[180pilot]

New to forum, so if I missed this already being revealed please excuse me. Back in the late 60's when in Vietnam I purchased a Spotmatic and many prime lenses, from the standard Super Tak. 50mm to a 300 mm. Very,very, cheap then, even at a Corporals wages. I used these for many years with film. These lenses sat in a case for many years, after going digital with some point and shoots. I was waiting for prices of a full frame Pentax DSLR to become reasonable. I did purchase a original Pentax M42 adaptor.

Well, couldn't wait any longer, just bought a K70. I'am now amazed how sharp and fast these Super Takumars really are.. After re-setting up settings to manual, finding the Tv-shift under the e-dial programing was the most difficult. I use the Av mode and the ISO locked at 400. That way, when I rotate the aperture ring I can watch the shutter speed change in the viewfinder. And, do not have to use the green button. So merely, focus, press shutter to see speed then rotate to 1/500, for action, and take pix. In normal daylight, this is around f5.6, a good sweet spot for the f2.5 135 mm. I use the most. With the 1.5 conversion, this equals a 200 mm telephoto. On my wildlife shoots, I can normally just leave lens at f5.6, stay focused on moving beast, and snap away.
Something I have not come across yet, is the anti-shake setting for a M42 should it be the full frame mm or the 1.5 compensation? I have been setting it at 200mm, for the 135mm, and doesn't seem a problem.

Super Takumars; f4 17mm, f3.5 24mm, f1.4 50mm, f4 50mm macro, f2.5 135mm, f4 300mm.

Read more at: How to use/meter Manual & M42 Lenses on all Pentax DSLRs (K-1, K-3, K-5, K-30, etc) - Page 22 - PentaxForums.com

[heinamj]

Something I have not come across yet, is the anti-shake setting for a M42 should it be the full frame mm or the 1.5 compensation? I have been setting it at 200mm, for the 135mm, and doesn't seem a problem.

Welcome to the forum... my understanding is that you set the focal length to what the lens is without conversion... so for the 135mm... it's 135mm. M42 is no different than K mount when it comes to Shake Reduction.

Wish I had your old glass... I was blown away with what I could do with my old Tamron 80-210 and a 10mp K2000 I bought used off Craigslist four years ago.

[Dartmoor Dave]

Welcome to the forum. It's always great to see another Takumar shooter joining, and that's a dream collection of some of the very best Taks that you've got there.

For shake reduction you set the actual focal length: so 24mm for your 24mm, 50mm for the 50mm, etc. . . For my 17mm/4.0 I use the 15mm shake reduction setting, which seems to work fine.

If you haven't found the Takumar Club here on Pentax Forums yet, here's a link: Takumar club - Page 1035 - PentaxForums.com

[UncleVanya]

With SR it's about the actual focal length. No need for any conversion. The key to this is understanding that a 100mm lens made for APSC is no different on your K70 than one made for 6x7 in terms of what the sensor will see at the same f/stop. (Technically they might have slight differences because lenses are rarely exactly the focal length claimed... but that's not relevant.) So always just put the actual focal length in and save yourself the mental confusion.

A related question with less sure answers is what shutter speed to use handheld for unstabilized shots with APSC. Some suggest 1.5x the focal length. Some say the actual focal length is sufficient. I suggest trying it since your own steadiness is more of a factor in my opinion. With SR you should get 2-3 stops minimum. With a 135mm this means (to my way of thinking) you can get by with between 1/30 - 1/15s exposures on non-moving objects.

[SSGGeezer]

I am trying to get my Takumar 135 2.5 out more so I can practice old school photography ,(with a huge assist from the green button of course!) But in the right circumstances, the Takumars can really help create some very nice images. Post some of your images in the "Prime, prime, everywhere a prime" thread in the lens discussion area. It has taken off since it was started less than 23 years ago.

[180pilot]

I finally found a thread on this, quite the controversy:

K10D - Setting Shake Reduction Focal Length With Manual Focus Lenses? - PentaxForums.com

[UncleVanya]

I will reiterate. Focal length is the same and should be used as exactly as possible. (some lens focal lengths can't be set exactly). The only exception to this I have found is in doing macro work and that is still debated.

[reh321]

I finally found a thread on this, quite the controversy:

K10D - Setting Shake Reduction Focal Length With Manual Focus Lenses? - PentaxForums.com

Those who remain confused should do a simple experiment - mount a modern AF lens on your camera, note the focal length {so a zoom lens should be at one end of its range}, and take a picture. Then upload it here and look at the EXIF data provided by this site. It will have a line like
Focal Length 150.0mm (35mm equivalent: 225mm)
It reports both the actual focal length and the "equivalent" focal length, where the actual focal length is the value you saw when you were taking the picture.

Now mount an M42 lens on your camera, set the focal length to the value imprinted on the lens, take a picture, and again upload it here. This time the "actual" focal length reported will be the number you entered and the "equivalent" focal length will be 1.5 times the value you entered.

To be consistent with what Pentax does when the lens "reports" a value, you should enter the actual number imprinted on the lens.