67 lens on K10D

I know the Pentax literature states that 67 lenses can be use on the K10D with an adaptor, but has anyone here actually done it? I ask because I've noticed the 67 400/4's can be had relatively cheaply (about £300 seems to be reasonable - to compare, a 400/4 in Canon EOS mount costs £2k+) but I don't know much about them, would they make for a good lens on digital? I imagine that they have the SMC coatings, excellent build quality and the K10 would only use the sweetest of sweet spots in the centre of the glass. On the negative side, I'd imagine that they're very heavy and lacking in any form of automation.

How far off the mark am I? Anybody got any pics taken with a 67 lens on digital? And where would you go for an adaptor?

There's no reason why you shouldn't and you can probably still buy the adapter new.

The only limitation may be that a lens designed for 6x7 will not have as high a resolution as one designed for a smaller format. The reason being that large format negatives do not need enlarging as much as small format ones.

I have never tried this, nor do I know anyone who has, so maybe the best bet would be to find a dealer with stock who would let you pop them on the camera and try it out.

I use a 645 and I've toyed with the idea of using the lenses on my DS BUT the adapter is hugely big and expensive, you lose all automation and, as JR says, the lenses aren't designed for sub-miniature formats. I decided it just wasn't worth the bother.

As gartmore says the main problem with this is the price of the adaptor - I considered getting one for 645->K, or 67->645 but they're too expensive to make it worthwhile.

I did buy an adaptor that allows me to use Pentacon fit lenses on the 645 though, so I've now got a couple of Carl Zeiss lenses for it.

Thanks for your replies - looks like it'd probably only be viable if I had an existing collection of 67 lenses rather than buying them specifically for the K10D then.

Maybe one day I'll buy a 67 kit and then I'll get the adaptor and experiment to my heart's content. If I do then I'll be sure to post the results here first!

I just aquired a used K20D and have a Pentax K mount to 67 adapter, a 67 helicoid spacer and a nice old Takumar 67 135 F4 macro. It's all manual of course and any combination makes the package nose heavy. If you shoot macro, it's usually manual anyway. Actually two friends remarked on how light the 135/adapter was on the body. It looks massive and actually I like the feel and mass for hand held macro stuff. I also prefer the BG battery grip on the body which many people do not. I have big hands. I wouldn't want to be carrying it too far by hand or with a neck strap. Regarding the adapers, I prefer the Pentax original rather than the aftermarket ones just because. The Pentax has a pin that you can rotate the lens 90 degrees. That feature does nothing with the small D sensor though. The after market ones are inexpensive and have a protubance for a tripod mount which might be good for some of the intermediate length 67 lenses. I am concerned about too much stress on the camera body bayonet mount. But I use this body with a Sigma Bigma and that thing weighs a ton. The conventional wisdom is stay with K mount lenses, but I never take the popular path and I am just a hobbiest.
One other comment I have heard using the larger lenses is that you are using the 'sweet spot' on the larger lens with the small D sensor and there may be some small improvement but I am not clear on that. The old Takumar sure feels and operates so nicely. You can occasionally pick those lenses up for very little. One other point is that I have not taken many pictures with this combination that I would show anyone as I have not had it very long or used it much. That might clarify things a bit.

Hi, I have to second John Riley on this one. You should try to find a dealer that let's you do just that. Only then can you decide if it's worth the investment. I use a 645nII and use the lenses on my DSLR as well. Bought a cheap adapter from FotoDiox ($65) and love the results, but there are exceptions. All the lenses are doing fine on my DSLR, very nice contrast and sharp throughout the corners. Then there is the 645 FA 120mm /f4 macro, a lens I hoped would do equally well, but proved to be quite a dissapointment. There's strong color fringing and the sharpness is nothing to brag about. But this lens is doing well on my 645. Why this lens is acting so different than the others, I don't know. So if you have your eye set on a particular lens, only a real world try can give you the right answer here.

Hefty. Have experimented with the Mamiya lens 150mm on the K10, but borrowed the lens. Hoped to use with the 1.7 converter. Discovered that the 150 was 3.5 and did not work well with the 1.7. I undestand that the 1.7 needs F4 or more to be successful??

I was pleased with the result without the converter, but am aiming at wildlife shots, so have not pursued this farther.

I am interested if the 6x7 would allow me to shoot wildlife using the converter. With no 300mm lens in sight I am still tempted and would also be interested in any comments from trhose who have tried this.

The other Pentax site has a 300mm plus thread and there is interesting comments there on the use of the 6x7 on digital. Might be worth a visit.

regards Thoramay.

Well, two and a half years on from my initial post I still haven't got myself a Pentax 6x7, nor any lenses for one, so I still haven't tried anything on my K10D.

I do now have a 645 though so I'm a step closer to getting there...