[fretlessdavis]

Hey everyone,

So today I got a couple more of the cheap M42 to P/K adapters from China on eBay. I had good luck with one I bought off of a forum member a couple months ago. Between my girlfriend and I, we have piles of K glass and M42 glass. To make things easier, we were going to start taking an MX and a SPII with us for film use, then use a K-X for K glass, and leave the clip on the new adapter to semi-permanently turn my K100d into a digital M42 machine.

First problem-- I mounted the adapter on the body, and proceeded to screw in my Super Tak 135. Went in about half a turn, then snagged, and wouldn't go on any further, and didn't want to come off any further. It also did not want to come out. Nor could I get the adapter off the body because the lens was in the way. I ended up wrestling with it a bit, and the clip broke off (thankfully it fell right back out of the camera).

Second problem-- Looking at the adapter, the screw that holds the clip in place screws right through the ring, and blocks the threads. These are totally unusable without removing the clip bit.

Third problem-- The threads on my Super Tak are basically FUBAR. I took a small rat tail file and smoothed out some burrs where the screw messed it up (wouldn't thread on a screw mount body before I did this). Works OK, but it isn't super secure on an M42 body any more. I might thread-lock a working K adapter onto it now.

Final problem-- it doesn't focus to infinity. I measured it next to my known working adapter and it's thicker by just shy of half a mm.


The seller is 'hkiron-aus' I'd recommend staying away.

Has anyone else had issues like this with this seller or cheap adapters in general?

[Adam]

Hey everyone,

So today I got a couple more of the cheap M42 to P/K adapters from China on eBay. I had good luck with one I bought off of a forum member a couple months ago. Between my girlfriend and I, we have piles of K glass and M42 glass. To make things easier, we were going to start taking an MX and a SPII with us for film use, then use a K-X for K glass, and leave the clip on the new adapter to semi-permanently turn my K100d into a digital M42 machine.

First problem-- I mounted the adapter on the body, and proceeded to screw in my Super Tak 135. Went in about half a turn, then snagged, and wouldn't go on any further, and didn't want to come off any further. It also did not want to come out. Nor could I get the adapter off the body because the lens was in the way. I ended up wrestling with it a bit, and the clip broke off (thankfully it fell right back out of the camera).

Second problem-- Looking at the adapter, the screw that holds the clip in place screws right through the ring, and blocks the threads. These are totally unusable without removing the clip bit.

Third problem-- The threads on my Super Tak are basically FUBAR. I took a small rat tail file and smoothed out some burrs where the screw messed it up (wouldn't thread on a screw mount body before I did this). Works OK, but it isn't super secure on an M42 body any more. I might thread-lock a working K adapter onto it now.

Final problem-- it doesn't focus to infinity. I measured it next to my known working adapter and it's thicker by just shy of half a mm.


The seller is 'hkiron-aus' I'd recommend staying away.

Has anyone else had issues like this with this seller or cheap adapters in general?

Sorry to hear this! This is why I always recommend just getting the OEM adapter.

[fretlessdavis]

Sorry to hear this! This is why I always recommend just getting the OEM adapter.

Yup. Learned my lesson. I think I'll just take along a Spotmatic and my KM or ME Super when I'm shooting film, and then get the proper adapter to use with my K100d-- I shoot almost exclusively M42 on my digital anyway (LOVE my ST 35mm paired with it, and for the size and weight, the 135 f/3.5 is fantastic)

I'm sure other people have had success with the cheap-o adapters, too... Maybe we could get a thread together and report and individual sellers/brands and try and figure out which ones work/have better QC?

[Eric Auer]

Sorry to hear this! This is why I always recommend just getting the OEM adapter.

+1

I tried one of the Flanged Adapters, It would not even turn enough to lock in on the camera.

Not worth the headache.

[vladimiroltean]

Yup, problems here with the cheap adapters. I had a thread going for a while too, but it just got buried, like most do. Fortunately, mine did not damage anything.
I think you're not really solving the problem. I don't think it's the seller's fault, they all get the same stock, and that is the one that is variable over time, and you can't really do anything about it.

Hint: Next time, get a cheap parts camera with a K-mount, and use it just for testing stuff on it.

[fretlessdavis]

Yup, definitely learned several lessons. Cheap isn't the way to go. I had issues with this, the Adorama house brand enlarging paper, and some cheaper lenses. I sometimes forget my mantra when it comes to outdoor gear, and it definitely applies here:

'Only rich people can afford to buy cheap things'

aka

'Buy it right or buy it twice'

[vladimiroltean]

Well, that's not entirely my opinion, but this is way offtopic. I believe cheap can be every bit as good (or as bad) as expensive, it's just that you have to spend much more time figuring out which one is good and which one isn't. With expensive stuff, you pay more just for the convenience of not wasting your time doing charts and performance comparisons.
So in the end, it's more like "time is money" in my opinion. You just have to decide which one of them you have more.

[fretlessdavis]

Well, that's not entirely my opinion, but this is way offtopic. I believe cheap can be every bit as good (or as bad) as expensive, it's just that you have to spend much more time figuring out which one is good and which one isn't. With expensive stuff, you pay more just for the convenience of not wasting your time doing charts and performance comparisons.
So in the end, it's more like "time is money" in my opinion. You just have to decide which one of them you have more.

I agree with that to an extent. I've had great results with 'off-brand' (Arista) film, but it does require testing-- The EDU Ultra (Fomapan) is more like 80 speed in the 100 variety, and 250 in the 400 varitey. Premium is Tri-X and is great. Not sure if Fomapan is like that, too, though... But, the Adorama paper was about 2 steps higher in contrast than Ilford or Kentmere, and caused me all kinds of headaches.

However, this is pretty off topic, but with the monsoon season here, I've gone through a couple rainjackets already this season that have been worthless... Finally laid down the cash for a higher end Marmot and couldn't be happier.

I guess it really boils down to time vs money like you said.

[elliott]

To prevent this when using a cheap adapter for the first time, screw the adapter onto the lens first. If it doesn't spin on effortlessly, something is wrong. It is easy to apply too much force when trying to thread the lens into the adapter with it already in the camera.

I use cheap adapters mounted semi-permanently on my M42 lenses with the clips removed. Each one is checked thoroughly before using and I square off the lugs with my Dremel to prevent them from over rotating in the mount.

The cheap ones are the way to go when you need more than one.

[Not a Number]

I'm sure other people have had success with the cheap-o adapters, too... Maybe we could get a thread together and report and individual sellers/brands and try and figure out which ones work/have better QC?

It won't matter as the quality of the adapters appears to vary from batch to batch. I've heard of people buying the "same" adapter from the same buyer at different times and having problems with the later ones. Perhaps the sellers get them from different suppliers.

[mikeSF]

I've bought dozens of M42 adapters, one for every screw-mount lens, some are Pentax OEM and some are third party knockoffs.
I will say that the worst adapter I have is a third party adapter and the best one I have is a third party adapter, that is, better quality than the Pentax. Draw whatever conclusion you like from that.

[forensicscientist]

Regarding the lens....you may want to investigate 'chasing' the threads with a die.....that might improve the situation.

[stevebrot]

Second problem-- Looking at the adapter, the screw that holds the clip in place screws right through the ring, and blocks the threads. These are totally unusable without removing the clip bit.

Wow...that is a new one, though I can see how this might happen. Thanks for adding a new reason why people should be wary of brand-x adapters.


Steve

[SoftwareArtifex]

Regarding the lens....you may want to investigate 'chasing' the threads with a die.....that might improve the situation.

If you can find a M42x1.0 die it'll surely cost several times more than the lens itself.

[elliott]

If you can find a M42x1.0 die it'll surely cost several times more than the lens itself.

42mm X 1.0 Metric Right Hand Thread Die M42 X 1 mm Pitch - Amazon.com