Hi again,

Can somebody tell me if the Takumar M42 100mm Bellows lens can be used succesfully on a Pentax Bellows A (K mount) with an M42/K adapter together with an ist D or DS. I particularly need to know if the aperture ring will be effective (Does it have manual diaphragm)

The Bellows A has no electrical contacts anyway so manual metering will be needed I guess.

Is it a 'flat field' lens ?

What would be the best modern equivalent. I have a Pentax-F 100mm macro lens (brilliant piece of glass, if you have the opportunity, buy one), is there any point in fitting that to a bellows unit for greater magnification?

Your leaned opinions gratefully received and thanks in anticipation.

The SMC-FA 80-320 is an excellent lens. I paid about £60 for mine, my son bought one for only £40. Both are in excellent condition in all respects. You will need to determine if it is fast enough for your requirements. I'm guessing that for indoor events the camera to subject distance precludes the use of a flashgun and you'll need to use a reasonably high ISO setting, maybe 800 or more. On the Pentax DSLR's it works out to roughly the equivelent of a 120-480mm focal length lens.

If you need a longer lens, I can recommend the Sigma 135-400mm APO zoom. It produces absolutely amazing results.

I can't remember exactly but it is a simple as setting the channel on one device, camera or flash (that's the bit I can't remember) and then just mount the flash on the camera. One sets the other to match. The idea is that you could have two camera/flash setups in a studio and they would not interfere with each other if on different channels.

This gun is designed to work with the MZ-6, MZ-S, *ist-D & later DSLR's. Maybe the *ist film camera too 'though I haven't tried it.

It is fully functional (P-TTL, Wireless etc) with all of the above mentioned cameras and works in TTL mode with the older SLR's.

The head tilts for bounce flash, but does not swivel. The AF-500FTZ is a more powerful gun which has a tilt 'n swivel head but is less compatible with the newer cameras as, amongst other things, it doesn't do wireless mode.

If you have Windoze XP, download Microsofts MovieMaker for free. Its a bit simplistic but it does a reasonable job at fades & wipes & clip editing, then look for something cheap that is bundled with MyDVD. The 2 make a simple solution. If you want 'proper' editing, go for Pinnacle Edition which includes an output to DVD application.

Thanks George, your witicisms always amuse.

Most users ever online was 57 on Tue Jul 20, 2004 10:09 am

What happened that day that hasn't happened before, or since ?

Thanks George & John.

The lens stops down well mechanically and it seems to be in near perfect condition, better than many of the newer K mount lenses I have purchased recently.

The lens is cocked into its wide open position for composition and focussing, where it locks. The shutter mechanism is then supposed to strike the releasing pin for stopping down 'automatically'.

I can use the lens manually with no problem and I'll be trying it out on some static subjects this weekend on the ist-D, though it's a bit long for portraiture on the DSLR's.

The only real issue I have is that if the lens is mounted on a K mount body using the M42 adapter and the lens is inadvertantly cocked, it must be removed from the camera to uncock it.

John, I accept your point about using the newer M and A series lenses but at this focal length (85mm, 100mm, 105mm) they are as rare as rocking horse manure and if you do find one the price is outrageous. I was looking for a cheaper (my 'Minister for the Interior' insists), if less convenient alternative. There are some lovely Takumars to be had and they are much cheaper than the newer ones.

Hi all,

I recently bought a few Takumar lenses and one of them is an Auto-Takumar 105mm 1:2.8 which I was rather hoping to use as a portrait lens but I can't make it work on any of my Pentax cameras (Super-A, P30, ist-D, ist-DS, MZ-6, MZ-S). I think this may be because modern Pentax SLR's (my oldest is a Super-A) lack the diaphragm release mechanism. I can 'cock' the diaphragm such that it is fully open for composure and focussing but the diaphragm does not stop down when the shutter is released. If I remove the lens and press the diaphragm release pin, it releases OK.

Am I correct in assuming that an older Pentax camera is required to use this lens ? If so it'll be back on ebay shortly as I don't want to u se the older cameras, excellent as I know they are.

Out of interest, what would be the latest camera that could use this lens? Can any K mount camera with a K-M adapter ring be used or would it need a generic M42 threaded body?

Then of course there is the classic nonsense word 'ghoti' pronounced 'fish'

f sound from enough
i sound from women
sh sound from station

Back to topic and a recommendation for your Super Program. You perhaps ought to have it serviced and have the light seals for the rear cover replaced, and the mirror buffer foam also.

I bought a Super-A recently - european version of the Super Program and very cheap - I thought. All of the foam rubber parts mentioned above were crumbling to dust. Bits of the foam even got behind the focussing screen.

I had it serviced including the changing of those items, put a new back on it as the original was badly scratched from a belt buckle or similar, and now I have an almost perfect example of possibly the best of the ME/A series of metal bodied Pentax cameras. The eventual price was nearer £100.00 but it is a great camera, a replacement for my original which became unrepairable.