[Cuthbert]

No problem go for it, the reviews are not copyright protected.

Be careful with these old (K, M, A Series) zooms, as they are quirky & fun to use and soon you will have a large collection of them!
I always take one with me on my travels and get good results.

I'd stay away from anything newer than the A Series, I have a couple FA zooms and they leave me cold just like the plastic they are made from.

Phil.

So far I always tried to avoid the zoom because my MX came with a M40-80 and it was bad..very bad!

I also have a Tamron 70-210 that is moderately good but it weights a ton and the K1000SE you see there came with a funky Albinator zoom that looks pretty cheap.

In the meantime I am looking for a Super A to compliment the zoom I also found this:



Can you explain me how it does work? Is it a good purchase for 40 quid?

[wombat2go]

Can you explain me how it does work? Is it a good purchase for 40 quid?

It is an AF080 ring flash for the smc Pentax-M Macro 1:4 100mm.
It is TTL controlled, so needs an early dslr like Pentax ist, ist ds etc.
I also use mine in manual mode ( it has full or 1/4 setting) with the K-01

ps What is so bad about the Pentax -M 1:2.8 40 ~ 80mm zoom?
I have one it seems bright to focus and sharp enough.

I have seen other bad reports of that lens.

[Cuthbert]

It is an AF080 ring flash for the smc Pentax-M Macro 1:4 100mm.
It is TTL controlled, so needs an early dslr like Pentax ist, ist ds etc.
I also use mine in manual mode ( it has full or 1/4 setting) with the K-01

ps What is so bad about the Pentax -M 1:2.8 40 ~ 80mm zoom?
I have one it seems bright to focus and sharp enough.

I have seen other bad reports of that lens.

Thanks, I've a LX so it will work fine, it came with an auction with a A 100mm macro, a Super A, bellows...the 100mm went above 90 quid so I left, the Super A also went north of what I wanted to spend so in the end that was the only thing I could buy, does it also work with 50 mm macros?

For the zoom, ok mine was in pretty bad shape, and generally I find the so called "standard zooms" useless, so I assume I can be a little biased, but my experience is that the macro function was pretty useless, the lens wasn't sharp, it felt cheaply made (while for instance the A zoom is very well made, and so are the other M lenses besides the 28mm f2.8 that feels a little cheap but not so cheap as the 40-80) and image quality is pretty mediocre.

[wombat2go]

does it also work with 50 mm macros?

For the zoom, ok mine was in pretty bad shape,

I am not sure if AF080 works in the 50mm, with the closer macro distance. Perhaps somebody can answer.

For the smc Pentax-M Macro 1:4 100mm, I just took 2 test photos at 50mm and f/5.6 and here are the camera jpgs from the K-01.
There might be some reasons for the bad images reported from it.
Firstly , wear as you mention, The copy here is pristine and tight as a zoom needs to be. Old zooms tend to lose corner sharpness, in my experience, or get lopsided blur as they wear..
The build quality of the copy here is similar to all the other good -M lenses in the collection here.

Secondly, when not in "macro" the minimum focus distance is quite long, more than 1.2 metres.
That might lead users to think it is not sharp, indoor portraits etc.

The first photo was focussed on the dial needle. There is a bit of color fringe at the lamp, however the lamp is a bit over exposed.
The dial numbers are still fairly sharp at 100%
The fence test , second shows that this lens across the frame sharpness at 100% is as good or maybe better than the other old manual zooms I have here
https://app.box.com/s/uixcf4sknulvaqfmh8p25f59lsdrgqw1
https://app.box.com/s/fa2202iu5pypjk69nmez2ck5hsh5u4gz

[wombat2go]

This is my "new" vintage RB67, as used today with the Mamiya-Sekor C 1:3.8 f=90mm.

Last weekend I used the chimney finder which I found difficult, so this weekend I am trying the prism, and finding it easier.
This camera is very heavy with the prism on.

I fitted new bellows and foam to the body , and checked the shutter timing of this lens.
I have 2 more lenses to check before use.
It will take me a while to accumulate enough rolls to process, to see how the camera is performing.

[gofour3]

So far I always tried to avoid the zoom

Yes these old zooms can be divas, but you can coax good shots out of them.

Phil.

[Cuthbert]

Yes these old zooms can be divas, but you can coax good shots out of them.

Phil.

Yes you can, here there are some I've taken with the A 35-210:







I assume with this zoom ratio I won't be needing any other zoom, unless I would shoot more wildlife but I don't think Pentax ever offered anything like the FD 100-300, and at the moment I'm happy with it, I wish it was smaller because I can't hold it too tight and it's fatiguing to walk for many hours with it, but I assume it's a trade off.

[gofour3]

Yes you can, here there are some I've taken with the A 35-210:







I assume with this zoom ratio I won't be needing any other zoom, unless I would shoot more wildlife but I don't think Pentax ever offered anything like the FD 100-300, and at the moment I'm happy with it, I wish it was smaller because I can't hold it too tight and it's fatiguing to walk for many hours with it, but I assume it's a trade off.

Very nice, especially the swan.

Yes you have a zoom that covers a large focal range, so yep it will be heavy. (Still mostly a metal lens)

If you are looking for a good manual focus wide zoom, then the M24-35/3.5 is a decent choice.

Phil.

[arnold]

I love these solid Nikkormats, and find them less bulky than the F1 and F2 Nikons. This one arrived today in very good condition.

[hoopsontoast]

[Jonathan Mac]

A quick shot of my MZ-5N & "M" 50/1.7 sitting on a picnic table.


Pentax MZ-5N with 'M' 50mm f/1.7, on tour at the Washington state coast by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr

[Jean Poitiers]

Unbelievable thrift store score yesterday ... all for 21€ !!!

Back left to right : a Medical Nikkor 120/4 (5€), a Canon F-1 with FD 35/2.8 (5€) and a Nikon F3 with Micro Nikkor 55/2.8 plus MD4 (5€) ...
Front left to right : a Minolta XD7 with MD 50/3.5 Macro, a Nikkormat FT N with HC Auto 50/2 and an engraved OM-1 with 50/1.8 plus Recordata Back 1 (4€) ...

The OM-1 is engraved "HOPITAL ERASME" on one side of the prism and "OPTHALMOLOGIE" on the other side. This hospital is in Bruxelles ?!

Everything works at the moment except for the meter on the Nikkormat, the shutter is slow on the XD7 and I cannot (yet) get the MD4 to work. Cannot test the Medical Nikkor ... too bad.

What's funny is that Gilbert got "fed up" adding all this up in his head to write the invoice pay ticket (you know, 5 + 4 + 5 + 5 ...), so when he came to the unmarked XD7, he said "1" ... and did the same for the Nikkormat despite it being marked "5". The F3 was also "unmarked", but we agreed that it was a 5€ item. Ha!

This is my best score by far ... only thing that comes close is finding an Angénieux 35-70 for 5€.

[aurele]

WOOOOOOAH ! This is a steal, a robbery, a hold up even !

You are the best of us for finding those !

[Jean Poitiers]

WOOOOOOAH ! This is a steal, a robbery, a hold up even !

You are the best of us for finding those !

Nope. Just damn lucky this time.

I have gotten the MD 4 to partially work. Battery check lights and power rewind only so far ...

[WPRESTO]

Unbelievable thrift store score yesterday ... all for 21€ !!!

Back left to right : a Medical Nikkor 120/4 (5€),

FYI: On EBAY the asking price for a Medical Nikkor is about $300~400 with a range from about $150 to $1000.