Exakta Adapters

[SpinierPigeon]

Hello! I've recently been getting into the Exakta camera system (by far my favorite 35mm slr btw) and was wondering if anyone would happen to know if m42 to exakta mount adapters existed. i can find Exakta to M42 (putting an exakta lens on a m42 camera) but nothing the other way around. Is this a situation where the flange distance is too short so it wouldn't work, or is it one of those things that's uncommon enough to require a $200 adapter (like Contax rf mount to LTM)?

 

[Ian Grant]

The M42 mount is wider, so any adapter wouldn't allow Infinity focus.

Ian

 

[SpinierPigeon]

unfortunate, i was hoping to be able to slap some weird lenses on the front of my Exakta haha.

 

[faberryman]

Hello! I've recently been getting into the Exakta camera system (by far my favorite 35mm slr btw) and was wondering if anyone would happen to know if m42 to exakta mount adapters existed. i can find Exakta to M42 (putting an exakta lens on a m42 camera) but nothing the other way around. Is this a situation where the flange distance is too short so it wouldn't work, or is it one of those things that's uncommon enough to require a $200 adapter (like Contax rf mount to LTM)?

The first camera I used back in the early 1970s was an Exakta VXii (?). I used it for about six months before shifting to a Pentax SP500. I ordered a flange from some company out of the back of Shutterbug magazine which replaced the Exakta lens mount to accept M42 lenses. It worked fine and I used the Exakta as a second body until I moved to Olympus a few years later. I think the flange cost $15. Good luck finding one 50 years later, but never say never.

 

[Thwyllo]

The first camera I used back in the early 1970s was an Exakta VXii (?). I used it for about six months before shifting to a Pentax SP500. I ordered a flange from some company out of the back of Shutterbug magazine which replaced the Exakta lens mount to accept M42 lenses. It worked fine and I used the Exakta as a second body until I moved to Olympus a few years later. I think the flange cost $15. Good luck finding one 50 years later, but never say never.

I think this response neatly covers the much bigger and more widespread problem that impacts anyone wanting to try other lenses on older film cameras, which is that pretty much all the lens adaptors on the market today are made for the adaption of old film camera mount lenses on to current digital cameras, for which there is obviously a big demand....something that is all but absent the other way around. There are probably a handful of people that wish it weren't so - one of which is you - but the demand isn't there. And since the current penchant for mounting such lenses, on to cameras they were never intended for, wasn't really a thing back in the days of film, even the second hand market option is likely to be a pretty rare occurrence.

There are things that can be done about the infinity focus issue in some cases...there's an excellent video on YouTube for example that shows how to modify an M42 mount to allow Helios lenses to infinity focus on a Nikon F mount.

 

[wiltw]

Exakta flange distance = 44.7mm
Nikon flange distance = 46.5

so unfortunately no way to mount Exakta lens on Nikon body, with ability to focus at infinity. The inverse (Nikon lens on Exakta boda) is numerically possible, but adapter would need to be very shallow (1.8mm) Fotodiox offers an adapter.

 

[SpinierPigeon]

The first camera I used back in the early 1970s was an Exakta VXii (?). I used it for about six months before shifting to a Pentax SP500. I ordered a flange from some company out of the back of Shutterbug magazine which replaced the Exakta lens mount to accept M42 lenses. It worked fine and I used the Exakta as a second body until I moved to Olympus a few years later. I think the flange cost $15. Good luck finding one 50 years later, but never say never.

that's actually really cool, I might try pulling something like that off. I have a VX body and a Varex iia body that both work well it couldn't hurt to try something like that on one of them

 

[r_a_feldman]

Exakta has a 44.7mm film-to-flange distance and is 46mm in diameter.
M42 has a 45.46mm film-to-flange distance and is 42mm in diameter.

So, an Exakta lens with its standard bayonet mount will not focus to infinity on an M42 body even if you could somehow make a <1mm-thick adapter.

In general, you can adapt a lens with a longer film-to-flange distance on a camera body with a shorter film-to-flange distance (such as an Olympus OM or Pen F lens to a Fujifilm X-mount body) if there is enough difference in the distances to allow for the thickness of the adapter. Where the distances are close, an additional problem is that the length of the lens behind the flange might be too great. I ran into that problem in trying to adapt a Robot lens to an Olympus Pen F -- the rear of the lens would hit the reflex mirror at the correct film-to-flange spacing.

(See www.graphics.cornell.edu/~westin/misc/mounts-by-register.html for a good table of different camera and lens film-to-flange distances.)

 

[dynachrome]

Years ago I bought a 105/4 Noflexar bellows macro lens. It was in Exakta or Topcon mount. I used it with an adapter on a Konica bellows with a Konica camera with good results. For macro shooting, you don't have to worry about infinity focus.

 

[SpinierPigeon]

Yeah but I want to adapt m42 to an exakta body not the other way around

Exakta has a 44.7mm film-to-flange distance and is 46mm in diameter.
M42 has a 45.46mm film-to-flange distance and is 42mm in diameter.

So, an Exakta lens with its standard bayonet mount will not focus to infinity on an M42 body even if you could somehow make a <1mm-thick adapter.

In general, you can adapt a lens with a longer film-to-flange distance on a camera body with a shorter film-to-flange distance (such as an Olympus OM or Pen F lens to a Fujifilm X-mount body) if there is enough difference in the distances to allow for the thickness of the adapter. Where the distances are close, an additional problem is that the length of the lens behind the flange might be too great. I ran into that problem in trying to adapt a Robot lens to an Olympus Pen F -- the rear of the lens would hit the reflex mirror at the correct film-to-flange spacing.

(See www.graphics.cornell.edu/~westin/misc/mounts-by-register.html for a good table of different camera and lens film-to-flange distances.)

 

[r_a_feldman]

Yeah but I want to adapt m42 to an exakta body not the other way around

OK. Your adapter can be only 0.76mm thick (in front of the Exakta’s flange front) if you want to retain infinity focus. Also, the side walls of the adapter will be only 2m thick. That might be doable, but it will take some tight engineering.

 

[SpinierPigeon]

But it's not impossible! I'll see if I can design something then.

OK. Your adapter can be only 0.76mm thick (in front of the Exakta’s flange front) if you want to retain infinity focus. Also, the side walls of the adapter will be only 2m thick. That might be doable, but it will take some tight engineering.

 

[pdccamerqs]

If the goal is to put an M42 lens on the Exakta body, I would remove the Exakta's lens mount (4 screws) then source a dead M42 body (Practika, Ricoh, Sears, etc. etc.) take off the lens mount from the donor camera, re-drill the holes, and mount it to the Exakta body. You might have to make the replacement mount a little thinner (by sanding it or turning it on a lathe) to achieve infinity focus.

 

[ic-racer]

unfortunate, i was hoping to be able to slap some weird lenses on the front of my Exakta haha.

All the weird lenses are already in Exakta mount

 

[dynachrome]

I replied to this thread already but I will chime in again. If you really want to have some fun using M42 lenses, buy a Pentax Spotmatic F and send it to Eric Hendrickson for an overhaul. Why the Spotmatic F? It was the last of the Spotmatic cameras with a mechanical shutter and takes a modern battery. With the SMC lenses you will have full aperture metering. With other lenses you will have stop down metering. I traded away my Exakta VX500 years ago because I just didn't like it. The 50/2 Pancolar lens was nice but I traded that away too. A few years ago I inherited an Exa, which I hope to have overhauled. It would certainly be a project to get M42 lenses to fit an Exakta with correct infinity focus. I just don't know whether it would be worth the effort.

 

[nosmok]

I read this thread, then was going thru a bag of some old Exakta stuff in it, and in a fantastic coincidence, found these 2 adapters that go both ways between M42 and Exakta cameras. The first is an Exakta lens to M42 body adapter; the manufacturer dealt with the shallower flange focal distance of Exakta lenses by having the lens stick into the M42 body a bit. r a feldman is correct in his above comment-- the adapter threaded walls are very narrow, indeed light can be seen at a couple points (it wouldn't matter in use, as it would be buried in the female M42 thread). The 2nd is, AFAICT an M42 lens to Exakta body adapter, with (darn the luck) another smaller adapter screwed and stuck inside-- it's smaller than M42 but bigger than M39, so both M40.5 and M40 are possibilities (each was used for a hot minute on some camera system, but I'm damned if I remember the names). ETA: probably it's an M40 Praktiflex lens to M42 body adapter, and would be for close-up or macro work on M42 as it wouldn't make infinity; it would be closer on an Exakta body but the thickness of the adapter stack likely makes infinity impossible.

 

[SpinierPigeon]

I read this thread, then was going thru a bag of some old Exakta stuff in it, and in a fantastic coincidence, found these 2 adapters that go both ways between M42 and Exakta cameras. The first is an Exakta lens to M42 body adapter; the manufacturer dealt with the shallower flange focal distance of Exakta lenses by having the lens stick into the M42 body a bit. r a feldman is correct in his above comment-- the adapter threaded walls are very narrow, indeed light can be seen at a couple points (it wouldn't matter in use, as it would be buried in the female M42 thread). The 2nd is, AFAICT an M42 lens to Exakta body adapter, with (darn the luck) another smaller adapter screwed and stuck inside-- it's smaller than M42 but bigger than M39, so both M40.5 and M40 are possibilities (each was used for a hot minute on some camera system, but I'm damned if I remember the names). ETA: probably it's an M40 Praktiflex lens to M42 body adapter, and would be for close-up or macro work on M42 as it wouldn't make infinity; it would be closer on an Exakta body but the thickness of the adapter stack likely makes infinity impossible.

That is super cool and exactly what I'm looking for! Now that I know they exist, my search is not in vain.

I replied to this thread already but I will chime in again. If you really want to have some fun using M42 lenses, buy a Pentax Spotmatic F and send it to Eric Hendrickson for an overhaul. Why the Spotmatic F? It was the last of the Spotmatic cameras with a mechanical shutter and takes a modern battery. With the SMC lenses you will have full aperture metering. With other lenses you will have stop down metering. I traded away my Exakta VX500 years ago because I just didn't like it. The 50/2 Pancolar lens was nice but I traded that away too. A few years ago I inherited an Exa, which I hope to have overhauled. It would certainly be a project to get M42 lenses to fit an Exakta with correct infinity focus. I just don't know whether it would be worth the effort.

Yeah but I like Exaktas. I have a Pentax H3 and I've tested my friend's Spotmatic and they're nice cameras but just don't do it for me like the Exakta. I really like how the Exakta is left-handed, which is a huge benefit for me. I also prefer to use waist-level viewfinders. While Pentaxes are nice, I really like Exaktas and would prefer to invest in that system since I like it more.

 

[Paul Howell]

You might want to think about a Topcon RE or D. Topcon made 2 lines, the consumer line used a Topcon developed mount the UV mount with leaf shutter in the body. RE and D, were top of their 35mm line used the Exakta mount, the D, Super D, and SuperDM were system cameras that competed with the Nikon F, think of the Re as Topcon's answer to the Nikormate. Unlike the F and F2, the meter was in body, so the user had TTL metering with waist level and sports finders. Topcon used a standard are right handed releases. The D and SuperDM was used along with the Canon F1 by the Navy until Topcon stopped making cameras around 1977. There is some informatin around the web as which lens compatible. I also recall that Topcon did make a M42 to Extakta adpator as well. The last RE was a K mount, they did not make many as it came out just before Topcon left the market.

Topcon RE Super - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org