Old M42 manual lenses

AndyMc133

AndyMc133

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Andy
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Got hold of a couple of old M42 lenses recently and finding using them very ineresting, I never bothered much with manual settings before now but think I have got the bug!!!! Next buy might be an old 500mm telephoto seen a few on ebay and when used with my 3x converter will be a massive zoom even if I will need enough light to blind me !!!!

here's my first pic with my Pentacon F1.8 50mm M42 lens. Think it has come out ok I used it for week 8 of the 52's

Week_8-Chaos.jpg
 
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i have a couple of these old lenses and enjoy using them from time to time. i made the mistake of going to a mates bands gig one night with my helios wide open at f2, standing about 6 feet from the band (small club lol) and ended up with a dof of a couple of cm's. it gave some 'interesting' results :L still good fun though for not a lot of cash, the veiwfinder on my a390 is far too small though to focus easily with. ifound liveveiw to be far more convenient
 
MF lenses = great fun + cracking good value. Also expressed as a great learning curve in taking full control of your camera's settings, as you have discovered.

My interest took off when I acquired a mount adapter with focus-confirm chip to acheive what my eyes could always.

Nice image!
 
tikkathreebarrel said:
MF lenses = great fun + cracking good value. Also expressed as a great learning curve in taking full control of your camera's settings, as you have discovered.

My interest took off when I acquired a mount adapter with focus-confirm chip to acheive what my eyes could always.

Nice image!
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Can I ask if you (or anyone!) knows if such an adaptor is available for Nikon?

EDIT: found a few posts saying that Nikon focus confirmation will work as long as the adaptor has a glass element. Guess what I'm ordering tonight :D
 
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To be honest, if you're using a Nikon DSLR you are better off sourcing older Nikon mount lenses...many are superb. Reason being that the glass element acts as a mild teleconverter, slowing the lens and increasing teh focal length, with likely IQ issues around the edges of the image.

My fave Nikon MF lenses are the 20/4, 24/2.8, 50/1.4, 135/3.5 and 300/4.5 ED-iF.
 
manualfocus-g said:
To be honest, if you're using a Nikon DSLR you are better off sourcing older Nikon mount lenses...many are superb. Reason being that the glass element acts as a mild teleconverter, slowing the lens and increasing teh focal length, with likely IQ issues around the edges of the image.

My fave Nikon MF lenses are the 20/4, 24/2.8, 50/1.4, 135/3.5 and 300/4.5 ED-iF.
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Interesting, but are these not a bit pricey? I like the idea of M42 as (relatively!) cheap fun...
 
ronnus said:
Interesting, but are these not a bit pricey? I like the idea of M42 as (relatively!) cheap fun...
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Well,bBrand name M42 lenses aren't really that cheap anymore either unless you look hard I'm afraid.

But...it depends where you look, and how hard you look :) My 50/1.4 cost me £5.00, the 24/2.8 was £45.00 and I bought a 135/3.5 before for a tenner ;)

AndyMc133 - nice portrait!
 
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