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........

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

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?

Don,

Just got back from "No Internet Land" and am catching up on the doin's here.

Very nice casual shot of a very nice lady. I've got a Super Tak 1.4 (the kind that used to yellow). All I have to do is find as pleasing a subject.

I won't ask my usual question......

OF COURSE you deserve her

Thanks for sharing

Lilly,

Thanks for that!

I really enjoyed the trip down memory lane - good and bad.

The shot of Joltin' Joe Dimaggio is one of my favorites. It captures the puff of dust from bat/ball impact, and shows the man's amazing style. (Nice to see the portrait of his wife as well)

Yea Mono!

Holy COW!

Now I'm really impressed! It's a completely spherical shot?

Going to their site now.

Thanks for showing this to me, and explaining.

OK, Dumb question.

How do dey do dat?

I was going to say that I have the same sun shade - but you have TWO!

Bwaaaaaaa.....

Hey a hearty congratulations

George

How right you are! In fact still working on a freezerful of film with a Spotty F, Don's Super Program, and your SFX as we speak. All in the heavy kit along with my K110D.

I've got it ALL covered!

And it's marvelous. So much fun to use the latest technology when you understand all that it is doing for you, and still being able to do it yourself should you choose.

LOVE IT!!!!!!!!

I'd like to add that you'll probably be best to set your DSLR to "M" for fully manual, select your f stop on the lens, and set your shutter speed based on an external, hand-held light neter.

I love the preview switch, as I find there's a fair amount of trial and error to get the perfect aperture/shutter speed combo.

A lot of the faster old screw-mount primes really fool the built-in meter and in my experience, result in extreme under exposure.

I enjoy the process - reminds me of the good old Spotmatic days.

Have fun - the shots are really worth it.