Thanks to the recent purchase of a Pentax M42 bellows unit, I no longer feel any need to purchase a macro lens.

Pentax K20D
SMC Takumar 50/1.4 with 50mm extension
ISO1000 at 1/100
Handheld




Pentax K20D
S-M-C Takumar 35/3.5 with 115mm extension
ISO800 at 1/10
Handheld

Guys, please heed this advice, it happened to me and it took me a couple of days to get the bellows off my camera(it felt like a couple of years!).

Ha ha, I think you still owe me a beer from that time.... And I thank you, because not too long after your post I ended up with a M42 bellows and your experience saved me! I would have done it for sure

So maybe we are even on the beer... but maybe we could still get together and have one one day....

[Arjay Bee]

Are you sure about that Mike:

Bellows plus 50mm f4 Macro Takumar can get pretty close to a 5 cent coin.


Tripod plus macro slider as well. Not hand held although would be possible with enough light. Over cast and late afternoon in seminatural lighting conditions.

[gawan]

If you get a m42 bellows and you use a pentax or similar M42 to K adaptor with the locking clip...... Some of the belows units can get locked on your camera because the onboard flash overhang will not allow you to screw off the bellows unit after the m42 to K adaptor locks in the camera.

I found that with the bellows unit the other style adaptor that does not allow infinity focus or a pentax style with the clip missing is the way to go...

I hope this is not confusing...

Sorry, it is confusing for me, can you post a photo of the kind of adapter that would be okay? I have an adapter with infinity and a wide flat collar?

[Mike Cash]

The flash overhang is an annoyance, but I have no trouble mounting/removing the bellows with my Roxsen adapter.

I leave the adapter mounted on the camera and then match up the bellows unit. I can either reach inside with my fingers to turn the rear mounting ring (I have the same bellows as Frank) or I can alternately tighten and loosen the set screw to "ratchet" the rear ring onto the camera a half-turn at a time. The fingers-inside-the-mount trick works better for removing than for mounting.

On my bellows, I found it necessary to slightly loosen the two tiny screws on either side of the mounting plate to allow the unit to be swivelled into shooting position.

I'll probably end up with a "proper" macro lens at some point in the future, but the acquisition of the bellows moved it waaaaay down the priority list. First come some reliable radio triggers for remote flash and perhaps a Tamron 28-75.

[khardur]

Nice acquisition Mike - bellows seems like a great idea, but I'd have a hard time packing it in my bag with all the rest of my crap... (every time I leave a lens at home, i wish I'd brought it)

If I ever got one, I'd have to buy a bigger bag.

[Mike Cash]

The thing is much smaller than I had imagined it would be from having seen it in photos. Mine takes up surprisingly little room in my bag.

Sorry, it is confusing for me, can you post a photo of the kind of adapter that would be okay? I have an adapter with infinity and a wide flat collar?

I did not think the wide flat collar one could infinity focus...

The wide flat collar one is what works with my M42 bellows, because it does not have the locking clip, so it just comes of with an 1/8th turn like a kmount lens. continuous 360 turns of a screwmount lens.

[Peter Zack]

I picked up an adapter that works great with the bellows. It looks like a T mount. One end is the M-42 screw thread, the other end is K mount. It adds about 1 cm in length to the bellows and solves the flash overhang issue.

I had a quick look on Ebay but couldn't find any. I think they pop up from time to time. Just make sure you don't buy a T-2 version as the thread pitch is different than an M42 lens and the bellows or lens will not fit.