[Kendra59]

I bought a Pentax K-50 camera with two kit lenses a few months ago. Prior to that I had a Mamiya 645 medium format film camera, which was sold a few years prior.

Since the end of April 2021, I have purchased a few MF lenses to use with this camera. Some are old M42 thread lenses, others are Pentax-M lenses. I initially did this because I wanted a set of good prime lenses, and I couldn't afford to buy many of the more expensive modern AF lenses.

A curious thing has happened. I like how my MF lenses work with my K-50 better than with the auto-focus ones. Some of what I like most has less to do with the MF lenses than it does with the slower, but familiar task of getting the right focus on things. The relatively slow speed of focusing a MF lens works for me, because I tend to take photographs of still, or slow moving subjects.

The thing I like about my Pentax K-50 camera body is it allows me to verify whether I "got" the shot I wanted within a moment of taking the shot. No more wondering how things will turn out in the photo lab. No more anxiety about whether I had the right settings on my film camera.

Setting aside the technical aspects of using a DSLR with MF lenses, I find that using this combination tends to encourage better photo taking habits. I spend more time thinking about how I want to frame my photographs before taking them. I verify I am using the right focal length lens, and then I adjust the focus on the lens. Once the green hexagon flashes in the viewfinder, I trip the shutter button.

I am not advocating that everyone follow the same path I have taken, but for those who were once used to a medium format film camera and lens set, this path might bring back fond memories... without all the weight, or the wait we used to go through while our film was being developed.

[AfterPentax Mark II]

The two things that annoy me with a DSLR and MF lenses is 1. that you must use the green button to set the exposure values. It should of course work with the shutter release button. They should have learned from Samsung how to do that, because that is what the NX series does perfect, no changing to another button for setting the exposure. So in these cases I use my NX camera.

[stevebrot]

Setting aside the technical aspects of using a DSLR with MF lenses, I find that using this combination tends to encourage better photo taking habits.

...and also to reinforce good habits formed with other gear. Many of us on this forum feel similarly such that interest in manual focus gear remains an active undercurrent in our discussions here and a mild obsession with some members.


Steve

(...took delivery of an S-M-C Tak 105/2.8 a few days ago and am awaiting a Vivitar 24/2.0 due for delivery on Saturday...)

[stevebrot]

The two things that annoy me with a DSLR and MF lenses is 1. that you must use the green button to set the exposure values.

Truly? I have multiple manual focus lenses that fully support my K-3's metering and exposure system, including P-TTL flash. As for your NX...is it safe to assume that you are reduced to fully manual aperture with other than NX mount? Not very handy, eh?


Steve

(...poor little orphaned NX mount...)

[jatrax]

S-M-C Tak 105/2.8

You are going to love that lens. I need to get mine back out and put it to use again. All my M42 stuff is still packed up from the move.

[kypfer]

"A DSLR Camera Body + MF Lenses - The Perfect Hybrid? "

Just about the reason I moved to Pentax all those years ago. I had (still have) a good selection of "quality" M42 and Tamron Adaptall lenses and no inclination to replace any of them with "modern" bayonet-fit autofocus examples.
A *istDS body, an OEM M42-PK adaptor and a couple of appropriate adaptors for my Tamrons and I could carry on almost as though nothing had happened
15 years later the body may have been updated (several times), a very few "modern" lenses added to the collection, but my old Fujinons and Adaptalls still do the business!

[stevebrot]

You are going to love that lens. I need to get mine back out and put it to use again. All my M42 stuff is still packed up from the move.

My initial impression is a slightly hushed wow...

It does not focus very close, but I do have a flanged adapter that should help a little there.


Steve

[kypfer]

(...poor little orphaned NX mount...)

Ha ha
My NX was acquired purely as a cheap digital platform for my pre-existing Russian M39 r/f lenses … for that it serves it's purpose.
I do feel for those who "invested" extensively in the NX system, their lenses must be depreciating on an almost daily basis

[UncleVanya]

The two things that annoy me with a DSLR and MF lenses is 1. that you must use the green button to set the exposure values. It should of course work with the shutter release button. They should have learned from Samsung how to do that, because that is what the NX series does perfect, no changing to another button for setting the exposure. So in these cases I use my NX camera.

See k-3iii. Also any A series lens avoids this.

My own mirrorless experience suggests it is a bit easier to focus with a magnified or focus peaking EVF than to use optical viewfinder in most dslr systems. Older manual focus film bodies were easier still to focus.

[pacerr]

The thing I like...is it allows me to verify whether I "got" the shot I wanted within a moment of taking the shot. No more wondering how things will turn out in the photo lab. No more anxiety about whether I had the right settings on my film camera.

From the flip side . . . for you older folks, imagine your introduction to photography if your Spotmatic had had instant review with histograms and 'blinkies'. The learning curve would have been entirely different, and a much less costly, experience. (Uh, y'all DID have a Spotty, right?)

It's been interesting teaching exposure skills bass-ackwards beginning with the logic of 'P-mode' and 'regressing' to Manual-mode in reverse order.

Consider the efficiency of explaining the effect of lens filters via digital tweaking rather than expensive glass. (Thanks given to Saturation, Levels and Curves apps and dodging and burning with software!)

I'd also add the immediate gratification of the tank-fed, color bubble jet printer in lieu of the wet darkroom to the overall package.

I've leveraged each of those advantages while effectively introducing newbies to photography and helping others past the Green Button stage.

My *istDS with an M42 adapter mounted and original lens still serves solely as a pleasing surrogate for that wonderful old Spotmatic era.

[pschlute]

The two things that annoy me with a DSLR and MF lenses is 1. that you must use the green button to set the exposure values

What is the second thing that annoys you ?

To answer your complaint you are wrong in your assumption that you MUST use the green button. In addition to that method you can use the DOF preview lever to activate the meter, or you can do what I tend to do and use a light meter.

The K3 III has even introduced a fourth method.....automatic stop down metering.

You are lucky that you can use 40 year old lenses with your modern dslr. Most other brands do not allow it at all

[AfterPentax Mark II]

Ha ha
My NX was acquired purely as a cheap digital platform for my pre-existing Russian M39 r/f lenses … for that it serves it's purpose.
I do feel for those who "invested" extensively in the NX system, their lenses must be depreciating on an almost daily basis

One would think that the value of the NX lenses decreases, but in my country the prices are quite high for an NX mount lens. There are not many and if one is up for sale second hand the price is higher than what they were new! It was one of the weak points of Samsung (already with the GX-10 and GX-20) that they announced many lenses for the system that were only available in small quantities or in the case of the GX's some not at all. The NX10/NX100/NX11 used the same sensor as the K-7 but the results from the NX's outshine those of the K-7 (I own both the NX100 and the K-7). Perhaps they had a lucky combination of a great lens and a great sensor. Who knows? And now I have got a KP: exit all the others.

---------- Post added 17th Jun 2021 at 22:09 ----------

What is the second thing that annoys you ?

To answer your complaint you are wrong in your assumption that you MUST use the green button. In addition to that method you can use the DOF preview lever to activate the meter, or you can do what I tend to do and use a light meter.

The K3 III has even introduced a fourth method.....automatic stop down metering.

You are lucky that you can use 40 year old lenses with your modern dslr. Most other brands do not allow it at all

Well, the second: somehow the text got lost and that is something I do not understand, in my original message I wrote: 2. that with manual focusing the OVF screen is so small that for someone who wares glasses it is difficult to see if the subject is in focus.
You are right I could also use the DOF preview, but that is for me more or less the same. And an external light meter is even worse. I just want one button that does it all. And one of the reasons that I still use Pentax is that I could use all those old lenses, but it is just those two annoying things that prevented me from doing so. But on the other hand, the modern DA lenses are so good that I do not even bother to use all the old lenses. They rest in their boxes. Hope that someday my wife can sell them for a good price after I am no longer here . By that time they are really vintage (for the A* 85mm F1.4 (to mention one) they sell for more than what I payed for it new and she can add that to her pension .

[pschlute]

Well, the second: somehow the text got lost and that is something I do not understand, in my original message I wrote: 2. that with manual focusing the OVF screen is so small that for someone who wares glasses it is difficult to see if the subject is in focus.

The same was true for photographers with film in their cameras 30 years ago. You should use LV and the zoom function for perfect manual focus.

I just want one button that does it all.

Then do not use old manual focus lenses. The lenses were designed long before the current cameras.

[UncleVanya]

The same was true for photographers with film in their cameras 30 years ago. You should use LV and the zoom function for perfect manual focus.

Liveview zoom isn’t perfect in my experience. A good split image focusing screen was typically more accurate in my experience. But softness in the film era wasn’t examined in the same way.

[robgski]

I am also very pleased with the results of using M42, M, and -A lenses with Pentax DSLRs. After a bit of practice, as well as patience and attention to technique, I also think I think the results are Better, and I think have to go a little more slowly is also a factor