Vintage Lenses

goinggreynow said:
Alan
Fellow K&F user here.
Can I ask if you’re using the “original” adapters or the (newer) ‘pro’ version?
Reason for asking is that I’ve just picked up a “pro” version M42/Sony E and although I’ve not even taken it out of the box yet, happy to have a look at it/give it a go tomorrow and report back if that would be of any help.
Stuart
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Hi,

My pro adapter came today and it's ok. The lens doesn't rotate to the top but although I think there are some screws which may allow adjustment it's really not all that far off (5mm of additional rotation needed maybe?) so I can't be bothered fiddling with it at the moment. So, my Takumars are now good to go :D
 
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I've never done that. I did once take a camera out without a battery in it. I didn't get many shots that day :D
 
I've left batteries behind often, or brought them only to find I didn't actually plug in that charger ... d'oh! Just leave adapters attached to the lenses, then you won't forget
 
I have that 28mm f2.8 along with others. It's a while since I used them so I'll have to.

I have 24, 28 and 35mm f2.8's, 50mm f1.8 and f1.4, 85mm f2 and 135mm f3.5.

I did use the 50mm f1.4 for one picture a few weeks ago and I liked it, I'd forgotten what a nice look it gives.
 
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woof woof said:
I have that 28mm f2.8 along with others. It's a while since I used them so I'll have to.

I have 24, 28 and 35mm f2.8's, 50mm f1.8 and f1.4, 85mm f2 and 135mm f3.5.

I did use the 50mm f1.4 for one picture a few weeks ago and I liked it, I'd forgotten what a nice look it gives.
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Well if they aren't being used often........... £12.80 for the set? :D
 
garryknight said:
Ok, so who else remembered to take the latest purchased vintage lens out with them but forgot to take the adapter? Just me, then? :rolleyes::D
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Forgot the right adapter yes done that.
I've got a few lenses that I can adapt via stacked adapters (giving AF or other features) & I've been out & found I have one half of the stack but not the other - or I have PK but not M42...
Since I shoot with over 20 different mounts I've managed most combinations of wrong adapter.
 
Barrysprout said:
Well if they aren't being used often........... £12.80 for the set? :D
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The whole set?

I did once sell a whole set as a job lot and it might have been all my Zuikos after the guy liked some pictures taken with them but he couldn't handle MF and brought them all back.
 
woof woof said:
I've never done that. I did once take a camera out without a battery in it. I didn't get many shots that day :D
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At lunchtime I took a camera out & I'd checked it had some charge before going out. After 1 shot it seems the remaining charge is not enough for shooting just reviewing.
I have a similar camera at home which has my other battery & the charger - so a universal charger is now on order (less than half the price of a dedicated charger - the dedicated charger costs more than both cameras!)
 
Petrochemist said:
At lunchtime I took a camera out & I'd checked it had some charge before going out. After 1 shot it seems the remaining charge is not enough for shooting just reviewing.
I have a similar camera at home which has my other battery & the charger - so a universal charger is now on order (less than half the price of a dedicated charger - the dedicated charger costs more than both cameras!)
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I bought cheap adapters off evil bay and they seem to work fine but mostly I just plug the camera into my computer to download the pictures and leave it plugged in while I'm processing and when I'm done the battery is charged... and if not I just do some Googling until it is.
 
Do you only have one?

I think I have (quick count up) 8 28mm's.
 
woof woof said:
I bought cheap adapters off evil bay and they seem to work fine but mostly I just plug the camera into my computer to download the pictures and leave it plugged in while I'm processing and when I'm done the battery is charged... and if not I just do some Googling until it is.
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These old beasts don't charge in camera - The SD14 I wanted to use today is a design from 2006 that has an unusual response to IR which would have been ideal for todays weather. That could be part of the reason chargers are expensive.

Thank heavens vintage lenses don't cause such issues, it's only when I play with old bodies :rolleyes:
 
woof woof said:
I think I have (quick count up) 8 28mm's.
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8!!!! so that's only 1.67% of your manual lens collection? :)

Yes I've only got the one 28mm. I enjoy using older lenses but rarely do. I go through phases of buying a few then deciding to sell them again.
I only ever buy cheap lenses for that reason so 28mm is the widest I have as obviously it gets expensive to go wider.

My whole collection doesn't amount to much and 3 of them are Helios 58mm's
 
Barrysprout said:
8!!!! so that's only 1.67% of your manual lens collection? :)

Yes I've only got the one 28mm. I enjoy using older lenses but rarely do. I go through phases of buying a few then deciding to sell them again.
I only ever buy cheap lenses for that reason so 28mm is the widest I have as obviously it gets expensive to go wider.

My whole collection doesn't amount to much and 3 of them are Helios 58mm's
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As I'm still at work with access to my stock database I've been able to quickly check -
I have nine 28mm primes (and a 28.8mm one). I'll assume the eighteen 28toX zooms are irrelevant as are the other zooms including 28mm in their range (ten of them).
356 items that can be classed as lenses in some way (but that includes single elements/diopters/teleconverters etc)
Only 144 manual focus lenses, so the 28mm make up over 6% of my manual collection.

Obviously a very popular/useful focal length :)

I knew the wet lunchtimes building up the analytics tools in my spreadsheet would prove useful.
 
garryknight said:
Well, you see, I did. It was attached to my Takumar 55mm which was in the bag with this cheap Sun 135mm that I wanted to check out. I took the Takumar out of the bag because I didn’t need it. Forgot to switch the adapter onto the other lens. :D
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More adapters needed in that case! :p
 
Cagey75 said:
More adapters needed in that case! :p
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Not only does an adapter per lens become expensive & needlessly heavy, but you end up finding the lens you've picked to take with you has an adapter to a different camera on it. - Something I've done more than once :eggface:
 
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Petrochemist said:
Not only does an adapter per lens become expensive & needlessly heavy, but you end up finding the lens you've picked to take with you has an adapter to a different camera on it.
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Aye it was in jest, I was the one complaining about the high cost of adapters these days earlier in the thread ;)
 
I'm quite happy with how things have turned out now my adapter issues are over as I went from K&F to Novoflex and back to K&F. So, I now have an adapter that cost £18 instead of one that cost £78 so that's saved me £60.
 
woof woof said:
I'm quite happy with how things have turned out now my adapter issues are over as I went from K&F to Novoflex and back to K&F. So, I now have an adapter that cost £18 instead of one that cost £78 so that's saved me £60.
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Glad you’re sorted, Alan.
Is the K&F ‘Pro’ going to be your adapter of choice from here on in?
That’s how I’m planning to go in the future, although I probably won’t rush out and get rid of all my existing adapters, just to upgrade to the Pros.
 
goinggreynow said:
Glad you’re sorted, Alan.
Is the K&F ‘Pro’ going to be your adapter of choice from here on in?
That’s how I’m planning to go in the future, although I probably won’t rush out and get rid of all my existing adapters, just to upgrade to the Pros.
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I don't think I'd go for the K&F pro again as a preference as I do keep telling myself that I should stop buying film era lenses and I really should stop now. As a general point on these dumb adapters I do have three Novoflex adapters for my Minolta, Olympus and Canon FD lenses and they were £90+ each but I think I've convinced myself that there's no real need to pay that much if you can get a working one for £15-25 which is possible, with luck and/or persistence :D
 
I posted this in the Sony thread but I'll post it here too... because I like it :D

isFSMPm.jpg


It was just a test shot to be looked at and deleted. It's just a moment in time, a humdrum domestic scene but I decided to keep it and the more I look at it the more I like it.

Taken with a Voigtlander 35mm f1.4 at f1.4.

PS.
You can see one of my biscuit tins on the bed. It's lined with bubble wrap and contains my Olympus Zuiko and Takuma lenses.
 
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woof woof said:
I'm quite happy with how things have turned out now my adapter issues are over as I went from K&F to Novoflex and back to K&F. So, I now have an adapter that cost £18 instead of one that cost £78 so that's saved me £60.
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What do the 'pro' adapters do?
THIRTYFIVEMILL said:
I took my camera with me a week ago. Took about 40 shots and only realised I didn't have the card in when I got home and went to look at them. :mad:
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I have my camera set to not take exposures without a card, of course if you forgot your card it doesn't matter much anyway but it'll have saved you time. I also almost always preview images on the go, 'chimping' if you like :D especially when shooting MF as images can look fine at a glance but I'll zoom in to check finer focus.
 
Cagey75 said:
What do the 'pro' adapters do?


I have my camera set to not take exposures without a card, of course if you forgot your card it doesn't matter much anyway but it'll have saved you time. I also almost always preview images on the go, 'chimping' if you like :D especially when shooting MF as images can look fine at a glance but I'll zoom in to check finer focus.
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Chimping didn't help. I chimped but it will show you the last image. Just not the last 40. :ROFLMAO:
 
Cagey75 said:
What do the 'pro' adapters do?
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The pro is styled differently but beyond that I've no idea. I assume they've used better materials.

If anyone has one of these K&F Pro adapters for M42 and knows what size Allen key size fits to turn the inside so the lens lines up correctly let me know because I've tried all my Allen keys and none fit.
 
woof woof said:
The pro is styled differently but beyond that I've no idea. I assume they've used better materials.
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I was wondering, because I don't think the K&F Nikon G-Fuji adapter I have could be built any better, it's solid, all metal and has a metal aperture control ring [only useful for G lenses of course] they go for about 25-30

Right now I'm on the look out for a macro lens, preferably an all manual one, whether vintage or modern. The cheaper route is go vintage but some of them are just huge beasts when focusing 1:1. Then there's a bunch of olde macro lenses that only do 1:2, some have optional add on adapters that enable them to do 1:1 but, that's another adapter on top of the one one to mount. A lot research needed, or I go with the old reliable Nikon 60mm [have had 2 of those in the past]

Or ... go for the likes of the Laowa 65mm in Fuji mount. That thing is incredible, does up to 2:1 internal manual focus, it's tiny and going on it's Nikon FF counterpart [I had the Nikon 100mm Laowa] it has zero CA or any kind of fringing wide open, even against the harshest light. It is about £450 though ... for a manual lens that is rich for me. If it was £100 less I'd probably already own it
 
As you will know some film era macros aren't 1:1 but may still be ok.

I have a Sigma 50mm f2.8 I'm happy with and is 1:1. I think I paid £60 but that was some time ago. It comes in different mounts. Heard good things about a Nikon macro but I forget which, somewhere around 100mm I think.
 
woof woof said:
As you will know some film era macros aren't 1:1 but may still be ok.

I have a Sigma 50mm f2.8 I'm happy with and is 1:1. I think I paid £60 but that was some time ago. It comes in different mounts. Heard good things about a Nikon macro but I forget which, somewhere around 100mm I think.
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Yes both my Cosina 100mm macro & my Tamron SP90 macro only manage 1:2 without a 'matched accessory'. Indeed I don't think any of my macro lenses reach 1:1 unaided.
The bellows lens goes well beyond 1:1 on any of my bellows units but is unusable on it's own, needing ~50mm extension for infinity focus, just about possible on my DSLR (the flash bump requires a short extension tube before the bellows)..
 
Petrochemist said:
Yes both my Cosina 100mm macro & my Tamron SP90 macro only manage 1:2 without a 'matched accessory'. Indeed I don't think any of my macro lenses reach 1:1 unaided.
The bellows lens goes well beyond 1:1 on any of my bellows units but is unusable on it's own, needing ~50mm extension for infinity focus, just about possible on my DSLR (the flash bump requires a short extension tube before the bellows)..
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One of the best out there is the Asahi Pentax Takumar 50/4 1:1. There is also a similar looking 1:2 Takumar which is much cheaper to pick up. About half of what the £250 1:1 goes for.
 
I'm not really fussed about 1:1 other than that having a lens that allows a greater degree of magnification could cut down on lens removal and refitting when out and about. For example I had a Canon 50mm f2.5 which I think went to half life size without the adapter and I do find my 1:1 Sigma more useful for close up pictures of flowers and detail than that lens as being able to get closer/get the subject bugger in the frame without having to remove the lens to fit the adapter and then possibly remove it again for the next shot reduces the possibility of sensor contamination when out and about. But having said that I've got in the habit of using a close focus filter these days and you don't need to remove the lens to use those.
 
The Raynox 250 is great, but limits you to close focus when attached. I've had a few of those and used on many lenses. But with a dedicated macro lens you have the full range, even if you rarely use the full magnification you can still do 1;2, or less where desired. Macro lenses tend to be sharper for close up work in general too, I don't ever remember having a macro lens that was anything but tqxk sharp through the range
 
The advantage of a close focus filter is flexibility as it allows close focus with non close focusing lenses (like for example my 35mm f1.4) and using one is very possibly quicker than using a life size adapter and there's less risk of sensor contamination when out and about.
 
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woof woof said:
The advantage of a close focus filter is flexibility as it allows close focus with non close focusing lenses (like for example my 25mm f1.4) and using one is very possibly quicker than using a life size adapter and there's less risk of sensor contamination when out and about.
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I get that, like I said I've owned a few and they're great if that's all you need. They work very well on a 1:2 lens, but you're also adding that £60 on top if you buy new. You can find them used, but most who buy them tend to keep. The flexibility still doesn't match a true macro lens, with a couple turns you're back to standard and can go anywhere in between, with the Raynox as the example here you can stick it on and off [providing your lens filter thread is within the range for the snap on adapter] but all you get is the closest focus you can't just pull back with that Raynox on to get slightly less or indeed higher magnification. I have considered it of course, I consider all options, but an all in one macro can be much nicer so long as it's not a behemouth

1:1 is not essential for me, I do much more 'close up' work, but it's nice to know it's there when I do want to dabble. Not just insects either, but anything that looks interesthing to me in fine detail. I could go for a nice cheap 1:2 and seek out a used R250, it's not out of the running. You kinda get the best of both that way

Doing 1:1 or greater macro isn't for everyone, it's not only tricky but often requires extra gear and in turn, extra weight. You add a flash and diffuser and suddenly when focusing that close handheld every slight movement you make it's as if an earth tremor just occured! [I have spotted a nice, tidy and lightweight flash option though from Meike] The flash I own atm is big, hefty and bulky, it requires a trigger on cam and receiver attached to the flash also - if the lens is also heavy it really adds up and can be like a gym work out to shoot for an hour

I never use a tripod, unless it's indoor, pre-set up. Out and about I'm hand held only, I've had plenty of practice and feel I'm steady enough but it'll still take a few shots to nail one each time
 
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THIRTYFIVEMILL said:
One of the best out there is the Asahi Pentax Takumar 50/4 1:1. There is also a similar looking 1:2 Takumar which is much cheaper to pick up. About half of what the £250 1:1 goes for.
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When shooting close ups I generally want more working distance than a 50mm can offer, 1:2 generally works out enough for these.
When I want to do real macro 1:1 frequently isn't enough so other techniques must be combined with even a 1:1 lens.
A quality lens that can go from infinity to 1:1 unaided would be nice but not worth spending £100 on when I already have many options for each region. I do have a adapted c-mount microscope objective that has managed to go from infinity to around 3:1 but it doesn't even cover MFT at the infinity end - it's probably not as flat field as a good macro lens & maybe not as sharp, but I've only done hand held tests so I can't be sure on either point.
Here's a part of a $1 bill at less than full magnification & sadly not square enough on to get the whole image focused:
$1 test P1340013 by Mike Kanssen, on Flickr
This 1cm FOV section of a ruler gives a better idea of how flat field it is, but isn't an interesting subject:
2.5x ruler by Mike Kanssen, on Flickr
FWIW this setup has impressive working distance around 9cm for these shots.
 
woof woof said:
The advantage of a close focus filter is flexibility as it allows close focus with non close focusing lenses (like for example my 35mm f1.4) and using one is very possibly quicker than using a life size adapter and there's less risk of sensor contamination when out and about.
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Yes, a good diopter is a nice flexible option I personally prefer the DCR150 on a long lens to the DCR250 @Cagey75 mentioned. Having both with me would be better - the 250 works well on a standard kit zoom where the 150 seems weak - but my camera bag is already severely overloaded.:oops: :$
 
I normally just take one, the +4 filter and it's not even in a box, just between a couple of tissues in the front pocket of my bag. I think the set of three in their box cost £27 so rather cheaper than Raynox. The ultimate quality may not match a Raynox let alone a macro lens but the quality is good enough for me.

Another option rather than macro/close up options that is maybe overlooked is cropping as even a cropped picture may well be enough for full screen viewing or a good sized print, if anyone prints anymore :D
 
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