[Skodadriver]

Hello all!

Just joined the group. Right now, I have two 23A 60-300 lenses, one 46A 70-210mm, and one 500mm 55BB (just acquired). I also have one 1.4x teleconverter, and one 01F 2x teleconverter, 2 P-KM and 1 P-K adapter, and a 02F teleview adapter. The 55BB and the teleview are both recent acquisitions. I hope to use the 55BB for moon photography, and potentially terrestrial bird. However F/8 seems to be too slow for full astrophotography. For that, I have my 60-300s, among others. Just ordered an iOptron for that.

Thank you!

--Jonathan

Welcome, good to see another Adaptall user. I like them better with my PK-A adapter though.

[jawats]

Welcome, good to see another Adaptall user. I like them better with my PK-A adapter though.

Just acquired a mint 19AH. Looking forward to testing it out.

---------- Post added 01-27-19 at 06:06 AM ----------

Welcome and hope to see some images soon, J

Thank you, Jean! Just acquired a new 19AH, too.

[pepperberry farm]

[Gary H Perth]

I just found the group, and I do not have anything new to say. I can reinforce what so many others have said - the Adaptall lenses, especially the AD-2 SP, were fantastic optically and they perform really well on my K-70. Each of the Adaptalls I have has at least one outstanding feature:
SP 35-80mm is a superb general purpose walkaround plus semi-macro lens and has a cult-like supporter base it is so good.
SP 60-300mm is possibly the best 300mm focal length lens I have, I suggest sharper and with more shots infocus than my Pentax new 55-300mm PLM. Macro is exceptional but the lens is a bit heavy to be able to hand-hold at very close focus. This was the lens that started this thread.
SP 500mm 55B gives me a lens with a long reach and it snaps into focus (but hard to get sharp pics handheld at less than 1/500 sec exposures). I can add the 01F 2x converter
SP 90mm 52B is my first ever macro lens, given by a friend in 1982. Great sharp shots and really easy to focus manually even at very very close distance. Brilliant colours. This works really well at long distances as well as macro settings
SP 90mm 52BB with extension tubes - really sharp, with 1:1 macro. I bought it new this week, still to be tested, but I am quite happy using MF for macro work.
135mm 03B is not quite at SP standard, but rivals my Pentax-A 100mm as a long portrait lens, especially candids. (not quite as good as my 70mm Limited for portraits though, but very different focal length).
CT-300 300mm (original Adaptall series, comes with a variety of model names, including Chinon - I think the CT stands for Chinon Telephoto) I am still getting to grips with the sensitivity of getting sharp focus and no movement blur. But when it gets focus right at an OK shutter speed then the images are good.

In my film days I had two zooms additional to the 35-80 and the 90mm: the 75-150 20A which I really liked, and the 70-210 52A that had greater reach and was sharper. I sold both when they started to develop fungus in the tropics, so probably they were not very airtight. These four were my preferred lenses for outdoor work, and they gave really great colours on good film (mostly Fujichrome 50).

Probably two others would tempt me if they came up for sale reasonably cheap - the 24mm 01B and the SP 180mm (it's never cheap).

[fuzzyphoton]

Gary ... i see you had a 52A and liked it ... i just acquired the later model 52A SP for pretty much postage ...apparently the mediocre reviews have slowed demand for these .... so far i am pleased, seems pretty sharp and certainly very handy .... and yes i use a 01a, 46a, 40a also, i hope it joins those pleasant lenses after further testing.

[marcusBMG]

Welcome Gary, nice collection of premium adaptalls you've got there.

I find 52A to be a bit of a curates egg. Its USP is its close focus but I find it to be an unimpressive performer in that mode. Conversely, 52A is for me one of the best at 210mm. You can see more here:

Test classic 70-210mm vintage lenses: vivitar series 1, tamron SP

[Gary H Perth]

My SP 52A was the later one, as shown in the pic on adaptall-2.com. I used it at the long end most of the time, since I had three other SPs that were smaller and much lighter: the 90mm and the 35-80mm did almost everything well from min focus distance to infinity focus and they covered the 70mm end. So in a sense, the 70-210 was a 210mm lens for distant work. But that is what Marcus says, when it is at its best (and the images were awesome if I could control the motion blur).

[fuzzyphoton]

i recently picked up an old " adapt-all " ( ok, T-mount ) that i though might be nostalgic, and hopefully great fun to show my friends ... the Tamron Nestar 400mm .... slide-out, 30 foot near focus, and all ... imagine my surprise when i actually got some good shots from my new toy .... i will attempt to import a pic of a purple finch from another thread here .... 20 feet, so i had to use a 1 inch extension tube to get focus that close ! ...this thing has personality !! ...... and only 6 minutes to get it from it's case to mounted on my camera ... !

[marcusBMG]

Hi fuzzyphoton...not strictly adaptall but never mind... I know about these tamrons, I wrote the review and description (but I need to repost the pics):

Tamron preset, T-mount ( Nestar ) 400mm f6.9. Lens Reviews - Tamron Lenses - Pentax Lens Review Database

Note the cheat to reduce the min focus distance:

1. loosen the grub screws around the bottom edge of the focus sleeve.
2. The depth of field numbers ring will now unscrew. Unscrew a judicious amount say 2-3mm.
3. Retighten. This should improve the Min FD to about 6.5m

[fuzzyphoton]

MarcusBMG ... yes, thanks ... i follow your stuff, and thanks for what you are doing. i really liked your 70-210 test, and spent a couple hours playing with it. right now if i only kept one lens, it would strangely probably be my tamron 40a ( 35-135 ) ... best described as " taking good pics all by itself " ... heh ... good thing tho i don't have to pick just one ... thanks again...

[pepperberry farm]

[StephenHampshire]

105mm f2.5 CT 105

[fuzzyphoton]

hi ... first of all, i am always testing my lenses and techniques to achieve the perfectly sharp photo.

however, we should remember that the story ... or possible story ... that a photo tells .. is really the end goal ....

i like Stephen's photo here, i would like to know what these folks are thinking and saying ... good one !! ...

[StephenHampshire]

hi ... first of all, i am always testing my lenses and techniques to achieve the perfectly sharp photo.

however, we should remember that the story ... or possible story ... that a photo tells .. is really the end goal ....

i like Stephen's photo here, i would like to know what these folks are thinking and saying ... good one !! ...

These chaps and chapesses are World War II re-enactors visiting my local heritage railway, the Mid Hants Railway...there probably thinking " Oh no not another photographer....why hasn't he got a big white lens like all the others??"

[Jean Poitiers]

Marianne had a concert last night with the Young Symphony Orchestra, so I tried out the Tamron Adaptall-2 51A (70-150/2.8 Soft) shot wide open with a a PK/A mount ... I like this and need to try some more elsewhere ... x-post from K-1 thread