

If you look at the serial number, it was made in 1982 and is 356.

[Not a Number]

Huh, a few years ago I bought an enlarger lens off eBay. A few weeks after I received the lens another same sized package arrives from the same seller. I opened it up thinking the seller sent me the same lens twice. Instead it was a third-party (I don't recall the brand) k-mount monocular converter. Ok I contacted the seller and tell them what happened. I told them I would send it back for postage but it wasn't something I bid on or bought. I never got a reply. I gave it to my brother who is a long time Pentaxian. He said he used to have the Pentax version. I don't recall if he lost it or sold it.

[LaurenOE]

Huh, a few years ago I bought an enlarger lens off eBay. A few weeks after I received the lens another same sized package arrives from the same seller. I opened it up thinking the seller sent me the same lens twice. Instead it was a third-party (I don't recall the brand) k-mount monocular converter. Ok I contacted the seller and tell them what happened. I told them I would send it back for postage but it wasn't something I bid on or bought. I never got a reply. I gave it to my brother who is a long time Pentaxian. He said he used to have the Pentax version. I don't recall if he lost it or sold it.

WOW. If he has the genuine Pentax Monocular Converter it's worth $300-500 to start with!!
They never come up for sale, so people don't know their value. VERY hard to come by. When they started to go for crazy money is when I was glad I got mine.

I have cheaper versions made by Spirotone and a no-name, as I never take the genuine Pentax version out.
The Pentax version was always so much more expensive than the knock-offs, so Pentax stopped selling them.

Linda like the K to Q converter is now.

[ripit]

@LaurenOE, thanks a bunch for the recomendations. The kenko is a bit more than I wanted to spend but maybe the bower. There is also a current tamron one (looks just like the kenco, maybe the same) but it a little expensive too (as it would probably only get rare occasion use).

I actually saw an old tamron k mount one a couple of years ago (first time I knew there was such a thing). I got out bid at about $20 (in hind sight I would have bid a lot more).

I didn't even know there was a pentax one. A lot of the older ones like the vivitar and the tamron seem to be rare too like the pentax one.

I think the hardest part is there is no standard name for them to search for. Pentax calls it a monocular converter. Vivatar call it a telescope adapter and so forth (every brand seems to call it something different). Except for that one time a couple of years ago, I have never ran across one on ebay. Maybe I need to set up some search alerts for every name I know for them or perhaps just buy the bower (I wonder about quality though at that price, I guess it doesn't net to be top quality just to look at stuff as my revived interest is for young children).

I'll keep looking around but does anyone know if telescope eye pieces would work? The don't seem to be terribly expensive and I like hacking stuff (though I would still like to get a premade one if I run across the right one).

I would have jumped at a pentax one for $50.

[ripit]

WOW. If he has the genuine Pentax Monocular Converter it's worth $300-500 to start with!!
They never come up for sale, so people don't know their value. VERY hard to come by. When they started to go for crazy money is when I was glad I got mine.

I have cheaper versions made by Spirotone and a no-name, as I never take the genuine Pentax version out.
The Pentax version was always so much more expensive than the knock-offs, so Pentax stopped selling them.

Linda like the K to Q converter is now.

Would you know specifically what the spirotone is called (ie scope adapter, telescope converter etc)?

[Eulogy]

Speaking of rare and Bojidar's page, I am the ONLY person on earth who has this lens.

(Obviously not, but I have NEVER seen another one)

CPC Phase 2 24/2.8

That is my lens and the image credit!

It was a fluke that I bought that lens because I bought it at a Navy exchange in Hawaii in the mid '80s when Pentax was marketing off brand lenses outside of the USA.

Incredibly rare!

If you look at the serial number, it was made in 1982 and is 356.

That lens looks VERY similar to a Starblitz 24/2.8 I got with an old Minolta body. (MD Mount) The lens I'm referring to has a Serial No. of 8300576. Presumably lens 576 from 1983. It has the same macro scale, same MFD and even the same Knurling on the lens. (As well as very similar markings on the cosmetic ring)

[LaurenOE]

Would you know specifically what the spirotone is called (ie scope adapter, telescope converter etc)?

I went ahead and rounded up my knock-off Monocular/Telescope converters.

The Spirotone one is from the 60's - 70's and was not really designed well as the aperture lever on Pentax lenses scratch the inside because of clearance issues.
If you use the Spirotone on a mirror lens - which don't have an aperture lever - it's fine.

The Spirotone is called a "Telescoper", and has a 1/4-20" tripod hole - which is good



The Kenko one is just called a Telescope Adapter.



Notice how their design is very different in terms of diopter adjustment or not.
So many clones were produced, that they died off as an accessory.

[LaurenOE]

That lens looks VERY similar to a Starblitz 24/2.8 I got with an old Minolta body. (MD Mount) The lens I'm referring to has a Serial No. of 8300576. Presumably lens 576 from 1983. It has the same macro scale, same MFD and even the same Knurling on the lens. (As well as very similar markings on the cosmetic ring)

You may have one of the non-SMC Pentax clones! However, the Cosina lenses were very similar.

[ripit]

I went ahead and rounded up my knock-off Monocular/Telescope converters.

The Spirotone one is from the 60's - 70's and was not really designed well as the aperture lever on Pentax lenses scratch the inside because of clearance issues.
If you use the Spirotone on a mirror lens - which don't have an aperture lever - it's fine.

The Spirotone is called a "Telescoper", and has a 1/4-20" tripod hole - which is good



The Kenko one is just called a Telescope Adapter.



Notice how their design is very different in terms of diopter adjustment or not.
So many clones were produced, that they died off as an accessory.

Thanks a ton for the info and the pics. I need to make a list of what various ones are called to give me something to search for.