[hinman]

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Yeah, I thought I never would fall for LBA as I am running a low budget for my hobby. Maybe too much coffee or something. When I saw my watched item close to expiration in ebay, I click and then somewhat remorse for not doing the proper research. And I fall for this one today getting

TAKUMAR ASAHI 28-80mm MACRO
ebay ended item with picture
TAKUMAR ASAHI 28-80mm MACRO FOR PENTAX A MOUNT - (item 200132795900 end time Aug-02-07 17:40:37 PDT)

from ebay for $37 bucks and later find out people complaining about it as a crappy lens. There are threads praising Takumar on the M42 mount version. How would a newbie like me can tell? My bad excuse but still remorse!!! A bad choice is still a bad choice. It is coming in a week's time.

Any information and consolation from you all can give me some comfort. I know I sound like a baby today -- it is only $37 bucks but I see the LBA starting to crack up on me that I never thought would happen.



My blog post on what I am looking and I recently ordered the FA 50 f/1.4 and it is on its way and I like to have cheap zoom lens for macro and experimental steps in M lens

Hin's Tech Corner: Pentax Protrait Lens


Thanks,
Hin

[hinman]

I have a newbie question on the adapter for M42 mount. Once M42 adapter is mounted, do I need to unmount it for changing back to K mount lens. Say I mount the adapter, then change to use kit lens, do I need to unmount the adapter before changing back to my DA lens? I know this is a dumb question to ask but I don't know this thing. I heard many good things on M42 lens but having the need to unmount adapter will make it seems painful in lens changing.

Thanks,
Hin

[FotoPete]

I have a newbie question on the adapter for M42 mount. Once M42 adapter is mounted, do I need to unmount it for changing back to K mount lens. Say I mount the adapter, then change to use kit lens, do I need to unmount the adapter before changing back to my DA lens? I know this is a dumb question to ask but I don't know this thing. I heard many good things on M42 lens but having the need to unmount adapter will make it seems painful in lens changing.

Thanks,
Hin

yep, the M42 adapter sinks into the K mount plate. You'll need to use the adapter tool to unlock it before you can mount K lenses again.

RE: Takumar 28-80mm

haha ouch. yea I hear you man, one can't really prepare for these things. I've bought so many crappy lenses to get to where I am now. Even now it relaspes. Like just the other day, I almost withdrew my savings to get an ATX Tokina 80-200/2.8. (Would have damned my solid CPC PII 70-200/4) Luckily I saw the purple fringing and stopped myself.

Hey, theres a Pentax-A 28-80 (non SMc...should be the exact same as your Takumar 28-80) sitting on the shelf at the camera store. How about I drop by the store tomorrow and give you a little preview of whats to come? :P

[hinman]

Pete,

Much thanks for the needed reply. I am starting to like this PentaxForum way better than Pentax SLR forum as I don't hear from anyone to newbie question.

Now onto the M42 adapter, how easy it is to mount and remount the adapter, is it equivalent to mounting the lens. With bare hands and no extra tools, can I mount the M42 adapter easily?

Thanks again,
Hin

[Entropy]

From what I've heard - With the genuine Pentax adapter, it's really easy. With all third-party adapters, it's nearly impossible without the tool. Also, those adapters don't allow focusing to infinity because they stick out too far.

Unfortunately the genuine Pentax adapter is discontinued.

[Kguru]

Will you LBA long afflicted people take a vacation from Ebay for a while (a long while even better) ...
I'm starting to get LBA and you guys keep pushing Ebay prices up !!!

[tranq78]

Unfortunately the genuine Pentax adapter is discontinued.

I believe they are still available. I just bought one a little while ago. I had to wait a few weeks for delivery, but it is the Pentax brand adapter.

[rayallen]

From what I've heard - With the genuine Pentax adapter, it's really easy. With all third-party adapters, it's nearly impossible without the tool. Also, those adapters don't allow focusing to infinity because they stick out too far.

Unfortunately the genuine Pentax adapter is discontinued.

Not true on both counts. I have a non-genuine adapter and it allows infinity focus. It does need the tool to remove it.

The genuine Pentax adapter is still available. A friend in the US just got one from Pentax USA for me and he will mail it to me shortly.

[roscot]

This page is a bit out of date, and the avg prices are definitely on the low side, but it will give you a good idea of the quality of older Pentax and some 3rd party lenses.

Lens Ratings

[vinzer]

Not true on both counts. I have a non-genuine adapter and it allows infinity focus. It does need the tool to remove it.

The genuine Pentax adapter is still available. A friend in the US just got one from Pentax USA for me and he will mail it to me shortly.

Being in a country where Pentax has only started to gain prominence again (well, that's the trend in most countries, I guess ), you could find hidden treasures in some of our camera stores. I was browsing one of these stores one day, when I saw something in the corner of my eye, among the boxes of thread converters.

It was a bunch of original Pentax M42 adapters.

There was like 10 of them, and seemed as if they haven't been touched in a long long time. I snapped one up pronto. I guess living in a third-world country does have it's perks once in a while.

I would think that a lot of old brick-and-mortar camera stores would have original M42 adapters lying around. It's worth a try before heading out to place an order online.

[hinman]

@roscot
Thank you for the link for the lens rating, I find it useful though I have to take time to digest what all symbols means. Thanks, a great input for me

@vinzer
Thanks the comment. I wish an pentaxian come over and bring us some luck and fortunes from your place. Thank you.

Hin

[FotoPete]

Wait, why were you asking about the M42 adaptor again? Looking at russian lenses lately? =P

Removal Tool -> Genuine Pentax Adapter -> Third Party Adapter

Incase you were still wondering...both adapters are of the same size and support infinity focus.

Third Party Adapter -> Genuine Pentax Adapter

The genuine adapter as mention before can be removed without the tool/with a fingernail. The reason being that the bayonet is thinner so there's less resistance.

Third Party Adapter (top) -> Genuine Pentax Adapter (bottom)

[FotoPete]

and the heres a small followup to the Pentax - A 28-80mm test.







You can't really take alot of creative shots in a camera store but I tried haha. My K100D was being a WB nut again and so I lost alot of time fiddling with the WB presets and then just gave up. (Imma build myself a DIY expodisc one day when I get my hands on the right materials)

Overall it was a decent experience. The lens is of the same optical design as the SMC-A 28-80. The only apparent difference is the lack of the SMC. You probably find this lens a bit of a refreshing change. There is a macro mode on the zoom ring slightly past the 80mm mark that lets you focus closer.

Something to note is that while this lens is reasonably sharp retaining the same optics as its SMC cousin, there is some contrast issues and some fringing evident of the poorer coating.

[hinman]

I am married, please don't get me wrong. I owe you a big one. Thank you so much.

Hin (your big fan and admirer)

[FotoPete]

haha thanks for the kind comments.

Its been a hard journey for me too since I first started a little over a year ago. The MF realm is a hard one to master. All the rules of thumb and then the exceptions to note from manual lens usage to the largely uncharted world of manual lenses....

Like the whole takumar thing. You'd think cuz the takumar name was quite the legacy reading up on M42 lenses...Fast foward to the SMC-A generation and suddenly you realize that something happend and 'Takumar' fell from grace to another label for Pentax's non SMC afterthoughts. Then there's things like Cosina brand bashing. Largely true but you got hidden gems like the Viv. S1 28-105, 100/3.5 macro..etc. Not only that, but Cosina makes your Voightlanders and those new Zeiss ZF, ZM, and soon to be ZK lenses.

Then...theres the big picture, literally. Being the camera nerd/hobbyist of the family, I not only expect the slr results but I get the feeling everyone expects the best out of me/my camera too.

Like when you start, you really hope its all just something the salesperson can tell you from when he first delivers the sales pitch to the swiping and processing of your bank card at the counter. Unfortunately its nothing close and its largely stumbling through the fog from there.

All I can say is to take lots of photos/experiment and if there is anything the folks here on the forum can do in terms blowing some bit of that fog away so you can see the ground in front of you better...let us know!