I'm not sure that "Autofucus" is entirely a typo...

Adventures in archaeology continue - I found the following label in the back of the ERC:

"By Appointment...Wallace Heaton Ltd, London."

A bit of rummaging finds that WH were taken over by Dixons in 1972, so I think what I have here is someone's mid '70s decision to upgrade their camera but keep the lens and case from their older one as this case has to be older than the KM. What Pentax bodies would have been contemporary with the Super Takumar lenses?

I'll give it a go when it stops raining - I have tried some indoor test shots but they weren't terribly good, seemed a bit dark. I put the camera in Av mode and the lens was set to manual, so the camera should have been metering on the basis of how much light was coming in. Will try again later - I'd love to get some decent shots with this lens on digital, although it's a bit of a pain using the adapter so I suspect it'll spend most of its time on my ES II.

I have my KM - lens turned out to be a Super Takumar with a genuine Pentax M42 adapter, all components pretty much perfect!

I must have another go with the Tak on my K-m, a brief test wasn't terribly successful - with the camera in Av mode the results were a bit under-exposed and looked rather flat. I'll try it again outdoors in better light when it stops raining.

I bought this a few days ago on ebay, as I'd been after a KM for a while and it looked in good condition. It turned out to be almost mint! The seller said that it had been modified to take M42 lenses and came with a 35mm f3.5, which turned out to be a Super Takumar. The ERC was also included and I think it's the correct vintage for the camera - I realise that it would also fit some screw mount bodies so I'm going by the typeface:

[IMG]http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x21/Kingofthemountains/IMGP2029.jpg[/IMG]

So, how was it modified for the M42 mount?

[IMG]http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x21/Kingofthemountains/IMGP2030.jpg[/IMG]

Yep, that's a genuine Pentax M42 adapter - I've since removed it and united the KM with a K 55mm f1.8 in a similarly good condition. The Super Tak has gone to my ES II, with the adapter now in my camera bag in case I want to try it on my K-m.

Not bad for £37!

Does it have any effect on AF functionality or light metering? If not, I may well buy one as I have a fair number of older lenses. How is it in terms of focussing accuracy?

I realise that the seller claims it doesn't affect AF but they're not exactly an independent tester!

The Pentax-M 135mm f3.5 should be available for around that price, it's fast and sharp but all-manual. You should also be able to find a Pentax-M 75-150mm f4, again an excellent lens but manual. I have both and wouldn't sell either, but the zoom sees more use on my MX than my K-m simply as manual zooms are a bit of a pain with shake reduction. You should also be able to find the Pentax-M 80-200mm f4.5 - look for the earlier version with the chrome ring below the part of the barrel that has the lettering on. Again, all manual but a very solid performer.

I don't think you will find much worth owning in a modern AF zoom for that sort of money. Pentax have never offered many "very fast" telephoto zooms - usually you're looking at f4.5-5.6. The only way to get fast, sharp and cheap (relatively cheap) is to buy manual focus primes like the K 135mm f2.5 or K 120mm f2.8. Usually the faster versions of lenses are rarer - for the average person in the '70s f3.5 was perfectly adequate and they simply couldn't afford the extra for the faster lens, so there are fewer of them around now and those that do exist don't change hands often.

IIRC the ebay shop "Not Just Cameras" had an air release for sale when I last looked - same idea but using a rubber bulb connected to a length of hose with the air pressure generated by squeezing the bulb triggering the shutter.

Worth keeping an eye on that shop anyway, they often have interesting stuff, prices are fair, and they're good to deal with. I would not be surprised if they have a few cable releases too.

I've just been smiling at the Pentax fan page on Facebook - they've just posted a few tips for using manual lenses on your DSLR and had a load of comments back along the lines of "hey, you missed a bit!"

What on earth do you want one of those for? It's all hot and sandy and not terribly exciting for photography as it all looks the same.

(Desert = large sandy area such as the Sahara. Dessert = pudding)