Andy Abrahams, X Factor

Andy Abrahams of the British TV show 'The X factor'on stage on Saturday at the Harold Hill, Romford, Festival. I used my K10D with my 1977 vintage 135mm f2.5 SMC Takumar with the bayonet-screw adapter,aperture priority,ISO 800, Tungsten balance.
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When shown here as it is, you see some strange compression artifacts around the head.
But.....when opened to the larger size they disappear. Full size you can see the beautiful bokeh of that lovely takumar. The M42 Taks still hold their own, even in this digital age. Great capture.

Martin.

Yes,not bad for a lens which cost me £10 years ago from the Brentwood Gazette newspaper! (they had a pentax ES but their photographer BROKE it so they sold the lens to me ...

Peter,



After a lot of fooling around with DA, FA, F and A zooms, I decided to trot out my favorite Tak, Super Tak and SMC primes, set the digital camera to Manual compensated by 2 stops, and set about to learn what M42 lenses could do.

So far I've fallen in love again with:

Super Multi-Coated MACRO - Takumar 1:4/50
Super Multi-Coated Takumar 1:3.5/28
Super Takumar 1:2.5/135 (as yours)
Super Takumar 1:1.4/50


I also have an SMC Tak 1:1.8/55 and a Super Tak 1:3.5/135 which I use reversed on extension tubes or bellows for macro work. (Haven't tried these on the DSLR yet).

Unless I'm traveling light, the zooms now stay on the shelf.

My next 3 or 4 purchases will be more M42 to K Mount adapters. (I like to remove the little spring lock and leave the adapter on the lens rather than locking it into the camera body - which has always scared me).

I'm so glad that Pentax has maintained the usability of all screw mount lens with Manual/Auto switches on their DSLR series. Hope this continues as long as possible. These lenses will outlive the digital bodies - and me

Best thing about using these gems is that they are so affordable now.

Retro LBA?

Hmmmmm, so you are the one, responsible for driving those EBay prices sky high.
I have been lurking for a while in "The takumar Club", on that other forum. I'll guess you know what I mean. It is a matter of weeks now, and the first S-M-C 1.4/50 Tak will arrive at my doorstep. I guess you might call that responsible LBA.

Martin.

Martin wrote:

Hmmmmm, so you are the one, responsible for driving those EBay prices sky high.

Martin,

Not guilty (for once), I've had my M42's for years now, and bought them from other Pentax Spotmatic fans - not eBay.

Sorry to hear the prices are going up - but maybe that's the cost of quality.

You'll see what I mean when you get your 1.4, and I know you'll love it!

Enjoy

I will..............thanks.

Martin.

Mac, I dont have the others but I know the 28mm is one of the best lenses ever.

My dear friend, if you can get your hands on ANY of these lenses and a good adapter........

We've had discussions here on DA lenses being somewhat stressed on FF or film bodies for which they weren't designed.

Imagine these superb 35mm primes, which were crafted to handle edge-to-edge clarity, now being used "right down the middle" on DSLRs.

Can we say tack sharp?

Can we say personnality?

Ohhhhh........

Mac wrote
me too how do you remove the pin and still get them to stay on the camera.Thats the only reason i havent gone down the m42 screw route.
Roy

Roy,

To be clear, I use the flush mount Pentax adapters - not the inexpensive flange type which add length to the mount and we lose the ability to focus on infinity.

I don't do anything to the M42 Lenses at all.

I remove a flat little tempered leaf spring from the adapter so it won't lock into the camera opening (this may just be paranoia on my part as a tool is included to compress the spring and turn the adapter for removal).

Now, the adapter twists onto the camera body just like a K mount lens and you snug it up without it locking. Next we screw in those wonderful old M42s - set on M for manual. Snug is all that's needed to keep the lens steadily and safely mounted.

I find that when I unscrew the lens from the adapter, the adapter usually releases from the body - no biggie - just a matter of then unscrewing the adapter from the lens.

Don't overtighten anything and all will be fine.

I've found on my K110D that these lenses let a lot of light through and I think this overwhelms the light meter - resulting in underexposed shots.

I've compensated by a full 2 stops on the Av buttom and this usually does the trick.

I set the camera to AV and let it find the appropriate shutter speed and ISO for the manual f stops I set on the lens.

I'm sure this isn't the only or even the best way to accomodate these lenses, but it works a treat for me.

(Thank Goodness for the preview switch - sure helps with trial-and-error).

Get yourself a Tak or two and have fun

I know... rapture... and I do have the adapter...

Ken

EDIT: must get round to trying out the 28, 35, 55, 135 and 200 SMC Taks on the DS. I probably avoided it at the start due to the learning curve and then got carried away with later lenses.