M42 and other old lenses

theboyfold

theboyfold

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Mark
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I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, but I was wondering if anybody here has an interest in using old lenses on modern DSLRs?

I have Super - Takumar 2/55mm that I sometimes play with and have just bought a Leica 80mm f/1.4 Summilux instead of upgrading to 5D MkII.

So what do you have? Post up the shots, it will be interesting to see what you've used them for.
 
Hi Mark

Not yet...but am loking at it.

My daughter wants to have a play with her grandads old Pentax lenses - fully manual lenses - so am looking at getting an adapter to try them out.

I had a play with one of his 50mm 1.8 (all metal and built like a tank) on his old Minolta bofy he has an adapter for and had a great time.
 
As it happens, just yesterday the adapter for OM-EOS arrived :)
I'm waiting for the M42 to arrive, still.
I've not yet managed to get out with my Zuikos but did a couple of rough n ready test shots:
(Both are 100% crops from the originals)

I think I've just missed the focus on this, fractionally. Bottom left is sharper than centre:

50mmZuiko OM on 550D by Michael B O'Brien, on Flickr

The 65-200 at it's close-focus setting on 200mm

Zuiko 65-200 on 550D by Michael B O'Brien, on Flickr

It's looking like the sun will break through soon, so I should get out :)
 
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Mike, it will be interesting to hear how you get on. I need to get my lenses back out and start playing, it really makes you think about what you are shooting when you have to do so much more manual work for each shot.
 
I've read this with interest, is there a way of fitting a M42 lens to a Nikon D90 ?

I presume theres an adapter of sorts ?
 
Will do. Probably hitting the road (beach, actually :) ) in about 2hrs, so should have some for this evening.
 
mrgas said:
I've read this with interest, is there a way of fitting a M42 lens to a Nikon D90 ?

I presume theres an adapter of sorts ?
Click to expand...


There seem to be lots on eBay, can't see anything that would suggest that you can get AF confirm chips though:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_f...w=m42+adapter+nikon&_sacat=See-All-Categories

Sometimes you need to check if they fit and they don't hit the mirror when on infinity, as they can on the 5d. However, I'm a Canon person, so I know very little about Nikons I'm afraid.
 
Mrgas, can't say for model specifics but if you search ebay for 'M42 D90', there'll probably be hundreds.
Just a word of caution:
Adapters vary. Some will focus-confirm (about £20-£25) some purely metal or plastic flanges. Not all M42 adapters will push in the iris pin, so unless the lens has an 'auto-manual' switch on the body, it'll be forever wide-open. Metering modes are most often restricted to Aperture Priority and Manual. Metering is stop-down, so even focus-confirm often won't work over about f5.6, it's simply too dark. I focus wide open, count the clicks and close down to shoot.
To be safe, I only look at those that state implicitly they will focus to infinity. Not so much a problem if you're only ever going to be doing close work but I prefer to have the versatility from the outset.
Another thing, some old lenses rear-elements move back further. Although I've never personally had a problem (luck, mainly!) there's a possibility this could foul the mirror. It's worth a little Google time :). I usually put a lens on the adapter and rack the lens to see if it extends further than the back face of the adapter. I already have a few OM and M42 lenses. The M42's haven't been a problem but the OM's needed a little mod. Specifically the Zuikos, which have plastic protrusions. Simple job with a careful junior hacksaw blade to remove.
Have I missed anything? :)
 
Due to lens mount distances, Nikons need a corrective lens element to ensure the mounted lens can focus to infinity. In practice, there should be no noticeable difference with the best adapters, but the vast majority are going to have corrective elements of poor quality, ruining it for you. And good adapters are a rarity...
 
mrgas said:
I've read this with interest, is there a way of fitting a M42 lens to a Nikon D90 ?

I presume theres an adapter of sorts ?
Click to expand...

There are M42 adapters for F-Mount, but, and it's a big but, you lose infinity focus. Some adapters include an adjustment lens to put before the lens, which corrects for the too-long focal length with the adapter in place, but they're usually of poor quality. It might be possible to find a better quality source that includes a better quality correction lens, but I know of none.

For some purposes, the loss of infinity focus isn't a big deal - macro use for example, which is what I use my M42 lenses for - but for most people it'll be a deal breaker.

In fairness, using M42 on EF mount isn't problem free either, certain lenses have a rear element that extends too far back into the body for the EF mount, and as a result with certain lenses, there is a risk of the mirror smashing into the lens on shutter release.

There is a moderate size group of people that keep wishing for a M42 mount dSLR, but sadly its not going to happen - noone is going to go back to selling manual-only lenses and bodies. (Probably the closest thing to a native M42 in terms of 'lenses available' advantage would be using a Pentax dSLR which still to some degree support the mass of original K-mount lenses - but the K mount used today isn't the same).
 
NikkiA said:
In fairness, using M42 on EF mount isn't problem free either, certain lenses have a rear element that extends too far back into the body for the EF mount, and as a result with certain lenses, there is a risk of the mirror smashing into the lens on shutter release.
Click to expand...

Correct, and this is a very handy website for 5D owners who are interested in M42 lenses:
http://www.panoramaplanet.de/comp/
 
I have an adapter with glass for focus to infinity (15kup). Still trying to get very crisp picture, but it is well made. Much better than the metal ring (4ukp) which rotated more than it should and was difficult to get off :/

Links in sig for the pictures taken with the m42 mounted lenses.

edit:
By crisp I mean looking through the view finder its in focus and sharp
Picture is soft - might be camera settings and I am wondering about the minor tuning - whether this affect the manual picture...
Still got some good shots... :) Most lenses for playing are from 5ukp - 100ukp with top glass still reaching the 300ukp... :)
 
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Could you possibly link to the adapter in question ecniv? Apparently the fotodiox ones are decent, but you certainly pay the price for them.

I'm still interested in maybe getting a Pentax K-mount to Nikon F-mount adapter but there's almost 0 reviews or anecdotes online about them, which makes me hesitant to do so.
 
freecom2 said:
Could you possibly link to the adapter in question ecniv? Apparently the fotodiox ones are decent, but you certainly pay the price for them.

I'm still interested in maybe getting a Pentax K-mount to Nikon F-mount adapter but there's almost 0 reviews or anecdotes online about them, which makes me hesitant to do so.
Click to expand...

As I understand it the only mount that can be converted to f-mount without needing correction or losing infinity is the T mount, so it's pretty certain that the K mount is going to have the same issues as M42...
 
Oh yes, K-Mount is going to have the same problems, which is why I'm looking for a company that produces decent adapters.

John - thanks for the heads-up, I do end up on MF Lenses often by accident from Google searches but never signed up.
 
theboyfold said:
I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, but I was wondering if anybody here has an interest in using old lenses on modern DSLRs?

I have Super - Takumar 2/55mm that I sometimes play with and have just bought a Leica 80mm f/1.4 Summilux instead of upgrading to 5D MkII.

So what do you have? Post up the shots, it will be interesting to see what you've used them for.
Click to expand...

I have way too many :LOL:

My M42 collection includes Super Takumars, Carl Zeiss Jena and Pentacon lenses. I mainly use Contax Carl Zeiss lenses however, as they have a wonderful rendering.
 
I've used an Olympus 4/3-OM and 4/3-M42 adapters for a couple of years so I use all of my old OM + Nikon lenses with great success.However,I'd suggest you read up on the subject as there can be some focussing deficits with some adapters when used at infinity.I bought my adapters from China for £15 each instead of the same items in UK for nonsense prices.If the Chinese adapters did'nt measure up ,they wouldn't sell so many.They work, and they work well for the limited use they get on my 300/500mm lenses.

V
 
Carter64 said:
Mrgas, can't say for model specifics but if you search ebay for 'M42 D90', there'll probably be hundreds.
Just a word of caution:
Adapters vary. Some will focus-confirm (about £20-£25) some purely metal or plastic flanges. Not all M42 adapters will push in the iris pin, so unless the lens has an 'auto-manual' switch on the body, it'll be forever wide-open. Metering modes are most often restricted to Aperture Priority and Manual. Metering is stop-down, so even focus-confirm often won't work over about f5.6, it's simply too dark. I focus wide open, count the clicks and close down to shoot.
To be safe, I only look at those that state implicitly they will focus to infinity. Not so much a problem if you're only ever going to be doing close work but I prefer to have the versatility from the outset.
Another thing, some old lenses rear-elements move back further. Although I've never personally had a problem (luck, mainly!) there's a possibility this could foul the mirror. It's worth a little Google time :). I usually put a lens on the adapter and rack the lens to see if it extends further than the back face of the adapter. I already have a few OM and M42 lenses. The M42's haven't been a problem but the OM's needed a little mod. Specifically the Zuikos, which have plastic protrusions. Simple job with a careful junior hacksaw blade to remove.
Have I missed anything? :)
Click to expand...

thanks for taking the time to give such a detailed reply, much appreciated
 
How do you know which zeiss lenses are the better ones. I would like a wide angle between 17 and 24mm but what is worth what money. The contax suggestion seems worth considering but which are ones to go for as there are many types.
 
amtaylor said:
How do you know which zeiss lenses are the better ones. I would like a wide angle between 17 and 24mm but what is worth what money. The contax suggestion seems worth considering but which are ones to go for?
Click to expand...

First off, I'd only seriously suggest the wider lenses for those using full frame cameras. They don't make sense on crop cameras, when there are so many great wide AF lenses around already.

For the 5D, the Distagon 21/2.8 is supposed to be the holy grail. I haven't had the opportunity to try one yet though :( The 25/2.8 Distagon is also supposed to be a cracker (both of these are in Contax/Yashica mount).

The East German Carl Zeiss Flektogon 20/2.8 also demands high prices, but it's an older design and has soft corners. Personally, I prefer the old Nikon AI 20/4 which is tiny, light and sharp!
 
manualfocus-g said:
First off, I'd only seriously suggest the wider lenses for those using full frame cameras. They don't make sense on crop cameras, when there are so many great wide AF lenses around already.

For the 5D, the Distagon 21/2.8 is supposed to be the holy grail. I haven't had the opportunity to try one yet though :( The 25/2.8 Distagon is also supposed to be a cracker (both of these are in Contax/Yashica mount).

The East German Carl Zeiss Flektogon 20/2.8 also demands high prices, but it's an older design and has soft corners. Personally, I prefer the old Nikon AI 20/4 which is tiny, light and sharp!
Click to expand...

Cool I shall keep my eyes open
 
I had a Kood F mount - M42 adapter that contained an optical correction element, it was pretty good, I couldn't tell the difference between that and an adapter with no element, but I'm not into obsessive micro measurement, they looked the same at x3 zoom, that's good enough for me.
Also, I'm not sure about the AF confirm, its not something I'd use anyway but there are issues with Canon gear refusing to attempt to AF apps smaller than F/5.6 and thus I suppose AF confirm ?, this is not what happens on Nikons, they will attempt to AF whatever the aperture read by the camera, and thus AF confirm, I dunno for definite AF confirm will work with M42 lenses, its just natural thought progression.:)
 
Would the Contax Distagon 21/2.8 render differently than the 21/2.8 Zeiss lens for Nikon/Canon (ZE mount)? It frequently comes up when discussing legendary lenses.
 
manualfocus-g said:
I have way too many :LOL:

My M42 collection includes Super Takumars, Carl Zeiss Jena and Pentacon lenses. I mainly use Contax Carl Zeiss lenses however, as they have a wonderful rendering.
Click to expand...

I also have a Contax mount as I had a few Yashica lenses kicking around at home. What Zeiss lenses would you suggest I look at? I'm collecting Super Taks at the moment as they are a nice enough price to buy, play with and move on if you don't like them :)

My Leica arrived last night, so I popped outside to try a couple of tests on the car (I'm hoping to have a proper play with it this afternoon)


VW Golf Edition 30 by cloud34.com, on Flickr

I'd say the signs are promising with this lens though.
 
regarding AF confirm on nikons, with my D7000 i just choose spot focus, line up the marker with what i want in focus, in the bottom left of the viewfinder theres 2 arrows telling me which way it needs to go, when its in focus these arrows turn into a circle. not sure if that feature is on all nikons though :thinking:
 
theboyfold said:
I also have a Contax mount as I had a few Yashica lenses kicking around at home. What Zeiss lenses would you suggest I look at? I'm collecting Super Taks at the moment as they are a nice enough price to buy, play with and move on if you don't like them :)

My Leica arrived last night, so I popped outside to try a couple of tests on the car (I'm hoping to have a proper play with it this afternoon)


VW Golf Edition 30 by cloud34.com, on Flickr

I'd say the signs are promising with this lens though.
Click to expand...

Nice :)

My favourite Zeiss lenses are the Distagon 28/2.8, 35/2.8, Planar 50/1.4, Planar 85/1.4, Sonnar 85/2.8 (it's tiny!), Makro-Planar 100/2.8, Sonnar 135/2.8, Vario-Sonnar 35-70/3.4 and Vario-Sonnar 100-300/4.5-5.6. I'd love a Distagon 21/2.8 but it's out of budget at the moment! :LOL:
 
Good quality lenses, but manual focussing with an EVF, or even an OVF without a split prism or something similar is a pain. Solution? Use M42 lenses on M42 cameras :p
 
I have replaced the screen in my 5d2 with the manual focus one so that is not an issue. I just want to know if the quality will be equal to or better than an l series prime
 
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Sorry I read that as 21mm for some reason. I don't think they compare the 28/2.8. I shoot Leica and the Zeiss 25mm/28mm both seem to get very positive reviews. I doubt you could go much wrong with a 24L though.
 
mrgas said:
I've read this with interest, is there a way of fitting a M42 lens to a Nikon D90 ?

I presume theres an adapter of sorts ?
Click to expand...
PM me with your address Mr Gas and I will send you an M42 - Nikon adaptor it is not one of the more expensive ones but you are welcome to it to have a play around - I have got rid of my M42 lenses so have no need for it - no charge
Peter
 
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