[stevebrot]

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Umm, it's the Genuine Pentax Adapter K...

Just because it says Pentax does not mean it is the real deal. I was unaware of genuine adapters marked "Philippines", though I do know that Pentax has manufacturing facilities in that country. My suspicions were based on on the failure of two mount with the Fotodiox adapter coupled with the poor quality of the engraving on the K-mount adapter and the country of origin.

If it is a genuine Pentax adapter, then the fault is with the Fotodiox item.


Steve

[stevebrot]

See the link in my edited post. The Industar 50 was the kit lens for the Zenit3 SLR in ZM39.

Thanks for the heads up. I will edit my posts.


Steve

[cpritchardv]

You can tell by the extension on the rear to engage the rangefinder coupling.

I was wondering what those were for. Oh well, it wasn't an expensive lens, Just wanted to play around with a inexpensive manual lens that ive seen good reviews for. Would the M42 version of industar 50mm be able to focus to infinity on the pentax screw mount adapter I currently have?

thanks again for all of your help

[scratchpaddy]

I have a couple of M39-42 adapters off of eBay, even cheaper than yours (One for $3, then I found a couple more for $1 apiece). As far as I can tell, all the M39 adapters out there are exactly the same: cheap, aluminum, and they bind like crazy. I would love to find a brass one, but there don't seem to be any for sale. All of mine acted like you describe at first, and they always bind the most on my one genuine M42-K adapter.

My suggestion: Use something cheap with M42 threads to break the M39 adapters in first. If it gets stuck, use a lens spanner to unscrew it. That's what the little notches in one end of the adapter are for. Once you've screwed it in and out a few times, you should be fine. Don't risk anything expensive the first few times you use these things!

[scratchpaddy]

Also, I have the exact same lens as you, and it's definitely for SLR's. The extension beyond the lens mount is the focusing helicoid; that's just how this lens works. The lens body is so small that the helicoid sticks out at infinity focus.

[boriscleto]

I was wondering what those were for. Oh well, it wasn't an expensive lens, Just wanted to play around with a inexpensive manual lens that ive seen good reviews for. Would the M42 version of industar 50mm be able to focus to infinity on the pentax screw mount adapter I currently have?

thanks again for all of your help

The M42 version, the Industar 50-2, works just fine with the M42 adapter. I just received mine from Moldova yesterday.

[stevebrot]

The extension beyond the lens mount is the focusing helicoid; that's just how this lens works. The lens body is so small that the helicoid sticks out at infinity focus.

This is good to know and makes a lot of sense. I managed to find a comparison photograph showing the LTM and Zenit versions side-by-side. It appears that the Zenit version was created by chopping down the lens barrel. Linked from the MF forums Web site (LTM version is on the right):



I will edit my previous posts.


Steve

[stevebrot]

I was wondering what those were for. Oh well, it wasn't an expensive lens, Just wanted to play around with a inexpensive manual lens that ive seen good reviews for. Would the M42 version of industar 50mm be able to focus to infinity on the pentax screw mount adapter I currently have?

thanks again for all of your help

Don't give up so soon. Scratchpaddy was good enough to provide clarification (above).


Steve

[Not a Number]

Fotodiox is an established brand. I would be more suspicious of your "Made in Philippines" K-mount adapter. Does it fit other M42 lenses?


Steve

Wasn't there an announcement back in the Hoya days that much of the Pentax manufacturing was moved from Japan to the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam?

The adapters sold from the US Pentax Webstore in recent years were marked as such. The adapters I bought from B&H and Samy's Camera were both marked "Made in Philippines" (actually just "Philippines" on the adapter).

Here is a photo of the one I bought last year from Samy's Camera. The slip of paper with Japanese characters on it gives the various company names by country which includes Pentax Ricoh Imaging. If it a counterfit somebody went through an awful lot of trouble to copy the packaging and inserts too.

And yes, my M42 lenses and Auto Bellows thread perfectly into both adapters that I have.

FWIW the M39 to M42 adapter ring I have will not thread into the Pentax adapter. It threads perfectly into a Minolta to M42 adapter that I have but my M42 lenses will not thread completely into that adapter. I may have bought the M39 to M42 ring from Fotodiox. Maybe the Minolta adapter too. I don't remember.

Update: I unarchived my emails from 2007. The Minolta and M39 adapters were both from Fotodiox. And the M39 ring will thread into my screw mount Pentax Auto Bellows. So it is likely that Philippines adapter and M39 adapter are within the specified tolerances, just at the opposite ends so when the error is added together they are outside the specifications.

[stevebrot]

The adapters sold from the US Pentax Webstore in recent years were marked as such. The adapters I bought from B&H and Samy's Camera were both marked "Made in Philippines" (actually just "Philippines" on the adapter).

Well, there ya go! My two adapters were purchased in about 2008 and were made in Japan.


Steve

[boriscleto]

Well, there ya go! My two adapters were purchased in about 2008 and were made in Japan.


Steve

And mine still says Asahi on it

[Na Horuk]

I just want to say, don't give up. That little lens is pretty cool! I love the way it renders colours and its surprisingly sharp in the centre when stopped down! (but only in the centre, edge performance is pretty poor)
I use an m42 Industar 50-2 on my Pentax cameras, though. It has a different aperture ring, a more fiddly one, but I never got around to adapting my m39 Industar. Its still on the Zenit 3m

[scratchpaddy]

Yeah, it's a great little lens. Super cheap, too. I've taken it to the dog park a few times, and this guy thought it was a Holga or a Lensbaby.



That was at f/5.6. You can click on it to pixel-peep.

[marcusBMG]

I purchased two M39-M42 adapters from toymodel55

Airplane Helicopter, Jewelry items in toymodel55 store on eBay!

these have worked OK with all my M42 adapters. Bit loose on the mount I used a bit of thread tape.

addendum these need spanner slots adding, 2 mins in garage with a hacksaw

[cpritchardv]

Hey everyone, thanks again for your help.

I ended up ordering another one off of ebay, and it worked fine. This was the ring I used. Camera 42 39mm M42 to M39 Lens Mount Adapter Ring Hood Filters for Leica Zenit | eBay

The lens seems to have no issues focusing to infinity. Im looking forward to playing around with it. Heres one of my first pictures after getting it on my k-5ii