I've already posted some reviews & comments, but let me say why I'm here.
I'm a computer engineering professor at the University of Kentucky, known mostly for my work in cluster supercomputing. However, I actually got paid for my photography back when I was an undergrad. For the past decade or so, I have been combining computing and photography -- doing research toward improving the abilities and qualities of digital cameras and image processing.
Although I used a Pentax Spotmatic in the 1970s, I used many cameras then in 135, 6X6, and 4X5 formats, and most often I used a Minolta SRT-101 and an XK. I use lots of different makes of digital cameras now, mostly Sony DSLRs, but currently I don't happen to have any Pentax digitals.
So, why am I suddenly on PentaxForums? Because I tried using an old 55mm f/1.8 Super Takumar on my Sony DSLRs and I was frankly blown away. I thought modern zooms were more than competitive with old primes in IQ, but very few are, and DSLRs now have enough pixels to make it painfully obvious.
Takumars were really good optics in the 1970s, and their characteristics make them better for digital than they were for film -- and M42 means I can mount them on anything. Yeah, M42 manual focus primes are slow and painful to use, but there are plenty of times I don't really mind the inconvenience. So, that's why I'm here. I've collected about a dozen M42 prime lenses so far, mostly Takumars.
Incidentally, the first old M42 I tried on a DSLR, the 55mm f/1.8 Super Takumar I used in the 1970s, is still the sharpest lens I have ever tested on a DSLR.
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