Good morning;

GR Hazelton; you have your father's camera. Nice. There really is something to having equipment like that where there is a family connection. Yes, I agree that the investment of a knowledgeable camera technician's time is something worthwhile to do.

And, for Pete, I did receive a couple more Asahi-Pentax lenses recently. There is a 55mm f:1.8 SMC Takumar and a 28mm f:3.5 Super-Takumar wide angle lens. The 28mm is a nice addition. The widest one here before is a 35mm. I am really happy to have the 28mm. Perhaps at some point I will also find a 24mm.

Then there is the big one in this group of three in the latest arrivals; an Asahi-Pentax 85-210mm f:4/5 SMC TAKUMAR-ZOOM close focusing zoom lens down to 1.8:1 with the Attachment Close Focusing Lens and the lens shade along with the case. This is my first early Asahi-Pentax zoom lens. It will be interesting to see what it does. It is funny that the front lens cap actually fits the outside of the lens shade, which slips backwards over the front barrel of the lens. This is an interesting way to combine the storage of the lens shade with the front lens cap.

And, to meet the requirements of the thread title, I am Ralph, of Latte Land, Washington.

Enjoy;

Ralph
Latte Land, Washington

Hi boys. I am new on Apug and this is my first group!
I like M42 thread for the simplicity to go along with one lens only, often, and the 'old-school' manner of changing the lens, if necessary.
I began with a Praktica FX-2, solid mechanical construction, and extremely useful waiste-level viewfinder (rare on a 35mm reflex, typical on Prakticas and Holgas...). I find the waiste-level very useful for street photography. The lens is Domiplan 50mm, then I added a Pentacon 135mm. More recently I bought a Cosina 4000S with a 50mm Cosinon S 1.7, I like it aesthetically.

Good morning, Aleksej;

Welcome to the M42 Group. Yes, there is merit in using some of the older technology, in many different fields. I also like the simplicity of the M42 mount. I remember from back in the 1960s how a machinist heatedly explained to me how difficult it was for a machinist to accurately get everything right every time to make a bayonet camera lens mount work properly every time. He explained how much simpler and more precise it was to just get the starting point of the threaded section properly aligned to have the focusing scale come out on top when the lens was seated in the lens mounting flange.

While it does not have an M42 lens mount, the Ihagee Exakta 35mm SLR camera (arguably the world's first "system SLR camera") also had interchangeable viewing systems and focusing screens, including a waist-level finder. Yes, the waist level finder does have useful simplicity, ease of use, applicability, and the ability to aim the camera without having it up in front of your face so that everyone knows you have a camera.

And I still enjoy using even my KMZ Zenit EM SLR camera with its M42 mount. I do like the Helios-44M-7 58mm f:2 lens mounted on it.

Yes, there are Asahi-Honeywell-Pentax 35mm camera bodies and TAKUMAR lenses here also. The Asahi-Pentax was the camera that popularized the M42 mount here in the USA, to the degree that to many people it became "the Pentax Lens Mount," even though it was designed back in 1939 at the Carl Zeiss-Jena Werke for their Contax S 35mm SLR camera, but World War II interfered with the start production date for the Contax S, and it was delayed until after World War II until it finally went into production at the VEB Zeiss-Ikon Werke in Dresden, later Pentacon (sometimes it is hard to keep track of the names as they merged and changed), and appeared in the shops for sale in 1949. However, it was such a widely accepted lens mounting system adopted by so many camera makers in so many different countries that one name for it is the UTM or "Universal Thread Mount." And the Contax S camera body shape with the viewing pentaprism on top with the side traveling focal plane shutter influenced the entire SLR camera body development even up through today's DSLR cameras. A 75 year legacy is pretty impressive.

Enjoy;

Ralph
Latte Land, Washington

I acquired my first 35mm SLR in 1965, a Pentax H3v with the standard 55mm f/1.8 Super Takumar. Shortly after that I bought a 35mm f/3.5 Auto-Takumar. I still have that camera and several other Pentax thread mount cameras and various lenses. I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of a Pentax K from overhaul and have lately been shooting and processing B&W film in Caffenol and D-76. Just too much fun!
Maurice

Just got my Pentax K back from Eric. Now to shoot some Tri-x to try it out!

I have a Praktica LB and want to get a Spotmatic. M42 lenses I have are: Jupiter 37a 135 3.5, Domiplan 50 2.8, Sears 135 3.5, and Takumar 28 3.5.

Have fun

Hi

I have a Spotmatic SV - a bit old and worn-out but not that much. It goes with a Super-Takumar 2/55; one of the best lenses I had the chance to use.
I also use a Spotmatic F with different lenses, lately a Zeiss Pancolar 1.7/50.
My favorite combo is my black Bessaflex with the Super-Takumar 1.8/55 or with the Zenitar 1.7/50.
My second body is usually a Praktica MTL-5b with its Pentacon 1.8/50 screwed on.
For the rainy days I have a Zenit 12xp with a Zeiss Flektogon. The whole stuff was less than $30 and working perfectly.
(I also use M39 SLRs but this is another matter.)

Does anyone have experience with good M42 portrait lens (shorter than 135mm but longer than 58mm)? Which one would you recommend?

I recently got a Spotmatic II with Takumar 50 1.4.

Hello!

Not much action here, but thought I would try and start something. My first "serious" camera was an M42 (Zeiss Icarex 35S TM Pro with Carl Zeiss Ultron 50mm f1.8). The shutter stopped working correctly in the early 1980s, but I did keep the camera and lens, and have revived the lens (quick CLA by Ross Yerkes was needed). I am using it on my Fuji XT-2 with an adapter, but also have acquired a few Pentax Spotmatics, a couple of Practikas (LTL3 and MTL5), and recently a Fujica ST605N. I mainly picked these up to support the Ultron, but I have also added some additional M42 lenses to play around with. I also picked up an adapter to mount my Schneider Kreuznach lenses on my Practikas (Spotmatics do not seem to work correctly).

GRHazelton said:

My first 35mm SLR was a Hanimex/Praktica LTL which I bought in about 1972, with a good f1.8 50mm. I added a 28mm, a second rate 135mm and a good Tamron 200 f3.5 Adaptamatic, or whatever name Tamron was using for their interchangeable mount lenses, and a set of extension tubes. The LTL gave excellent service, even after having bounced off a sidewalk! It has the best implementation of stop-down metering I've ever seen. Despite never having been serviced the shutter sounds accurate and, since the meter is a bridge device, it should function with any cell. I should get the 50mm serviced; the diaphragm is sticky, and get this old Cold War warrior back in service. Any recommendations?

I also have my Father's AsahiFlex IIa, and a 35mm, the Takumar 50mm f3.5, 83mm f1.8, tubes, bellows, etc. My father was a wildflower photographer of no little skill. The 'flex show signs of wear, and needs an overhaul. Perhaps Eric Hendrickson can restore it to life. It would be fun to use it again.

Click to expand...

Just an addendum to the above. I now have a Spotmatic F with the 50mm f1.4, the 135mm f2.8 and the 35mm f2.8, and the everready case. The Spottie is lovely camera, everything feels right.

My Father's AsahiFlex IIa was judged beyond repair, alas. I did score one in really nice shape with the f2.5 50mm, so my Father's old warrior will be a display model.