[szk71]

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Need you help here. I have a asahi bellows unit (58mm .6 - 2.2x or 55mm .7 - 2.3x) as well as 2 piece auto ext-tube. All this is m42 mount.

What specifically can be done with that stuff, how can it be used, what does it do for you that can't be done otherwise?

Basically I'm wondering if I can get some use out of it or if I should just I sell the stuff.

[Peter Zack]

you can get a T mount adapter (gives a little space from the bellows to the body so you don't scratch the flash housing). The T mount is screw thread on one side and K mount on the other. Then add M42 lenses to the opposite end of the bellows. a 50mmor 135mm would work well. The 50 will give you ultra tight macro (maybe as much as 4x life size) and the 135mm will still give tight macros but with more working room.

So you have a great start for a macro setup.

[Eaglerapids]

Ahhh, that's what a "T" mount does:-).
Peter, could a guy add a short extension tube to the camera, put the bayonet to screw adapter in the ext tube, then attach this to the bellows if there wasn't enough room to clear the flash housing?

[Peter Zack]

There is no such adapter. The way you asked the question the Ext tube would be K mount and of course any K mount ext tubes are going to be K mount on both ends. Theres no K mount to screw mount adapters out there, only the reverse. I wish there was. That way you could turn the lens screw mount on the front of the bellows back to K mount as well and use newer lenses that are K mount. The T mount will be more than enough to clear the flash housing which only sticks out a little.

I did find a 5 piece set of ext tubes once that had removable K mount ends and 3 ext tubes. The 3 tubes screw into each other and screwed into the male and female K mounts. But the tubes were 52 mm and so were far too big to mount to any M42

[joe1955]

you can get a T mount adapter (gives a little space from the bellows to the body so you don't scratch the flash housing). The T mount is screw thread on one side and K mount on the other. Then add M42 lenses to the opposite end of the bellows. a 50mmor 135mm would work well. The 50 will give you ultra tight macro (maybe as much as 4x life size) and the 135mm will still give tight macros but with more working room.

So you have a great start for a macro setup.

A T,mount adapter is not the same thread as a M42 and should not be used.

I have the X rail type, that is if you look at the end of the rail without the thumbscrew it will resemble an X.

If this is what you have, there's no need for a T,mount adapter.

Loosen the thumbscrew on the side of the bellows and remove the threaded mount.

Attach a standard M42 screw mount adapter to the camera and then attach the bellows mount to the camera.

Place the assembly on the bellows and tighten a thumbscrew.

There's plenty of room for the flash mount housing to clear the bellows assembly.

As far as the other end goes, you are pretty much stuck with screw mount lenses.

If you know a good machinist, they could probably make an adapter for you. Hopefully it would not cost you too much.


joe1955

[Peter Zack]

Joe, You may very well be correct on the T mount. But I have 2 that fit my bellows perfectly. I ordered them from Henry's in Canada and had asked for a "T mount to fit M42" I've been using them for several years on a PZ1p and now the K10D.

I've heard but not used, that there is another version called a T2 mount. Is that the different thread?

[joe1955]

Joe, You may very well be correct on the T mount. But I have 2 that fit my bellows perfectly. I ordered them from Henry's in Canada and had asked for a "T mount to fit M42" I've been using them for several years on a PZ1p and now the K10D.

I've heard but not used, that there is another version called a T2 mount. Is that the different thread?

I am referring to the threads that connect to the lens, not the M42 threads that connect to the body.

The thread diameter of a T,Mount adapter is the same, it is the pitch of the threads that is different.

I have never seen a T2,mount, and have no idea what the thread pitch is.

The T,Mount adapter was originally designed to adapt the camera to a telescope.

I have seen many T,Mount lenses that have been directly attached to the Pentax M42 mount, and in many cases has caused problems.

Cross threading or getting stuck on the camera is only two of the problems that could arise, these lenses are designed to be used with a T,Mount adapter, which acts as a spacer as well as an adapter.

This will bring infinity focus up to where it should be. Otherwise your camera will not focus as close as it should.

You should never take a chance on damaging your camera in this manner.

The worst thing that could happen is that small flakes of metal could get into your camera. If you are using a digital camera, small flecks of metal could short something out.

Although if you do not care about your equipment, please be my guest, Take whatever chance you want to with your equipment. Just don't do it with other people's equipment

joe1955

[Canada_Rockies]

The T-mount adapter, AFAIK, was named by Tamron. It allowed them to produce a single lens, and you used the T mount to mount the same lens on whatever camera(s) you owned. So you could take your Tamron T mount 200/1.8 (I wish) and buy additional T mount adapters to mount the lens to your Nikon F, your Canon A1, your Pentax Spotmatic, your ... and have it focus to infinity properly

[Peter Zack]

Although if you do not care about your equipment, please be my guest, Take whatever chance you want to with your equipment. Just don't do it with other people's equipment

joe1955

Well excuse me for being such a Luddite and not caring about my, or other's equipment.

I do realize it was a Tamron idea prior to the Adaptall versions (hence the T) Maybe what I have here is not a T mount (but a T2?)or is some altered version. The lens or bellows screw in just fine, smooth and all the way down (about 3 full turns). It's clearly M42 female on the adapter, with the correct pitch. I have 2 of these from the same order. The opposite end is a male K mount bayonet.

One thing I do notice is that the M42 end is an insert into the adapter. There are 3 small screws that when removed, will let the M42 threaded part drop out. Maybe this was designed as a multi purpose adapter and the .75 pitch ring can be installed for telescopes etc.

I did do some research on this and found that the T mount name seems to be applied (possibly incorrectly) to many adapters. The one I have is just the same as this one:

Pentax K mount T-Mount Adapter Dist K100D K10D - (eBay item 360003910636 end time Dec-13-07 20:30:07 PST)

And as you can see was clearly listed for the M 42 thread and K mount body. I also have a couple of other old lenses which I use on the bellows that use a dual threaded adapter. The lens body has a much smaller (m39? Lieca) threaded end and you add the M42 adapter to mount the lens. This works on the bellows and also on the camera body with an added K mount adapter. These will focus to infinity.

[szk71]

Just tried out the bellows. Interesting stuff. Should be great for macro work.

I presume the ext tube does basically the same funtion, correct?

I also have a 2 piece thingy. One piece is a 2-3x converter. This looks and funtions like a basic TC (don't know if its variable from 2-3x). It says 2-3x auto vario converter.

The other piece is a 3x v-adapter. Can't figure out what this is for. Could it be just an extension tube as well? There has to something attached on the female end other than a lens. The centre part sticks out, so a lens is no go.

[Eaglerapids]

Joe, thank you for your informative post, except for the last sentence. Peter has been here a long time and he is a wealth of info for us all. If anyone has a question, he is usually the first to help out. Nobody knows it all and if he is off a bit I'm sure he would be the first to accept clarification but my goodness why, in effect, accuse somebody of delivery of false information? Of not caring about whether or not of screwing up somebodies equipment? I really don't think you meant it in this manner but that's the way it comes across here.
Anyway, may I ask another question?
I bought this unit a couple of days ago:
http://captjack.exaktaphile.com/Pentax/Novo60Bell-1.jpg
When it gets here all will be clear to me but if I need some adapter I'd just as soon get it ordered now. I have a K10D and the standard Pentax bayonet to screw mount adapter (well, two of them when the new one I ordered gets here:-)). I've never had a bellows unit before and I've never even seen one in person. This particular unit is a screw mount. Am I going to have a problem attaching my K10D to the bellows? Could that lever looking thing on the back of the unit possibly act as the thumbscrew you described? I'm assuming it's a male screw on the camera side and a female on the lens side of a bellows? In another thread I thought I had it figured out but I was wrong. Also, it looks like I will NOT be able to use my Vivitar series 1 105/2.5 on this bellows, correct?

[Peter Zack]

Just tried out the bellows. Interesting stuff. Should be great for macro work.

I presume the ext tube does basically the same funtion, correct?

I also have a 2 piece thingy. One piece is a 2-3x converter. This looks and funtions like a basic TC (don't know if its variable from 2-3x). It says 2-3x auto vario converter.

The other piece is a 3x v-adapter. Can't figure out what this is for. Could it be just an extension tube as well? There has to something attached on the female end other than a lens. The centre part sticks out, so a lens is no go.

Maybe you could post a couple of pics of this gear so we can be sure what they are. Sound like tele converters but you say a lens is no go, so I'm not sure. Yes Ext tubes do basically the same thing. Why I like the bellows is that the magnification and focus can be varied much easier by moving the bellows in and out. The ext tubes need to be added or removed from the body, so it takes longer.

[Peter Zack]

Anyway, may I ask another question?
I bought this unit a couple of days ago:
http://captjack.exaktaphile.com/Pentax/Novo60Bell-1.jpg
When it gets here all will be clear to me but if I need some adapter I'd just as soon get it ordered now. I have a K10D and the standard Pentax bayonet to screw mount adapter (well, two of them when the new one I ordered gets here:-)). I've never had a bellows unit before and I've never even seen one in person. This particular unit is a screw mount. Am I going to have a problem attaching my K10D to the bellows? Could that lever looking thing on the back of the unit possibly act as the thumbscrew you described? I'm assuming it's a male screw on the camera side and a female on the lens side of a bellows? In another thread I thought I had it figured out but I was wrong. Also, it looks like I will NOT be able to use my Vivitar series 1 105/2.5 on this bellows, correct?

Judging from the picture the back end sticks out enough that you might not require the mount I linked to on Ebay may not be needed. You could use a standard K mount to M42 adapter for this. If this is the case, the best one and easiest to lock on and remove is this type which will not allow infinity focus on a lens but is perfectly fine on the bellows. The slot that is on the edge will allow the Pentax lens lock to work normally. Cheap and works well.




That's a sweet looking bellows unit. I like the double rail for the lens and you can use a fairly heavy lens like a 135mm up to 200mm. Also you have a focus rail built in on the bottom that is also dual rail and an adjusting/locking knob. Many times the locking knob on the back near the mount allows you to lock the mount so the camera can be set up straight and upright to the bellows. Often these have a mount that spins 360 degrees and that allows you to turn the camera body for portrait and landscape shooting, then lock it in place.

[szk71]

Here are a couple pics of the adapter in question. Also, I've got a couple of items which I'll try to post in the buy/sell forum today if anybody is interested (asahi angle view finder and takumar 28mm 3.5)

http://usera.imagecave.com/kleinssz69/_MG_0322.JPG

http://usera.imagecave.com/kleinssz69/_MG_0324.JPG

[Peter Zack]

Well, Sorry these are a mystery to me. Haven't seen anything like them before but I have a question. If you screw the male end onto the female end of the bellows does it fit smoothly and screw in all the way? There's no glass in this correct? It looks like an extension tube and if it will screw easily into the bellows then I assume that's what it is. But the narrow center would indicate to me that it's designed for Leica or an M39 lens extension. These are only guesses though. I'd guess that you won't be able to use it on Pentax.

As joe1955 said above, don't force it though. Not worth damaging the bellows over a part that may have no value to you.