You can use the Pentax adapter K to convert your bayonet camera to screw thread. This will enable you to use the screw extension tubes, but you will need a screw thread lens.

Pentax 42mm thread lenses would be inexpensive and excellent. A 42mm to 39mm adapter would enable you to use screw thread Leica lenses on the tubes.

I don't think anything is available "off the shelf" to use your K bayonet lenses on the screw tubes, but I guess SRB might well make you something, at a cost....

You're certainly not being a pain! I can well remember trying to come to terms with the vast subject of phtotography, and it's a long learning curve that only gets steeper. The more you find out, the more you see there is to know...

Yes, you will need a screw thread converter. It wouldn't "distort" the image - this refers to the rendering of straight lines as straight lines, especially towards the edges of the image. (Pincushion and barrel distortion).

But as it is in effect enlarging the centre of the prime lens image and adding more glass into the light path it can have an effect on resolving power (definition, sharpness, etc.). Depending on the converter and the aperture used, this could be OK for portraiture (nice soft pictures?) but it all depends on what you are trying to achieve.

It will not have the crispness of a prime 85mm lens, that's for sure.

I may have a 105mm f2.8 available for sale in a week or two - if you are still looking at that time, let me know.

Portraiture is very demanding if skin tones are to be preserved and a print of any size made. I would really recommend 100 ISO film for this.

A converter on your 50mm lens will probably be a 2x for screw thread and it will reduce the "bite" of the image. However, it should be very inexpensive and definitely worth a go.

Try eBay, camera fairs, PENTAX USER reader ads and AP.

Pentax K is a bayonet fit, and unsuitable for the Spotmatics.

The 85mm lens for the Spotmatic tends to be rare and expensive, but you should be able to find the 105mm f2.8, which is a superb lens and ideal for portraiture. Try eBay or the classified ads in AP.

For the most control over the end results, developing the films yourself is the best option. Then you can choose the film/developer combination that will deliver the results you want.

For superb, fine grain portraits, it is hard to beat Kodak T Max 100 or Ilford Delta 100, both T grain modern emulsions that will deliver superb skin tones. My favourite developer for these films is Paterson FX39. This is supplied as a convenient liquid concentrate.

It is rarely necessaru for outdorr or studio portraiture to use films faster than the ISO 100 ones.

HP5 is a fast conventional emulsion which is relatively grainy. I prefer Kodak Tri-X for this sort of film, and use it routinely for landscape work. For portraits, the films mentioned above may be more suitable.

Hope that helps!

Takumar, Super Takumar and Super-Multi-Coated (later just SMC) Takumar lenses were for the screw thread Pentax cameras.

The K bayonet lenses were originally SMC Pentax, follwed by SMC Pentax-M and then SMC Pentax-A. The A series saw the ressurrection of the Takumar name, but this time as SMC Takumar-A lenses, a lower cost alternative to the SMC Pentax-A range.

Typically, these had simpler construction (fewer elements) and simpler coatings. The quality was excellent, but not up to the same high standards as their more expensive versions.

Welcome aboard, have fun!

I presume it is a Takumar screw thread lens of some type - if so, it's worth knowing that the auto/man on Super-Multi-Coated and SMC versions will be inoperable unless mounted on the correct cameras. You can identify these lenses by the extra lever on the lens mount, which mates to the Spotmatic F to offer open aperture metering.

The P30 does not have a user-replaceable screen, but a workshop replacement would be possible if needed.

Unless there is a wind-on fault, the only other thing I can think of is that the P30 must be switched on for the shutter to operate. I don't know if it's possible to wind on and load without switching on the camera.

Also, if you are loading and the camera is set to "auto" and you have the lens cap on, or the lens cap is off but the camera pointed into a dark area, the shutter speed delivered will be very long indeed. Put the shutter dial on 1/1000 sec for the swiftest loading and there should be no problem.

You might be trying to wind on whilst the shutter is still open, which I could see upsetting the mechanism somewhat.