[torge]

Yes Ricoh, please do it!

[gilsouthwood]

Considering (after moving from film to digital) that the first thing I said when I saw the 18-55mm kit lens was, where the hell is the aperture ring, I'm all for this

[Sankon]

Considering (after moving from film to digital) that the first thing I said when I saw the 18-55mm kit lens was, where the hell is the aperture ring, I'm all for this

Nothing stopping you from using lenses with aperture rings on the current mount. Indeed, if you moved from film to digital, and still have any Pentax lenses, just put them on. If they are screw mount, get an adapter. Any Pentax lens will work though, with automatic metering ( centre-weighted average, like most film cameras of those lens' era ) if you need it ( no need for "green button" antics if you just want to shoot AP - focus and shoot, no issues ) but with the addition of shake reduction.

Pentax has given us a good system.

This thread and many of the responses read like the mount is utterly hopeless ( "crippled" for heavens sake ... ) but it's simply not. Sure, some feel their photographic brilliance is being tragically held back because the viewfinder dims slightly when they turn the aperture ring, but I'd suggest these same people spend a little less time complaining about the tool - or just use current tools. Pentax has no need to offer any support for manual lenses. That it does so, with metering and shake reduction, is a good thing. Not that you'd think it from this moaning thread

Paul

[gilsouthwood]

Nothing stopping you from using lenses with aperture rings on the current mount.

I know. The 18-55mm is my only new era lens. I shoot manual focus, with older K and M lenses

What annoys me, is, with my M42 mount 200mm, the aperture does work, but with my 55mm f2 and 135mm f3.5, the aperture is stuck wide open.

You are right though. We are lucky, I guess, that we still get all those benefits from the older lenses

It would be nice to have an aperture ring on the current lenses though...

[kadajawi]

Pentax is asking for feedback. They consider adding the feature when enough people say they want it. So this thread is actually very useful, and what Pentax and Ricoh want.

[Sankon]

I know. The 18-55mm is my only new era lens. I shoot manual focus, with older K and M lenses

What annoys me, is, with my M42 mount 200mm, the aperture does work, but with my 55mm f2 and 135mm f3.5, the aperture is stuck wide open.

You are right though. We are lucky, I guess, that we still get all those benefits from the older lenses

It would be nice to have an aperture ring on the current lenses though...

At the very certain risk of stating the obvious, but ... you do have the 55mm and 135mm switched to "M" not "A" on the lens ? I have a 55mm and 135 Tak ( and a 200, and a 300... ) and the aperture works on all of them, as long as it is switched to M.

My 28mm KA works fine too. I just put the aperture ring on "A" and use the rear "e-dial" for aperture.

To the subsequent poster that felt this thread is "useful". I am not so sure. There are other things that Pentax might prioritise in my opinion, than catering to the extremely marginal desires of a very minor group of users who may occasionally want to use their old lenses with open-aperture composition. Even though they won't take any better photos. It's a near-meaningless feature for most camera buyers, even ones who understand what it means. Given some of the answers on this thread, not even some of the highly knowledgeable self-selecting members of a Pentax enthusiasts forum seem to know ( "decripple it NOW" ) so Mr Joe Public has little chance.

I'd prefer Pentax to work on things that are more immediately meaningful to more people. Such as fixing SDM ( providing an extended warranty to prove it ), improving the autofocus and metering with current lenses ( my old Nikon D40 meters much more consistently than my newer K7 ), getting their pricing strategy under control, and spending time on promotion to dealers and public alike. They make good stuff. This whining isn't helpful.

In my opinion, contents may settle after posting, etc

Paul

[drougge]

There are other things that Pentax might prioritise in my opinion, than catering to the extremely marginal desires of a very minor group of users who may occasionally want to use their old lenses with open-aperture composition. Even though they won't take any better photos. It's a near-meaningless feature for most camera buyers, even ones who understand what it means. Given some of the answers on this thread, not even some of the highly knowledgeable self-selecting members of a Pentax enthusiasts forum seem to know ( "decripple it NOW" ) so Mr Joe Public has little chance.

Making a fully functional K mount is much easier (faster) than the things you want them to do. Therefore it does not need to be useful to as many people to be worth their time.

[riff]

This whining isn't helpful.

I agree but who here is whining. Endless bitching about the looks of the K-01, for example is whining and I don't like it at all.
Asking Pentax for a feature is not whining.

I'm reasonable happy with how A lenses and A/M Takumars work.

M lenses are a pain and the green button is a pain. Legacy glass is one of Pentax's greatest strengths they would do well to not forget that.

AF is for whimps. Don't marginalize my needs and wants and I won't marginalize yours.

[froeschle]

Don't marginalize my needs and wants and I won't marginalize yours.

+1

This is a petition to bring back a functionality that already existed previously (unlike e.g. a super-duper fast AF) and that should easily be realizable again at low cost (unlike spending time and money on promotion or lowering street prices, i.e. profit). The aperture coupler is an essential ingredient of the PKAF2 mount, which was crippled without proper reason. All lenses with aperture ring will profit (K/M/A/F/FA/DFA) from the reintroduction of this attribute. Pentax has given us a good backwards compatible system, which could be made even better by fulfilling a simple and inexpensive wish - following the paradigm of Nikon. Aren't compatibility and the K-mount the two major reasons for the Pentax system? Using a good tool is better than using a flawed one, even if both do their job.

170 #-255 TedH42 (using the green button is disruptive, especially for hand-held macro shots)
171 #-256 torge (Yes Ricoh, please do it!)
172 #-257 gilsouthwood (where the hell is the aperture ring, I'm all for this)

[gilsouthwood]

At the very certain risk of stating the obvious, but ... you do have the 55mm and 135mm switched to "M" not "A" on the lens ? I have a 55mm and 135 Tak ( and a 200, and a 300... ) and the aperture works on all of them, as long as it is switched to M.

The 55mm is a K, the 135mm an M. Neither are Taks, and unless I've missed something VERY big, I don't think I can set them between A and M

I agree but who here is whining. Endless bitching about the looks of the K-01, for example is whining and I don't like it at all.
Asking Pentax for a feature is not whining.

Agreed. I'm not whining (or I don't think I am) but it would be handy to be able to use both aperture rings on my older lenses. It's a suggestion, granted, not the most important problem in the grand context of things, but still, not whining. That whole K-01 thing also gets on my nerves too.

Using a good tool is better than using a flawed one, even if both do their job.

Exactly. Which is why this forum is here, for us to not only talk about all things Pentax, but to also provide help and suggestions towards Pentax

I'd prefer Pentax to work on things that are more immediately meaningful to more people. Such as fixing SDM

I understand, yes, this isn't the most important thing, but still The standard AF on my 18-55mm kit lens does my head in too. The short throw makes MF almost more difficult...

[drougge]

The 55mm is a K, the 135mm an M. Neither are Taks, and unless I've missed something VERY big, I don't think I can set them between A and M

Put something conductive (aluminum foil) over the contacts and it will work. (My K20 doesn't care, but my K5 won't stop down a lens that doesn't short some of the contacts, haven't bothered to check which, though I suspect the lowest one is the only one that matters.)

[retroflex]

Yes to de-crippling!

[dlacouture]

The 55mm is a K, the 135mm an M. Neither are Taks, and unless I've missed something VERY big, I don't think I can set them between A and M

Best solution with those K/M lenses is to drill another locking hole in their base, so they will be held partly turned into the mount. This way their aperture lever is not engaged by the camera, and they behave just like m42s (and they still can work properly on film camera)...
Now, you can also short the A pin on top of this, but it will only serve for adding P-TTL...

[gilsouthwood]

Best solution with those K/M lenses is to drill another locking hole in their base, so they will be held partly turned into the mount. This way their aperture lever is not engaged by the camera, and they behave just like m42s (and they still can work properly on film camera)...
Now, you can also short the A pin on top of this, but it will only serve for adding P-TTL...

Not entirely sure anyone, even myself, would trust a 15 year old with a drill and his prize 55mm prime

Put something conductive (aluminum foil) over the contacts and it will work. (My K20 doesn't care, but my K5 won't stop down a lens that doesn't short some of the contacts, haven't bothered to check which, though I suspect the lowest one is the only one that matters.)

This would probably be easiest, and less likely to cause damage to either boy or lens

Thanks to both of you for your help though

[deus ursus]

[...]There are other things that Pentax might prioritise in my opinion, than catering to the extremely marginal desires of a very minor group of users who may occasionally want to use their old lenses with open-aperture composition. [...]

Considering the low market share Pentax has, I believe it is the group of Pentax users that never heard of Pentax before they purchased one, that is "[i]very[/] minor". Therefore, I believe the group of users that have gone from analogue Pentax to digital Pentax, and have legacy glass, is the major group.

For the record, I'm in neither of those groups, I still shoot film. I have only one A lens, the rest (3) are M's, so if Pentax de-crippled the K-mount, that would make one less reason for me to stay on film. I'm all for de-crippling anyway.