[tux]

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Is it possible to adapt an M42 bellows + slide copier to PK mount. I know I can buy an adapter for the camera side of the bellows but I was wondering what happens with the lens-end. I was planning on using an M 28mm f2.8 lens. Is this possible to attach to the bellows ??

[Ira]

Not without major and permanent adaptation of the lens. They don't have adapters that go the other way.

So if you want to buy a lens for this use plus great macro work, consider an M42 enlarger lens. I want one too.

They're out there, but I'm looking for a bargain. Most of what I see on eBay iis from Eastern Europe ranging from $50 to $75 with shippping, which is fine really, but I'm trying to snag a real deal close to home for this.

[RioRico]

I have two M42 bellows and one PK bellows. On the cheap Chinese PK bellows, the mounts at both ends can be unscrewed and supposedly replaced with other lens/camera mounts. On both M42 bellows, one Japanese (Bellowscope) and one German (I can't read the brand), the camera-side mounts rotate and could be unscrewed and replaced, but the lens-side mounts are cast in steel or iron or whatever.

One possible option for your M42 bellows: Buy a cheap Chinese PK macro extension tube set (US$8-10 shipped). The mount pieces are modular. Epoxy or screw the female PK mount from that set onto the lens-end of the bellows. Or find a totally trashed K1000 or the like, remove its lens-mount plate, and attach it to your bellows. Good luck!

PS: My PK bellows cost something like US$30. That's the simpler way to go.

[tux]

One possible option for your M42 bellows: Buy a cheap Chinese PK macro extension tube set (US$8-10 shipped). The mount pieces are modular. Epoxy or screw the female PK mount from that set onto the lens-end of the bellows. Or find a totally trashed K1000 or the like, remove its lens-mount plate, and attach it to your bellows. Good luck!

yeah looks like that is the way to go. I just ordered a macro extension set from ebay for $6.80 and from the pics it looks like one side is threaded & the other is the pk mount. I may need a coupler to match the thread but will measure that when it arrives but hope it is 42mm thread & will screw straight in.

Can anyone tell me if the slide copier is any good for scanning slides ?

[Lloydy]

I've got a Russian Helios bellows -

Russian Helios Macro Bellows Attachment

which has interchangeable mounts, so with the right adaptors or a bit of ingenuity just about anything can be fitted. And it's a very good quality bellows as well, very rigid.

I've tried it with two slide scanning attachments that I've got and they didn't work, but they are probably film rather than digital, so that's something to be aware of.

[newarts]

Another scheme might be to mount the lens backwards. A 42->49 adapter will do the trick for your M 28:2.8 42mm-49mm 42mm to 49mm step up filter ring adapter - eBay (item 180514653176 end time Feb-24-11 21:55:05 PST)

Mounting the lens backwards is good; it'll give you more working distance.

Enlarger lenses are usually 39mm so a 42-39mm step down ring is needed; Leica is 39mm so sometimes the ring will be listed as an M42-Leica adapter. http://cgi.ebay.com/39-42-Screw-mount-lens-39mm-42mm-adapter-Ring-/360184064...item53dca4a9ab

Dave

[Ira]

Enlarger lenses are usually 39mm so a 42-39mm step down ring is needed; Leica is 39mm so sometimes the ring will be listed as an M42-Leica adapter. 39-42 Screw mount lens 39mm-42mm adapter Ring - eBay (item 360184064427 end time Feb-19-11 07:14:52 PST)

Dave

What's listed as Leica 39MM won't always work, because it's meant for rangefinders and won't properly focus on a DLSR.

[stover98074]

I use a lot of enlarging lenses on M42 bellows Asahi Pentax Auto Bellows. The lenses are M39 and an inexpensive $5 eBay M39 to M42 is all that is required.



A bellows and enlarging lens works and at a good price.

https://sites.google.com/site/inexpensivemacrophotography/6-enlarging-lenses

[georgweb]

I think you could try taping your lens onto the M42 mount or try any other 'diy' solution as this will be a totally static setup at home, right ?

I am sure there is an optically best way to do this, but I don't really know which :-)

Here's what I did lately. I took some pieces I had and gave it a try.

M42 distance rings + CZJ Sonnar135 + achromatic near lens (+1.7 ?) + long lens hoods

Put this combo on a tripod and directed it onto a light box.
Results were as good ar as bad as the slide, quite good imo.


This was easier than I thought and it's a nice winter activity.
Best of success,
Georg

[Phil1]

Bag an inexpensibe M42 lens and you are in business. I can suggest the good Pentax Super Takumar 55mm F1.8 or the 50MM.

I just aquired a set of M42 macro extensions, off brand made in Japan for 99 cents plus postage. That should take me almost anywhere. Small light and compact all metal too.

[georgweb]

... I was planning on using an M 28mm f2.8 lens. Is this possible to attach to the bellows ??

I just realised that exactly this lens is being used reversed and extended by user yeatzee with excellent results. Again I am not sure which setup does what but in this case taping the front of the lens to anything is even easier than the back :-)

[tux]

I have a K-x .... I thought 50mm would be to long. I was told that I would need a wide like a 28mm due to the crop factor?

I do have an M42 takumar 1.4 50mm & an M42 helios 58mm which will screw straight on. The takumar is very sharp. Also has anyone tried copying slides with the slide copier using a DSLR ? Is the IQ any good or am I wasting my time ?

[newarts]

What's listed as Leica 39MM won't always work, because it's meant for rangefinders and won't properly focus on a DLSR.

Thanks Ira, that's good to know, but it won't matter for a bellows.

Dave

[newarts]

I have a K-x .... I thought 50mm would be to long. I was told that I would need a wide like a 28mm due to the crop factor?

I do have an M42 takumar 1.4 50mm & an M42 helios 58mm which will screw straight on. The takumar is very sharp. Also has anyone tried copying slides with the slide copier using a DSLR ? Is the IQ any good or am I wasting my time ?

Your goal is to project a 24x36mm field onto an 18x24 sensor, a magnification of 2/3X (1/crop.factor)

This implies the distance from the sensor to the slide must be greater than:

Total.distance = focal.length(1+m)^2/m = focal.length(1+2/3)^/(2/3) = 4.166 x focal.length

If the slide holder is attached to the bellows frame you are right and the 50mm lens might be too long...in any event, the above equation will allow you to estimate what focal length lens will work for you.

Just estimate how far the slide will be from the sensor (or from the camera's lens mount +45.5mm). divide that distance by 4.166; the result is about the longest focal length that will work.

The shortest possible lens that'll work depends on how close the lens can be moved to the sensor.

Dave

[RioRico]

What's listed as Leica 39MM won't always work, because it's meant for rangefinders and won't properly focus on a DLSR.

Thanks Ira, that's good to know, but it won't matter for a bellows.

It's as if you've already added ~16mm of extension to the L39/LTM lens. For lots of macro work, that's a benefit, or neutral at worst. For copying slides, I don't know.

I'll also suggest that if MANY slides are to be copied, a dSLR might not be the best tool. Besides all those shutter actuations, there's the matter of light. If *all* slide copying is done is a standard lighting setup, same color temperature, then fine. But otherwise the colors in the copied images may be skewed between sessions. It might be better to use a scanner, the same scanner, with consistent light and exposure.