I found a Super-Takumar M42 screwmount lens...worth getting an adapter for K100d?

maconmatt · 05-22-2009, 06:40 AM

I just recently purchased a K100d with the 18-55 kit lens. I also have a Tamron 75-300 lens on the way.

I recently found an old Sportmatic in my attic with a Super-Takumar M42 screw-lens. I don't even recall it's focal length at the moment.

My question is, would this lens be worth purchasing an adapter to allow it to fit on my K100d? Would there be any limitations, feature-wise, of using this lens?

Thanks!
Matt

**Lowell Goudge** · 05-22-2009, 06:48 AM

the old mf lenses are a lot of fun, and there are some goos super taks out there.

they may alsoo be faster than you t kit lenses, and offer some interesting things with respect to DOF control and low light photography

MrApollinax · 05-22-2009, 06:51 AM

You might want to take a look at this thread:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-slr-lens-discussion/31601-takumar-club.html

Every posted picture in that thread was taken with a Tak.

maconmatt · 05-22-2009, 07:15 AM

Sweet...thanks guys!

reeftool · 05-22-2009, 07:56 AM

There are a lot of great lenses out there at very good prices, the Takumars as others have mentioned but also many other M42 mount lenses. The adapter is well worth the price. I put off the purchase for a while because I had become a little spoiled by auto focus but I am now using my Taks on a regular basis again.

newarts · 05-22-2009, 08:28 AM

I think it is wise to purchase a M42- Pentax adapter.

It is a enabler that won't cost much. Maybe you'll like how your existing M42 lens performs, maybe not.

Regardless, you'll then be able to use other superb M42 lenses at much lower cost/risk; a case in point is a good macro lens like the Macro-Takumar - a superb, affordable, 1:1 magnification lens where auto focus doesn't matter - adding that capability to your kit is well worth the less than $100 total cost.

Iowa Dave

mikeSF · 05-23-2009, 08:49 AM

Originally posted by MrApollinax

You might want to take a look at this thread:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-slr-lens-discussion/31601-takumar-club.html

Every posted picture in that thread was taken with a Tak.

what he said.
i dont think you'll have any doubt after looking through THAT thread!

i picked up a Pentax adapter for each M42 lens i have and leave them on the lens so i dont have to fiddle with anything when i am ready to shoot.
love my Takumar - which one did you get??

johnsherwood · 05-23-2009, 09:34 AM

The 'genuine Pentax' m42 screwmount to 'K' mount adaptor is the best $25 in kit I own I believe.......with the possible exception of the Vivitar m42 f2.8 135mm prime that I got for free when I bought a Super Tak 200mm m42 prime for $40!!! Pawnshops and garage sales have new found interest when you get this adaptor.

No autofocus, no AE, but you can set aperture and press the green button to meter and set shutter speed as a good starting off point. Most have silky smooth focus rings, Super Taks have a 'long throw' in the focus ring, which is a pain sometimes, but provides crisp accurate focus with a very little practice. You can still use SR, with the camera prompting you to input the focal length of all manual lenses you mount.......you might want to check the firmware of the unit you purchased, as I think the original firmware with mine, did NOT record the lens focal length in the exif data, there was a firmware update that corrected this which you should be able to find.

Its always amazing to me ( and still the number one reason I shoot Pentax DSLR's....god bless backward compatibility!! ) that these lenses that are 30/40 and 50 years old produce such phenomenal images. Designed with slide rules and pencil and paper, not supercomputers, and they consistently produce !!!

That m42 adaptor will cause a sudden and violent outbreak of LBA.......good news is there are tens of millions of lenses out there to choose from.

Happy garage sale hunting!

John

RioRico · 05-24-2009, 08:55 AM

The M42-PK adapter question arises here regularly. There are basically 3 sorts:

1) A ring with a flange around it, cheap on eBay. This does not allow the lens to focus to infinity. It's fine for lenses for macro and portrait use, wherever infinity isn't needed. Some (cheap) long telephotos focus past infinity, so this adapter is fine for them too. I always keep a couple on hand.

2) An official PENTAX adapter ring, no flange, not cheap. This allows infinity-focus, easily mounts and dismounts, causes no problems. I use one of these, especially on the days when I'll be shooting only with screwmounts on my K20D or ZX-M.

3) A third-party (Bowers, etc) infinity-focus adapter, no flange, cheap on eBay. These almost ALWAYS get stuck on the camera, extricable only with great effort and pain. The culprit is the retaining spring. I have a number of these and won't buy any more. I've removed the springs, and keep the adapters mounted tight on M42 lenses I regularly use on a K-mount cam. These adapters are NOT for newbies nor the impatient nor clutzy.

There's another solution: an M42 cam! Use that Spotmatic! Or haunt eBay for screwmount SLRs, they're quite cheap. I got an Argus/Chinon CR-3E, the most advanced M42 SLR ever, for US$3 as part of a batch of camera gear including a Fujica ST-701 and Praktica FX3 (no meter! no pentaprism! look-down ground-glass viewfinder!) and other stuff. Not digital, but that CR-3E really sings (so to speak) when mounting a SuperTak 28 or 35 or 55 or 200, or the Vivitar Series 1 70-210 (US$33). A universe of great M42 lenses exists, for a pittance. Grab some.

maconmatt · 05-26-2009, 08:02 AM

Nice! Thanks for all of the info!

SteveM · 05-26-2009, 08:09 AM

Taks and Ks aare my favorite lenses.....set it on manual, set the aperature on the lens and hit the green button, then expect to "tweek" the shutter speed in the camera for the proper exposure. Once you know what the lens likes for a particular apature, you can then rotate the edial one way or the other for a click or two without having to take a test shot for each pic.

maconmatt · 08-16-2009, 05:20 PM

Ok guys! Sorry it's been so long since i've replied back. I finally got around to getting an adapter...and man, i wish i hadn't waited so long! I'm really having fun with this thing! I posted some of my first photos with it in the Takumar Club thread...but i'll also post them here.

Thanks for all of the info!

maconmatt · 08-16-2009, 05:23 PM

Oh...forgot to mention. The owner of the camera store was getting a kick out of it. He had all of these old school accessories that we were trying out on my K100d. Apparently he had them in a box left over from an estate sale. I'm going back next week to buy an old macro bellow from him.

PentHassyKon · 08-16-2009, 06:23 PM

So which tak do you have?

maconmatt · 08-16-2009, 07:23 PM

It's a Super Takumar 50/1.4

05-22-2009, 06:40 AM	#1
maconmatt Forum Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Macon, Georgia Photos: Gallery Posts: 62	I found a Super-Takumar M42 screwmount lens...worth getting an adapter for K100d? I just recently purchased a K100d with the 18-55 kit lens. I also have a Tamron 75-300 lens on the way. I recently found an old Sportmatic in my attic with a Super-Takumar M42 screw-lens. I don't even recall it's focal length at the moment. My question is, would this lens be worth purchasing an adapter to allow it to fit on my K100d? Would there be any limitations, feature-wise, of using this lens? Thanks! Matt

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05-22-2009, 06:48 AM	#2
Lowell Goudge Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Toronto Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 17,892	the old mf lenses are a lot of fun, and there are some goos super taks out there. they may alsoo be faster than you t kit lenses, and offer some interesting things with respect to DOF control and low light photography

05-22-2009, 06:51 AM	#3
MrApollinax Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Minnesota Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,529	You might want to take a look at this thread: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-slr-lens-discussion/31601-takumar-club.html Every posted picture in that thread was taken with a Tak.

05-22-2009, 07:15 AM	#4
maconmatt Forum Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Macon, Georgia Photos: Gallery Posts: 62 Original Poster	Sweet...thanks guys!

05-22-2009, 07:56 AM	#5
reeftool Pentaxian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Upstate New York Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 9,555	There are a lot of great lenses out there at very good prices, the Takumars as others have mentioned but also many other M42 mount lenses. The adapter is well worth the price. I put off the purchase for a while because I had become a little spoiled by auto focus but I am now using my Taks on a regular basis again.

05-22-2009, 08:28 AM	#6
newarts Inactive Account Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Ames, Iowa, USA Photos: Albums Posts: 2,965	I think it is wise to purchase a M42- Pentax adapter. It is a enabler that won't cost much. Maybe you'll like how your existing M42 lens performs, maybe not. Regardless, you'll then be able to use other superb M42 lenses at much lower cost/risk; a case in point is a good macro lens like the Macro-Takumar - a superb, affordable, 1:1 magnification lens where auto focus doesn't matter - adding that capability to your kit is well worth the less than $100 total cost. Iowa Dave

05-23-2009, 08:49 AM	#7
mikeSF Pentaxian Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: East Bay Area, CA Photos: Gallery Posts: 6,622	Originally posted by MrApollinax You might want to take a look at this thread: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-slr-lens-discussion/31601-takumar-club.html Every posted picture in that thread was taken with a Tak. what he said. i dont think you'll have any doubt after looking through THAT thread! i picked up a Pentax adapter for each M42 lens i have and leave them on the lens so i dont have to fiddle with anything when i am ready to shoot. love my Takumar - which one did you get??

05-23-2009, 09:34 AM	#8
johnsherwood Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Brantford, Ontario, Canada Photos: Gallery Posts: 77	The 'genuine Pentax' m42 screwmount to 'K' mount adaptor is the best $25 in kit I own I believe.......with the possible exception of the Vivitar m42 f2.8 135mm prime that I got for free when I bought a Super Tak 200mm m42 prime for $40!!! Pawnshops and garage sales have new found interest when you get this adaptor. No autofocus, no AE, but you can set aperture and press the green button to meter and set shutter speed as a good starting off point. Most have silky smooth focus rings, Super Taks have a 'long throw' in the focus ring, which is a pain sometimes, but provides crisp accurate focus with a very little practice. You can still use SR, with the camera prompting you to input the focal length of all manual lenses you mount.......you might want to check the firmware of the unit you purchased, as I think the original firmware with mine, did NOT record the lens focal length in the exif data, there was a firmware update that corrected this which you should be able to find. Its always amazing to me ( and still the number one reason I shoot Pentax DSLR's....god bless backward compatibility!! ) that these lenses that are 30/40 and 50 years old produce such phenomenal images. Designed with slide rules and pencil and paper, not supercomputers, and they consistently produce !!! That m42 adaptor will cause a sudden and violent outbreak of LBA.......good news is there are tens of millions of lenses out there to choose from. Happy garage sale hunting! John

05-24-2009, 08:55 AM	#9
RioRico Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Limbo, California Posts: 11,263	The M42-PK adapter question arises here regularly. There are basically 3 sorts: 1) A ring with a flange around it, cheap on eBay. This does not allow the lens to focus to infinity. It's fine for lenses for macro and portrait use, wherever infinity isn't needed. Some (cheap) long telephotos focus past infinity, so this adapter is fine for them too. I always keep a couple on hand. 2) An official PENTAX adapter ring, no flange, not cheap. This allows infinity-focus, easily mounts and dismounts, causes no problems. I use one of these, especially on the days when I'll be shooting only with screwmounts on my K20D or ZX-M. 3) A third-party (Bowers, etc) infinity-focus adapter, no flange, cheap on eBay. These almost ALWAYS get stuck on the camera, extricable only with great effort and pain. The culprit is the retaining spring. I have a number of these and won't buy any more. I've removed the springs, and keep the adapters mounted tight on M42 lenses I regularly use on a K-mount cam. These adapters are NOT for newbies nor the impatient nor clutzy. There's another solution: an M42 cam! Use that Spotmatic! Or haunt eBay for screwmount SLRs, they're quite cheap. I got an Argus/Chinon CR-3E, the most advanced M42 SLR ever, for US$3 as part of a batch of camera gear including a Fujica ST-701 and Praktica FX3 (no meter! no pentaprism! look-down ground-glass viewfinder!) and other stuff. Not digital, but that CR-3E really sings (so to speak) when mounting a SuperTak 28 or 35 or 55 or 200, or the Vivitar Series 1 70-210 (US$33). A universe of great M42 lenses exists, for a pittance. Grab some.

05-26-2009, 08:02 AM	#10
maconmatt Forum Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Macon, Georgia Photos: Gallery Posts: 62 Original Poster	Nice! Thanks for all of the info!

05-26-2009, 08:09 AM	#11
SteveM Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Vancouver Island, BC, Canada Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,294	Taks and Ks aare my favorite lenses.....set it on manual, set the aperature on the lens and hit the green button, then expect to "tweek" the shutter speed in the camera for the proper exposure. Once you know what the lens likes for a particular apature, you can then rotate the edial one way or the other for a click or two without having to take a test shot for each pic.

08-16-2009, 05:20 PM	#12
maconmatt Forum Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Macon, Georgia Photos: Gallery Posts: 62 Original Poster	Ok guys! Sorry it's been so long since i've replied back. I finally got around to getting an adapter...and man, i wish i hadn't waited so long! I'm really having fun with this thing! I posted some of my first photos with it in the Takumar Club thread...but i'll also post them here. Thanks for all of the info!

08-16-2009, 05:23 PM	#13
maconmatt Forum Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Macon, Georgia Photos: Gallery Posts: 62 Original Poster	Oh...forgot to mention. The owner of the camera store was getting a kick out of it. He had all of these old school accessories that we were trying out on my K100d. Apparently he had them in a box left over from an estate sale. I'm going back next week to buy an old macro bellow from him.

08-16-2009, 06:23 PM	#14
PentHassyKon Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: SoCal Posts: 415	So which tak do you have?

08-16-2009, 07:23 PM	#15
maconmatt Forum Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Macon, Georgia Photos: Gallery Posts: 62 Original Poster	It's a Super Takumar 50/1.4