Pentax Auto Bellows & K5 advice needed

Hi everyone,

I recently won an auction for a Pentax Auto Bellows unit.

It a K-mount unit in excellent condition and is beautifully well made. The only trouble is I can't seem to fit the K5 body to it as the bottom front of the camera juts out too far.
Is there a way round this or do I need an adapter ring or something? Any advice is, as always, much appreciated.

thanks in advance & all the best
Andy

Ah, so you're the guy who beat me to them!

I've not got the same model, but some of my bellows foul on the flash housing.
I have to use a short extension tube before the bellows to get them to fit.

Thanks Mike, any particular make?

maybe - it was about 2 weeks ago...

all the best
Andy

I have that bellows unit, Andy, & use it with my K7.

Have you tried releasing the camera mounting ring from the unit? When looking from the camera end, it's the chrome/knurled locking knob on the right.
Mount the camera to the ring then, with the rear standard as far back as it will go, locate the mounting ring with the camera attached & lock in.

Hope this helps,

Roger.

Thanks Roger,

I'll have another look.

cheers
Andy

I've got several models (Helios, BPM & pheonix??) though it may be the case with all of them.
Coker's tip might well solve my problem anyway, (thanks Roger!) must make sure I remember it.

For what it's worth, I had the same problem with the MZ-S and found that any of the Pentax auto extension tubes can be used to retro-fit the bellows unit to the camera. I haven't had any real chance to take any pictures that way yet but I used a #1 tube to connect the camera body to the bellows. Ultimately it will depend on how much movement you want out of the bellows, any of the three would work it's just the larger tube will limit your ability to ratchet back the bellows.