[ZombieArmy]

Hello everyone, my dad had recently come across a 1250mm mirror lens telescope with some rather crisp optics so we wanted to hook our cameras up to it. The only question is what would be the best adapter for the job?

[RKKS08]

I would look for a used one on eBay, they are offered quite frequently.
A couple of years ago, I bought one branded Cosina, probably 35+ years old, which is ok.

New ones will most likely be from Chinese production, and precision of the K bayonet may vary.

[Mistlefoot]

My local store carries Bower T mount adapters for $20.. Haven't used one so can't vouch for them but the store usually offers half decent equipment.

[Not a Number]

The Kalt and Qualide branded ones made in Japan are very good. You can find them on eBay used or NOS. Add "Japan" to your search or check the item photo and see if it says "JAPAN" on the adapter.

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Last edited by Not a Number; 03-28-2015 at 11:04 PM.

[excanonfd]

They are all the same, generic or the name brand, any one of them will do perfectly fine.

[Not a Number]

They are all the same, generic or the name brand, any one of them will do perfectly fine.

I beg to differ. I bought a Vivitar branded adapter made in India. It was an "absolute piece of garbage" very roughly finished, too tight in the k-mount and the T2 thread was wrong - it wouldn't thread into any of the T2 mounts on the lens side.

[TER-OR]

I got a Photodiox one, it works fine. Well, once I figured out how to remove the Minolta adapter...

The T mount on that big Vivitar 500mm lens has no threading, it's just a cylinder of metal.

[excanonfd]

I beg to differ. I bought a Vivitar branded adapter made in India. It was an "absolute piece of garbage" very roughly finished, too tight in the k-mount and the T2 thread was wrong - it wouldn't thread into any of the T2 mounts on the lens side.

T2 mounts been around for how long now, 40, 50 years? It's pretty tough to find an "absolute piece of garbage", you just happen to luck out. I bought T2 mounts from 3 different Chinese eBay vendors over the years and they all worked just fine.

[Not a Number]

T2 mounts been around for how long now, 40, 50 years?

That's what I told the vendor when he/she claimed it wasn't compatible with Celestron equipment. And a set of ultra-cheap M42 made in China extension tubes I bought won't thread into any of my Asahi Pentax gear. They'll thread into a generic M42 to Minolta adapter but then my Asahi Pentax gear doesn't thread into that correctly either. And yes, I checked, they don't thread into T/T2 threads either.

[DeadJohn]

@ZombieArmy, you may or may not need an additional item beyond the t ring for your camera. I am going to hazard a guess that your 1250mm mirror telescope is a Schmidt Cassegrain (SCT) design. Many SCTs are f/10 giving you a 125mm or 5" aperture. 5" and larger SCTs usually have wider "SCT threads" on the rear and you need to add an SCT-to-t adapter. Yes, that's a lot of assumptions on my part, but here's what you would could use for a 5" SCT.

Step down adapter from SCT to t threads: Celestron T-Adapter for C5 - C14 Telescopes - 93633-A
K-mount t ring: Celestron T-Ring for 35mm SLR Cameras Pentax 93401

The company I linked above, High Point Scientific, has great tech support. Give them a call and tell them what type of scope you have to confirm you get the correct parts.

[Not a Number]

My Celestrons (bought in the 80s and made in the USA) came with T2 adapter tubes from the factory which fits fine on my Japan and USA made T2-mount adapters. The same with the T-threaded Spiratone Macrotar bellows lens (came in two flavors - M42 and T-thread) Just not with that piece of garbage made in India.