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07-08-2019, 03:06 PM - 1 Like   #46
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QuoteOriginally posted by Lev Quote
by the way, do you guys find the aperture ring stiff on M series lenses? because many people complain about it not easy to use on A lenses and they all put it on A mode and leave there
If you have an A series lens, put the aperture ring in the "A" position and leave it there (follow Wasp's advice). You can adjust aperture from the camera just like any modern lens and use all the auto modes.... Tv Av TAv P Sv etc

The aperture ring on the "K" and M series lenses do not get stiff unless they are broken. They will snap happily and firmly into place. They do limit your exposure mode to Manual (although you can use Av at wide open only).

Using the old lenses on either modern DSLRs or on old film cameras is fun, and a learning experience too.

07-08-2019, 03:17 PM   #47
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QuoteOriginally posted by pschlute Quote
If you have an A series lens, put the aperture ring in the "A" position and leave it there (follow Wasp's advice). You can adjust aperture from the camera just like any modern lens and use all the auto modes.... Tv Av TAv P Sv etc
The downside to this is if you are using LV and focus peaking for focusing then using the "A" position the lcd will get progressively darker as you stop down. In manual aperture mode it stays bright as you stop down.
07-08-2019, 03:24 PM - 1 Like   #48
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QuoteOriginally posted by Lev Quote
by the way, do you guys find the aperture ring stiff on M series lenses? because many people complain about it not easy to use on A lenses and they all put it on A mode and leave there.
For years, my 'A' 50mm f/1.7 stuck between f/5.6 and f/8 - I quickly learned I could wiggle it past that point and the lens was good enough that I was willing to live with it; in recent years I purchased a Takumar 50mm f/1.4 and choose not to use the 'A' lens any more ..... as my mother would say "It doesn't owe me anything" {I definitely got my money out of it}. I have used 'M' lenses much less, but I've never had a problem with either of them. I've never been impressed by metering on my Super Program, so I use it mostly in manual mode, and in that context there isn't any advantage of 'A' over 'M' anyway.
07-08-2019, 03:28 PM   #49
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QuoteOriginally posted by GUB Quote
The downside to this is if you are using LV and focus peaking for focusing then using the "A" position the lcd will get progressively darker as you stop down. In manual aperture mode it stays bright as you stop down.
Huh??? In 'A' position the lens acts just as a modern lens without aperture ring does. In any position, the lens is held completely open until you press the shutter, and then it is stopped down to the correct aperture. The only lenses I can think of that act as you describe are the old M42 lenses.

07-08-2019, 03:57 PM   #50
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QuoteOriginally posted by reh321 Quote
Huh??? In 'A' position the lens acts just as a modern lens without aperture ring does. In any position, the lens is held completely open until you press the shutter, and then it is stopped down to the correct aperture. The only lenses I can think of that act as you describe are the old M42 lenses.
This is in Live View mode.
Just rechecked and in LV the aperture is stopped down to the setting and in Optical it stays wide open until the shot. EDIT this is in "A" setting
Could someone else confirm this on their K-1 camera in case I have a setting wrong somewhere.
Note this is on the K-1
My K-01 operates as reh321 says.

Last edited by GUB; 07-08-2019 at 04:20 PM.
07-08-2019, 09:15 PM   #51
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Now I have just checked my K30 and it does something different again. In LV and aperture"A" it stops down to somewhere around f4 no matter what your aperture "A" setting is. Obviously it flicks to the correct setting when you take a shot.
07-08-2019, 09:59 PM - 1 Like   #52
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Taks are my favorite legacy lenses. It's not just the images, the engineering is part of an era of lenses we won't see again. Pure delight to use them, especially on an old spotmatic.

07-08-2019, 11:19 PM   #53
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QuoteOriginally posted by GUB Quote
The downside to this is if you are using LV and focus peaking for focusing then using the "A" position the lcd will get progressively darker as you stop down. In manual aperture mode it stays bright as you stop down.
hmm... very interesting. Don't have any lens with manual aperture to test it. In the first part it is obvious will get darker but in manual mode isn't it compensating with iso or shutter speed? which mode is set on camera in that case?
07-08-2019, 11:44 PM - 1 Like   #54
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My experience:
Older primes works a charm with digital bodies (APS-c and "full frame")
Older zooms doesn't. (One specific exception, see below!)

I have quite a number of A, F and FA primes. They have never left med dissappointed.

In my "analoge days" I spent six months in Nicaragua using just one lens, the A 35-70 f4 on a Program A body. I can still be proud of some of the images from then. But when I got a new copy of the lens and tried it on the K5, I found the CA horrifying. And my FA 28-70 f4 doesn't impress at all on digital.
The exception: F 70-210 f4-5.6. Easily found on ebay for around 100 USD, probably the best IQ/dollar out there. The lens looks outright ugly on a modern body, the pictures are worth being giggled at.

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07-09-2019, 01:45 AM   #55
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I'm loving my older lenses. Managed to procure the following for less than £20 each, all in decent working order;
SMC-M 135/3.5
SMC-A 28/2.8
SMC-A 50/1.7

The 1.7 has the classic sticky A-ring (easy now!) but works nicely. Both A's are superbly clean and the 135mm is good fun, if not quite soft at wide-open.
Loving getting to grips with manual focusing; hopefully I'll find the opportunity to post some pictures soon.
07-09-2019, 02:59 AM   #56
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QuoteOriginally posted by Lev Quote
hmm... very interesting. Don't have any lens with manual aperture to test it. In the first part it is obvious will get darker but in manual mode isn't it compensating with iso or shutter speed? which mode is set on camera in that case?
Well on my K-1
In Manual mode
If you set the Aperture ring to "A" and stop it down a bit --
With LV off the lens sits there wide open as you expect
With LV on it stops down to the designated fstop. When flicking the LV on/off you can see the lens open close.
The LCD screen responds to adjustments in aperture, shutter speed and Iso.
With the Aperture ring in the manual mode in LV the lens is wide open and there is no response to aperture, shutter and Iso adjustments.
For critical manual focusing this manual aperture setting has optimised the camera for best practise. Which to me is- wide open , LV focus peaking in association with the zoom function.
Using the "A" setting optimises the camera for depth of field preview. But for my approach it is less than ideal because I tend to leave my Iso at base 100 (utilising Iso invariance in PPing) So often my LCD is severely underexposed in "A".
07-09-2019, 04:15 AM   #57
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QuoteOriginally posted by Benz3ne Quote
I'm loving my older lenses. Managed to procure the following for less than £20 each, all in decent working order;
SMC-M 135/3.5
SMC-A 28/2.8
SMC-A 50/1.7

The 1.7 has the classic sticky A-ring (easy now!) but works nicely. Both A's are superbly clean and the 135mm is good fun, if not quite soft at wide-open.
Loving getting to grips with manual focusing; hopefully I'll find the opportunity to post some pictures soon.
Would be nice to see!!!

---------- Post added 07-09-19 at 04:28 AM ----------

QuoteOriginally posted by GUB Quote
With the Aperture ring in the manual mode in LV the lens is wide open and there is no response to aperture, shutter and Iso adjustments.
So this means the lcd doesn't represent actual settings from the lens in manual aperture mode right? Is this the same for other lenses as well?
07-09-2019, 05:18 AM - 2 Likes   #58
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QuoteOriginally posted by Lev Quote
Would be nice to see!!![COLOR="Silver"]


The lenses in question, taken on a DA-50/1.8 (x-posted from Single-in challenge). Unfortunately, that's not quite the same as photos produced by these lenses!
07-09-2019, 05:22 AM - 2 Likes   #59
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QuoteOriginally posted by Lev Quote
So this means the lcd doesn't represent actual settings from the lens in manual aperture mode right? Is this the same for other lenses as well?
Yes. With the old Taks on adapters there is no response from Iso or shutter and only a momentary response from the aperture ring being turned with the LCD almost immediately settling back to the set brightness of the screen. This is good because your image stays bright even if the settings or environment create lowlight. So lets say you have stopped down your TakumarM42 then the LCD image will effectively demonstrate your Depth of field but at the brightness of the screen setting. The downside is you are focusing with a stopped down image rather than a wide open one that you would have with a K mount with aperture ring in manual.
EDIT Naa Hang on -- The M series and K series behave like the Taks . It is the A series and newer that sit there wide open. Never actually grasped this before - means they are better for manual focusing than the earlier ones.

Last edited by GUB; 07-09-2019 at 05:29 AM.
07-09-2019, 01:18 PM - 1 Like   #60
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QuoteOriginally posted by GUB Quote
This is in Live View mode.
Just rechecked and in LV the aperture is stopped down to the setting and in Optical it stays wide open until the shot. EDIT this is in "A" setting
Could someone else confirm this on their K-1 camera in case I have a setting wrong somewhere.
Note this is on the K-1
My K-01 operates as reh321 says.
Yup, that's what mine does too. Exactly like yours.
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