[enyaw]

Hi, I just picked up/ordered a k-7 for my m42 lens. I don't want to play around with my k-3 too much. Are the settings to make it work with m42 same as all other modern pentax camera's? If so then I'm good to go

thanks, I know live view, zoom but some of the real technical stuff. I don't know. Got the k-7 pretty cheap $200 cdn plus shipping I don't know about the shutter count


thanks,

[blende8]

It's the same.
Allow aperture ring in the custom menue ...

[enyaw]

thanks,

[Adam]

Yes, the settings are the same. The K-7 doesn't give you as much flexibility regarding live view zoom or focus peaking, which could otherwise come in handy when focusing with m42 lenses. I would recommend considering a custom focusing screen such as a split screen for easier focusing.

Adam
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[Not a Number]

Set the DOF preview to Optical and you can "needle match" metering when set to Manual mode instead of using the green button.

[Pioneer]

I have a split prism screen in my K10D which makes a wonderful difference in how easy it is to focus these m42 lenses.

It is my experience, at least with the K10D, that you should pay close attention to your histograms to ensure that you are getting good exposure with the screw mount lenses. In theory stop down metering should work well with all these lenses but I have had more than one example of over or under exposing. This may not be a problem on the K7, IDK, but it is something to be aware of. I think that different focus screens can create exposure inaccuracies as well. IMHO Pentax has done a marvelous job of ensuring backwards compatibility but these M42 lenses are getting pretty old so they may not always work as well as we could hope on the newer digital bodies.

I know this is a Pentax forum, but don't forget that many of the Canon EOS bodies can use these Pentax M42 lenses as well with an adaptor. My Canon 5D gives great full frame performance with these lenses.. In fact that is one of the biggest reasons that I held onto this older Canon.

[Fogel70]

One good thing with m42 lenses us that you can use Av-mode, as the camera is not involved in stopping down the lens.
Lenses with auto/manual switch is preferable to use as it is easy to switch between fully open aperture and the selected aperture, which can be handy when the selected aperture is small and the viewfinder dark.

IMO, the above make m42 lenses more enjoyable to use on a k-mount DSLR than manual focus k-mount lenses.

[TomB_tx]

My M42s found a home on my A7 - K-5 hasn't been used since.

[D1N0]

The K-7 will automatically revert to AV mode when married with an M42 lens, because it doesn't see an aperture. Stopping down aperture has to be done manually, since there is no way the camera can do it. You have to make sure the lens is switched to manual. (m42 lenses generally have an auto/manual or A/m switch. Some lenses don't have a switch because they only worked in automatic mode. With those you have to jam or break the automatic mechanism (little pin on the back) of the lens somehow, or else you van only shoot wide open. At larger apertures m42 lenses tend to underexpose, you have to correct for that by using exposure compensation. (Or do it in post, but with de K-7 that is not advisable, because of it's poor dynamic range). You could look for a K-30 or K-50 with aperture block failure. Those have a better sensor and will still work fine with m42 lenses (because the camera doesn't stop those down anyway). They should be pretty cheap because they are broken for K-mount lenses.

[D1N0]

edit: no need for double posts

[enyaw]

thanks everyone that chimed in. I'll set the cam to av mode and make sure the lens are set to manual. Also focus to manual. I'm grateful. Any sense in trying out experiments inside? I've read that iso 1260 is usable any first hand experiences. I'm going to keep this body as an m42 body. What is is the max. usable iso. I'll be mostly outside for this stuff anyways. But now that's winter. I'll need to play around indoors

thanks

[Just1MoreDave]

I always stopped at ISO 1600. At 3200, I could get rid of the noise*, but there was a serious decline in dynamic range. The images looked very high contrast and less real. You can see this for yourself by taking the same shot with the K-7 and K-3 at 3200 or 6400. With faster lenses, 1600 is OK inside, depending on your artificial light.

*I use Lightroom 4 and shoot in RAW. I don't know what settings would work for the camera's JPEG processing.

[enyaw]

Hi and thanks, is there only 1 setting I have to enable on the K-7? Allow aperture ring setting 2? regarding m42 lens? And set the camera to av mode. I set my aperture focus shoot? And that's it? If so I'm good to go. I don't think the K-7 has button customization because I'd like to see an optical preview like on my K-3 which I set up the r/fx button for.

Thanks,

1 camera av mode
2 lens manual mode instead of auto
3 allow aperture ring control
good to go?

[enyaw]

I think I messed up a setting or 2, I did something with ebutton customization. Going by the k50 m42 lens set up. The long story short. I'm trying to learn live view on the K7, went into the menu changed an option now the lcd display shows fee. I'm missing a factor. I don't think it's the lens I'm trying to practice before I put the m42 adapter on full time. The lens in question is SMC PENTAX-FA 1:4-5.6 35-80MM

HAPPY HOLIDAYS,

and thanks in advance?

---------- Post added 12-23-17 at 02:21 PM ----------

[enyaw]

I have the beep setting on for in focus but I don't hear a beep. Does it work with m42 lens? I can see the in focus icon but I don't get a beep. Is there a volume control or something I can adjust. Should I reset the camera and start all over?