[lincolnms]

Hello!

My name is Jerome. I had been looking for a good camera for about 1 1/2 years and then, having almost committed to a second-hand Nikon D750, was captured by the experience of holding a Pentax KX in my local camera store on Christmas eve. I had been on a camera hiatus for over ten years, having mostly used my telephone to take photographs and desired a real camera again. So Pentax it was. My very first camera was a Pentax PC-50 AF 35mm from the mid 90s. I like to think that the cameras found me rather than the other way round. I have added a 6x7 and an LX to our collection since then. Our idea is to use 6x7 to take some portraits and fashion photos and the LX for astrophotography. My KX is my everyday camera. But that aspect is still evolving.

While the technology and the physics of picture taking fascinate me, my girlfriend and I try to focus on the photography itself. I don't know too many photographers but my favourite ones are Radka Leitmeritz and Sebastiao Salgado.

Regarding equipment, through an eBay find, we got our hands on a 300mm super Takumar f4 (the second type) along with a Pentax P30t from the 90s and an (AM?) zoom lens. We had the Takumar lens professionally cleaned by an amazing optical engineer in southeast England. I am not sure if I can post information here but send me a message if you need his services. He really restored life to what looked like a lens filled with fungus and a write-off, is extremely kind and professional. I have recently bought a small collection including Pentax SMC M135 3.5, M28 2.8, M35 2.8, and a Revuenon zoom lens 35-70 / 2.8-3.8.

My hobbies are hiking and tennis, which go well with photography!

I am excited to be a member of this forum and am looking forward to sharing my photos.

Best wishes,

Jerome

[MarkJerling]

Welcome to the forum from New Zealand Jerome!

[Cerebum]

Welcome. You will find all the help you need here. If you like manual photography, dont forget M42 lenses. These are the old screw mount. My oldest is a Zeiss made in 1958. You will just need a decent adapter, just make sure you get the right one. Also there ate several sizes of screw mount, make sure you get M42 (often called Pentax screw mount) one final suggestion, if you see a lens, make sure you google lens name, Pentax & review. Most users review their lenses and you will find loads of guidance in the review section

[lincolnms]

Hi both!

Thank you for the kind welcome!

The super Takumar we got our hands on is an M42 and I bought an adapter from a German photo store that ordered it for me from Japan. It's good what you say about lens reviews, I had extensively checked this website's archive of reviews before pouncing with new lenses.

As I mentioned above, fungus was a concern but we got it out of the super Takumar with some help from Alan Marlow. What I do now to keep lenses fungus-free is to expose them to sunlight when I am not taking photos or, well, take more photos. My experience with mechanical equipment has always been that lack of use usually creates problems.

Your 1958 Zeiss lens sounds amazing and I am hugely fascinated by maintaining and reviving quality equipment from the past.

I am still learning how to accurately meter and focus with the aperture stopped down though. One thing I thought was to look for a macrography focusing screen for the LX to get maximum light in because our KX has a matte screen that makes the image quite dark when stopping down the lens. Any tips on using stopped-down metering lenses are warmly welcome as there are a few more Super Takumars I had set my sights on.

PS: did you know Takumar was a Japanese portrait artist and the brother of the Pentax founder?

[Unregistered User 8]

Hi Jerome, welcome from Australia.

[ChristianRock]

Welcome Jerome. I'm looking forward to seeing the pictures you will come up with this wonderful film setup!

[archaeodude]

Welcome to the forums, Jerome, from the fens!

It's really useful to have the recommendation of a good optical engineer, as I've just been plodding along trying (frequently unsuccessfully) to revive vintage lenses on my own!

[aslyfox]

Hello!

My name is Jerome. . . . So Pentax it was. My very first camera was a Pentax PC-50 AF 35mm from the mid 90s. I like to think that the cameras found me rather than the other way round. I have added a 6x7 and an LX to our collection since then. Our idea is to use 6x7 to take some portraits and fashion photos and the LX for astrophotography. My KX is my everyday camera. But that aspect is still evolving.. . .

Regarding equipment, through an eBay find, we got our hands on a 300mm super Takumar f4 (the second type) along with a Pentax P30t from the 90s and an (AM?) zoom lens. We had the Takumar lens professionally cleaned by an amazing optical engineer in southeast England. I am not sure if I can post information here but send me a message if you need his services. He really restored life to what looked like a lens filled with fungus and a write-off, is extremely kind and professional. I have recently bought a small collection including Pentax SMC M135 3.5, M28 2.8, M35 2.8, and a Revuenon zoom lens 35-70 / 2.8-3.8.. . .

welcome to the forums

you will find friendly members and a lot of knowledge here

if you would be so kind, we would love to see photos of your equipment

and any other photos you may care to post

___________________

regarding the LX, this thread might be of interest:

Sources for information about the LX, please add your knowledge to this thread

Read more at: Sources for information about the LX, please add your knowledge to this thread - Page 4 - PentaxForums.com

_________________________________________________________

. . . One thing I thought was to look for a macrography focusing screen for the LX to get maximum light in because our KX has a matte screen that makes the image quite dark when stopping down the lens. . . . ?

the LX has interchangeable view finders:

Pentax LX - Full Info on Its Interchangeable Viewfinders

and multiple screens:

Pentax LX - Info on Various Focusing Screens

[Not a Number]

Welcome to the Forum. Nice collection of Pentax gear your have. Look forward to the photos you will share as well.

[Cerebum]

Hi both!

Thank you for the kind welcome!

The super Takumar we got our hands on is an M42 and I bought an adapter from a German photo store that ordered it for me from Japan. It's good what you say about lens reviews, I had extensively checked this website's archive of reviews before pouncing with new lenses.

As I mentioned above, fungus was a concern but we got it out of the super Takumar with some help from Alan Marlow. What I do now to keep lenses fungus-free is to expose them to sunlight when I am not taking photos or, well, take more photos. My experience with mechanical equipment has always been that lack of use usually creates problems.

Your 1958 Zeiss lens sounds amazing and I am hugely fascinated by maintaining and reviving quality equipment from the past.

I am still learning how to accurately meter and focus with the aperture stopped down though. One thing I thought was to look for a macrography focusing screen for the LX to get maximum light in because our KX has a matte screen that makes the image quite dark when stopping down the lens. Any tips on using stopped-down metering lenses are warmly welcome as there are a few more Super Takumars I had set my sights on.

PS: did you know Takumar was a Japanese portrait artist and the brother of the Pentax founder?

M42 lenses generally have a way of opening the aperture so that you can see to focus. Older ones (preset) have a ring you can turn, later ones have a sliding lever that swaps them from manual (where the aperture is controlled by the aperture ring) and auto (where the lens is wide open until a pin is pressed by the camera body). When you are working with narrow apertures you would normally be in M and switch to A to open the aperture for focusing before closing it back down again (M) to shoot. The way you expose is by pressing the green button when the aperture is closed (M). This applies correct exposure in the same way it would for an AF lens. The Green Button is another Pentax Original as for Takumar, I knew but kudos for the obscure fact

[ShutterPro]

Welcome!

[AgentL]

Welcome! The Pentax mystique is real!

[Kendra59]

Welcome to the forum. Pentax is a fascinating brand with a long history, and it still makes really good cameras and lenses. There are reviews on both Pentax and 3rd party lenses here; they were quite helpful to me, and will likely help you as well. There are LOTS of knowledgeable people on this forum, and I have never posted a question without getting multiple results. Enjoy being with us, and show us some of your photos when you feel comfortable doing so.

[caliscouser]

Great to have you here!

[Cerebum]

More and more people seem to be shifting their view on Pentax. We will never compete with the big boys at cutting edge AF but what Pentax does is create highly capable, ergonomically very good, complex cameras that are targeted at the art of photography. We have had ibis and wr for ages, we have pentaprisms not pentamirrors, we have access to decades of vintage glass but we also have some stunning modern lenses. The AF performance has always been accurate if marginally slower. People like DP review are obsessed with modern and compare Pentax with other brands, which is fine, but no use to me because I want the overlooked things that the other brands don't do very well. My silver KP is, for me, iconic. I have a Fuji too but that just means I have the coolest DSLR and the coolest milc I can't talk for anyone else, but I am very happy with my choice, very happy indeed