M42 for Bellows

On a whim I've just bought a set of Bellows and as luck would have it I also got hold of an M42 to K mount adaptor that fits snugly inside the mount (don't think it's genuine Pentax though)

What I need now is a reasonably priced M42 lens to stick on the front (around £30 would be nice), I seem to recall reading the Takumar 55mm is a sound option but what else could you guys suggest, would a faster lens make very much difference to how bright the viewfinder is going to be?

Be careful if your using a M42 bellows on a dSLR; you might not be able to get it off because of the parts of the bellows that interfere with the camera's protruding flash.

No advice on the lens.

Yes, I was considering adapting that bit but will just use a short extension tube on the back of the bellows.

That's easily solved.
Put a short extension ring on the camera, follow up with the bellows.

regards
Bernard

If you have a K mount 50mm you can use a reversing ring to
fit it to the bellows.

The Takumar 55mm f/1.8's are good. You could also try a 55mm
Chinon f/1.7 for about £25

The extension tube at the camera lens will restrict you to
quite large magnifications.

A K bellows is much more useful. I have the Pentax K set,
but I'm just messing around with a Novoflex bellows that
looks to be M42, but is actually about M41.3 and I can't
fit any lenses to it

I did consider that Algi but never liked the thought of a lenses gubbins exposed to god knows what, especially when getting up close and personal to creepy crawlies

The Carl Zeiss Jena's seem to go for a reasonable price, anyone got any experience with those?

You could cut a hole in an end cap and attach it.

The CZ Pancolor is a good lens but they aren't cheap.

I've used some of the Zeiss Jena lenses. They are a good lens. The 50mm f2.8 screw mount works well with close ups.
These lenses where mainly made for the Praktika cameras in Jena, East Germany where The Karl Zeiss works originated.
They where quite underrated, because they where not very expensive. mainly because the East Germans sold them below cost to get hard currencies from
the West.


Horst

Thanks for the input folks, I think I'm going to try and find a 1.4 Tak, failing that it'll be a 1.8, I had a play about holding a K mount f2 in front of the bellows and I think I need as much light as possible which rules out the f2.8 Jena.

You could also make a K to M42 adapter out of a non-auto K extension tube and a M42 T2 adapter. The extension tube is a good fit into the T2 and the latter has 3 grub screws that will securely hold the extension tube.


The reason you need a non-auto K extension tube is that it won't fit the T2 with the stop down lever. You could also cut the lever off an auto K extension tube.

You might be better with the 1.8. I know with the M series lenses the 1.7 has a flatter plane of focus than the 1.4, and that may well be the case with the Taks. Ideally, of course, you should try and get a Bellows Takumar but they don't come up too often.

K.

I found with my K5, it does not make much, if any, difference in viewfinder brightness between f 1.8 and f 1.4.

I remember when I bought my first Spotmatic. The local Pentax agent recommended the 55mm f 2.8 lens over the 50mm f1.4 for taking macro stuff.
You can use a reversing ring, that gives you an even flatter field.
The same applies to the 50mm f2.8 Zeiss Jena lens.

To get any reasonable DOF, You will have to close it down to F8 or more.
When you use bellows, you need to use a tripod anyway. Therefore the lens does not have to have to have a super large f-stop for focussing.

The screw type Bellows lens from Pentax is only f4.


Horst

As Kris rightly says the bellows Takumar is ideal, designed to resolve a flat field close up and has no focussing mechanism, just an aperture ring...

However, what other lens is designed to do the same? An enlarging lens. I suggest sourcing, and they can't be expensive anymore, a Nikkor or Minolta one. They are 39mm Leica thread but you can get a 39>42 adapter

Isn't the Bellows Takumar 100mm?? ..... bit long for bellows use
if it is.

.

No it isn't. It is perfect for bellows. It makes it a lot easier for closeups. You have somewhat more light between the lens and the object compared to a 50mm lens.

Also if you completle contract the bellows it will just work as a normal 100mm lens with infinity focus.. As Ken mentioned. It is the ideal lens for Bellows.
I own the 100mm f4 SMC Tacumar. I used it with my Spotmatic and with a K-adaptor on the Back off the bellows with my Super-A.
The Lens is very good.