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01-23-2008, 04:23 PM   #1
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K10D and M lenses!

Hi All,
Just returned to photography after a long lay off and after saving some money and much research decided to try digital. I bought a K10D.
I have, from my old 35mm camera, the following.Pentax 28mm,50mm,and 135 mm SMC---M lenses.
I have searched the manual to see if I can use them but unable to find any reference to M lenses. There are lots of others many requiring an adapter. It says lenses without an A setting cannot be used without this adapter. My lenses do fit but I have been reluctant to press the shutter!!
Any advice appreciated ie Will they work? If so will it have to be in manual mode? What would the metering issues be?

Thanks in advance. It was great to find this forum

01-23-2008, 04:33 PM   #2
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Pretty much any K mount lens will work, although on the K10, with M lenses you have to go to the custom menu, and look for "Using Aperture Ring" and set it to Allowed< which is 2 > And you can leave it set this way with no problems, no need to change it back with auto lenses. The K10 is a bit lacking when it comes to metering with M lenses. To meter with them, set your camera to M mode, set the aperture you want to use on the lens, then hit the "green button" next to the shutter button. This will meter and set the shutter speed for you. on mine, anything under F 4, it will underexpose, and anything over F 5.6 it tends to overexpose. A way to avoid this is to pull the On-Off button to the depth of field preview, you will see the meter in the viewfinder, adjust the shutter speed with the front e-dial until the meter is in the middle, and take your shot. Here are a few I took last Sunday with a full manual Tokina 28 MM lens.




Last edited by Stratman; 01-23-2008 at 04:41 PM.
01-23-2008, 04:35 PM   #3
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Hi David,

Yes shure they work. I'm using my old SMC M 80-200mm and SMC M 50mm from my MX 80's Body with my K10D without any problem and i'm very pleased with the results.

Check this forum, and you'll find very usefull hints on how to get the the right settings for
using the M Lenses.

I'll try to find the links...later...
Best Regards
01-23-2008, 04:47 PM   #4
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Original Poster
Thanks to both for the rapid response. Nice images Stratman I'll need to have a 'play'. I've only had the camera a week so I am just trying to get used to it.
It's good to read that the lenses I have will work and thanks for the info on using the custom menu.

01-23-2008, 05:03 PM   #5
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No problem David, just be warned, there are a few "K" mount lenses that may give you problems. Some have a larger flange around the aperture coupler, and will not fit unless you are good with tools, and reduce the flange. And a few lenses made for newer automatic Ricoh cameras have a pin on them that has gotten stuck on Pentax DSLRs, the pin gets stuck in the AF screw hole on the camera body. But as long as you buy Pentax lenses, they'll pop right on, and give you those great Pentax colors and sharpness
01-23-2008, 05:27 PM   #6
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take a look at the first photo using the smc m 80-200mm and the K10D body

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/38462-post5.html
01-24-2008, 07:35 AM   #7
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You can shoot in aperture priority (Av mode) with M lenses as well, no need to hit the green button. Just set the aperture on the lens and shoot.

01-24-2008, 08:24 AM   #8
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QuoteOriginally posted by bdann Quote
You can shoot in aperture priority (Av mode) with M lenses as well, no need to hit the green button. Just set the aperture on the lens and shoot.
There is no aperture coupler on the K10D.

Therefore the camera cannot know what aperture you've set on any pre-A series lens, nor on A-series lenses except when set to A.

In Aperture Priority it will meter wide open, and use that exposure and the wide open aperture, regardless of what you set the lens aperture ring to.

This is also made clear in the manual, on p210.
01-24-2008, 12:46 PM   #9
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The camera, as you said, doesn't know what aperture you are using, however it does know how much light is entering the lens and it will set the shutter speed accordingly.

Setting the camera in Av mode, selecting your desired aperture, and letting the camera select the shutter speed is no different than shooting in manual, selecting your aperture, and setting the shutter via the green button...at least not that I have found. I think some experimenting is in order when I get home...

Last edited by bdann; 01-24-2008 at 12:55 PM.
01-24-2008, 01:17 PM   #10
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Now that I think of it, is the behavior different between M series lenses and older models?...like M42 lenses and pre M K mount lenses? That might be where the disconnect is. I only have one M lens and I never use it. My other lenses are all M42 and I use them in Av mode and the camera sets the shutter speed properly. You can watch the shutter speed adjust as your rotate the aperture ring.

... I guess I'll find out when I get home.
01-24-2008, 04:01 PM   #11
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QuoteOriginally posted by bdann Quote
The camera, as you said, doesn't know what aperture you are using, however it does know how much light is entering the lens and it will set the shutter speed accordingly.

Setting the camera in Av mode, selecting your desired aperture, and letting the camera select the shutter speed is no different than shooting in manual, selecting your aperture, and setting the shutter via the green button...at least not that I have found. I think some experimenting is in order when I get home...
You can do that with A lenses but not M or K lenses. With M and K lenses, if you use Av mode, the camera will only meter as if the lens is wide open. I guess you can then work out what the proper shutter speed should be depending what the actual aperture is.

If you want the camera to calculate the correct exposure for you with M/K lenses, you will need to be in the M mode. First you will need to enable a setting in the Menu (sorry can't tell you which one, don't have my manual nor camera here at work). Then:
Set the camera mode dial to M.
Select the aperture you want to use.
Compose your shot.
Press AE-L button (this is on DS, not too sure about K10D)
Press shutter

By the way, there has been a few reports about K10D will under-expose with M/K lenses. But this seems to be able to be corrected if you swap the focus screen with one from DS.

cheers
Kenny
01-24-2008, 04:47 PM   #12
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ok, I assumed that the M lenses work the same as an M42. With an M42 lens you most certainly can use the Av mode, as it was intended, I do it all the time. You set the aperture on the lens, the camera sets the shutter speed accordingly. I didn't make this up, it's documented in other threads on this site as well.

As for M lenses, I now see it works just as the others described.

Sorry for the confusion, I'll go back to lurking.
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