[raymeedc]

I cant say for sure really, the mixture of the satin chrome alloy and black is really nice. the small form factor of the Takumar and Auto-Takumar's are also a real plus. 46mm and even 38mm for some of these. The aperture ring is also at the front instead of the back. beyond that I just really like the look. there is no 'window' like on later Takumars. they are the shifting point between the lens design that reflects the m37's of the Asahiflex and the standard (like that of the Super-Takumars) that became the Takumar mystique later on.

BLUE QUOTE-----"For one thing, its the size. The auto-tak 35mm compared to the super tak makes the super tak look big even though they have the same optical formula."





Unfortunately, I get what you're talking about..... especially because, as an *ist DS prime lens shooter, I strongly favor the "smallness" factor of my lenses..... just as I was beginning to see the light at the end of my lens collecting tunnel..... You guys should be ashamed of yourselves!

---

Last edited by raymeedc; 08-30-2009 at 07:03 PM.

[jogiba]

is your 2,350mm lens a telescope?

Yes, it's a 2350mm F10 vs the longest Pentax made lens the 2000mm F13.5.


Pentax 2000mm F13.5 mirror lens

[_phil_]

Thanks for all the helpful replies. I have to confess I'm not sufficiently reassured yet.

WRT stop-down metering, that's how I've always done it anyway.

I'm looking harder at the Katz Eye - particularly in light of the comment that it's been improved. I think if I can focus ok I might be tempted to move.

The smaller VF definitely is a worry. I borrowed a friend's EOS350, screwed a few of my taks on (with adapter) and was most unimpressed. Couldn't get anything in focus. I've yet to look through a K7 but as was mentioned, the smaller VF will be a challenge for my old eyes.

Phil

[Andi Lo]

Borrow your friend's adapter and try it with the 5D, I think it'll be better since the camera is full frame.

[G_Money]

WRT stop-down metering, that's how I've always done it anyway.

I'd really suggest taking a couple of your lenses to a shop where you can fit them to a DSLR and try them yourself. Like you, I came to Pentax digital because of the hope of using my Takumars from my Spotmatic. days. It's a little more involved than just stop-down metering. It's more like the old days using preset aperture lenses, where you'd take your meter reading stopped down, manually open the lens to focus, and then manually stop it down again to shoot. It's more involved than using your Taks on your Spotmatic. There are shooters here whose work with M42 lenses is astounding, and my hat's off to them. The promise of using my beloved old lenses lured me back to Pentax, where I learned how great their newer stuff was. If I'd been given the chance to test drive a K100D with a Takumar, things might have happened differently.

Just keeping it real, dawg.

[_phil_]

I'd really suggest taking a couple of your lenses to a shop where you can fit them to a DSLR and try them yourself. Like you, I came to Pentax digital because of the hope of using my Takumars from my Spotmatic. days. It's a little more involved than just stop-down metering. It's more like the old days using preset aperture lenses, where you'd take your meter reading stopped down, manually open the lens to focus, and then manually stop it down again to shoot. It's more involved than using your Taks on your Spotmatic. There are shooters here whose work with M42 lenses is astounding, and my hat's off to them. The promise of using my beloved old lenses lured me back to Pentax, where I learned how great their newer stuff was. If I'd been given the chance to test drive a K100D with a Takumar, things might have happened differently.

Just keeping it real, dawg.

I've never used any of my lenses as "auto" (i.e., stop-down when shutter pressed) because not all were, so my method is to focus wide open (with fast lenses this is a breeze), compose, stop-down-meter and shoot. Done!

Of course I pre-select the shutter based on the situation. After the first shot, any taken in the same environment require only a slight adjustment, if required, to the focus and aperture.

I Never really shoot motion, so this works for me.

For posed portraits or macros, I use a tripod and after metering and initial composing I lift my eye from the camera and shoot when "the moment is right". I've had great success with this simple method but of course use the VF when critical focussing (i.e., limited DOF) is needed.

I think I'm just wanting too much (too little actually) in wanting the latest technology to work as well as the old.

Sure, I know the old cameras can't do video or even AF and... but they took good pictures as the primary objective instead of a feature rich list of "gismos"

Phil

[séamuis]

I've never used any of my lenses as "auto" (i.e., stop-down when shutter pressed) because not all were, so my method is to focus wide open (with fast lenses this is a breeze), compose, stop-down-meter and shoot. Done!

Of course I pre-select the shutter based on the situation. After the first shot, any taken in the same environment require only a slight adjustment, if required, to the focus and aperture.

I Never really shoot motion, so this works for me.

For posed portraits or macros, I use a tripod and after metering and initial composing I lift my eye from the camera and shoot when "the moment is right". I've had great success with this simple method but of course use the VF when critical focussing (i.e., limited DOF) is needed.

I think I'm just wanting too much (too little actually) in wanting the latest technology to work as well as the old.

Sure, I know the old cameras can't do video or even AF and... but they took good pictures as the primary objective instead of a feature rich list of "gismos"

Phil

then disregarding the potential difficulties with the viewfinder, it should be very easy to switch from an m42 mount SLR to a K mount DSLR.

[G_Money]

It should be a breeze for you then. You don't really even need to "meter", you could just set the camera to Aperture Priority, focus wide open, stop down to your selected aperture and the metering will be done automatically for you.

I wonder how hard it would be for someone to engineer an M42 adapter that also used the aperture actuation lever to actuate the pin on an M42 lens. Then using an M42 lens would be like using a K or M lens, negating the need to manually stop down.

[raymeedc]

I wonder how hard it would be for someone to engineer an M42 adapter that also used the aperture actuation lever to actuate the pin on an M42 lens. Then using an M42 lens would be like using a K or M lens, negating the need to manually stop down.

I've wondered the same thing myself. Some enterprising, mechanically inclined (much more so than myself, unfortunately) forum member could make himself a little extra cash, while at the same time bestowing upon his fellow Pentaxians what would be a greatly appreciated service (not to mention placing himself in a legendary exalted position) by attending to this matter..... I know I, for one, would be at the head of the potential buyer's line.

[Andi Lo]

I've actually heard something like this from talking with a store rep when digital first came out, and it was made by a company in NY for 200$. Not sure if he's bluffing or it's really an M42-EOS stop-down adapter.

[Steelski]

From what I know.
I have somehow accumulated the knowledge from others, but here is what I know.
The K-7 is much better at metering old lenses than the other K cameras. I certainly did not like the K20 and K10 metering with my manual lenses, but somewhere I asked about this and someone mentioned it was much improved.
I also asked about the K-7 focus screen. The K-7 has reportedly an improved non split screen for Manual focusing/lenses below F5.6. Apparently much better than the K10 and 20 models.

Ok, so, what I have been told is basically that the K-7 is an improvement over the K10 and K20 for metering, and includes a better screen for manual focus.
I would go out and try the K-7 before making the mistake of thinking that the situation is the same as the older cameras.

[cbaytan]

My first film SLR was the Canon Pellix QL w/ 58mm F1.2 in 1966 and I now have the K-7 that is a fun camera since you could use all of the old manual lenses just fine. It does everything the old SLRs did and added HDR mode and a myriad of other features.

I am an ex-FD user too, now you don't mean you find a way using using FD lenses with K7 do you?