Originally posted by GhoSStrider Is there a Tele-Sandmar available for Pentax, or is this something you modified? I've seen these all over the place for Argus C-3 "Bricks," but have never seen any for Pentax.
AFAIK all the Argus rangefinders have a register of around 33mm, much shorter than the Pentax 45.45mm. But the Tele-Sandmar is very very easy to adapt to PK mount with infinity focus.
1) Cut a ~41mm hole in the middle of a one-buck PK body cap.
2) Use contact cement to glue the cap over the larger rear ring.
That's all there is! The rear element extends about 1mm past the body-cap's base, allowing plenty of clearance for the mirror. This black body cap (not the thin white one supplied by Pentax) is about 13mm thick. Positioning the lens thusly, subtracts that register difference and allows infinity focus.
Quote: Also, it's a bit longer than your 30mm cut-off, but I have a Vivitar Pre-set 35mm f3.5 that is positively tiny. The majority of the Vivitar 35mm f3.5's I see are much larger. This one's Serial No. starts with a 6, which is Olympus made, IIRC. It's got a very distinctive look to it...a good amount of spherical aberration wide open. This shot shows it off a little bit:
No image there, but I believe you anyway. That sounds real interesting! And better than my Loreo 35mm f/11 PC-shift lens-in-a-cap (30g). EDIT: Oops, that does sound too heavy. Thanks for checking.
I've another Enna Sandmar for Argus, the 35/4.5 (60g), supposed to have a 'funky' look, whatever that means. It is trickier to adapt than is the 100/4.5. Can't use a PK body cap -- too thick. Maybe an M42 body cap? Or I could do it with a 42mm-Series6 step ring -- I have to look for one. And that should work for a Tele-Sandmar too. And maybe also the Cintar 50/3.5. Hmmm...
Aesthetic qualm: I have two Tele-Sandmar 100s and one Sandmar 35. The Tele that I adapted was a bit beat-looking, so glue doesn't disfigure it too much. My others are collectible-quality, with complete cases+caps+hoods+etc all shining and clean. I'd hate to muck-up the 35. I need to find a cheap beat copy. Yet another quest.
But an ultralight in the 24-30mm range is still my goal. Off to fantasyland...