M42 mount.... desirable lenses

Stock Dektol · Mar 4, 2009

Ian Grant said:
No definitely don't force it on. I guess it's like mine made in a back-street machine shop in Hong Kong or China & the tolerances aren't that good. Mine goes on fully and the pin locks. The problem is getting it off as there's nothing to grip, that's quite different.

Ian

Thanks for all your help. Mine does go on now. The reason I couldn't get it off was because of a pin that only my N55 body has- the rest do not. Instructions I have found say to take the mount off with the lens- so you have something to grip. If you don't want to do that due to a fragile lens a rubber glove works like a charm.

wayne naughton · Mar 4, 2009

EVERYBODY should carry a pair of rubber gloves in their camerabags......hehehe.

OK, i got a list as long as your arm now. any more?

Vanishing Point Ent. · Apr 24, 2009

The 120 mm f 2.8

Paul Howell said:
never heard of a 120mm, sounds like a bit of an oddity.

Pentex made 42mm lens from 35mm to 150, for the most part, in 15mm increments, although from some reason they jumped to 105 rather than 100: 35, 50, 85, 105, 120 135, and 150. The 120 is somewhat rare, the 150 is easy to find. I find the 150 to be a better fit than the 180, I have a sologair 180 in 42mm as well, fast but just close to a 200. I dont think the 120 and 150 were carried over in the K lineup.

The 120 mm f 2.8 was carried over into the " K " mount
The 150 mm was not.

What was great about the 120 was for an f 2.8 lens, it was tiny.
The 135 mm f 2.8, ( or f 2.5, I don't remember ), was huge by comparison.

I had a friend who suffered from Screwmountitis. I call it that because it seems ridiculous to me NOT to have a camera with open aperture metering.

I found him a Spotmatic F, & updated his lenses to S.M.C.T., which included a 120 mm f 2.8.
He loaned it someone, who promptly stole it.

aldevo · Jun 10, 2009

rthomas said:
Another vote for the 135mm f/3.5 SMC Takumar, I used to have a Spotmatic with this lens and a 55mm f/1.8 Super Takumar. These are sharp lenses, and they are not very expensive.

Another vote for the 135mm f/3.5 SMC Takumar. Very sharp with moderate contrast and it handles great. And despite the fact that it's a "budget" lens that did not receive SMC on all lens surfaces - it's more flare resistant than ANY Canon EF lens that I own.

These can be had for about $40-$65 on eBay or KEH, quite easily.

The only downside to the lens, IMO, is it's generally poor bokeh.

The 135mm f/2.5 SMC Takumar is even better, but it will set you back around $150 these days due to all sorts of digiFools attempting to fit them to their DSLRs (only to complain that they don't focus at infinity).

Andrew Moxom · Jun 10, 2009

I use an M-42 Helios lens. It's called an 44M-6 and is 58mm focal length. They have M-2 to M-7 versions and are just older to newer types. The later types having more coatings etc. That said, my M-6 is just outstanding. It's razor sharp but has that lovely out of focus swirly bokeh that a lot of Russian lenses can exhibit. It's f2 wide open. I understand this lens design is a copy of the Zeiss Biotar.

I found mine for $20 on E'Bay and I am blown away at the results I am getting with this lens. These two shots were done in the last few weeks and shot wide open with the Helios and a beaten up 30 year old Vivitar sl220 camera body.

luvcameras · Jun 12, 2009

The Leica CL stands for "Compact Leica"

Dan

Galah · Jun 18, 2009

Takumar M42 f/4, 17mm "Fisheye": a desirable lens?

wayne naughton said:
i just got a hold of some m42 adapters for both minolta af and manual bodies and while i've been reading up on the different lenses, i'd be curious to get people's opinions and recommendations on what to look out for. my only experience with screwmounts has been with a spotmatic and a couple of takumars (and that was about 30 years ago...grin)

many thanks

wayne

I have just obtained -haven't had time to use it yet- an M42, Takumar Super-Multi-Coated f/4, 17mm "Fisheye" lens.

Does anyone have any experience of, or opinions about, this lens they would be willing to share, please?

(I will be using it in an Asahi Pentax M42 film body)

dougjgreen · Jun 18, 2009

If you want a fisheye, that Pentax 17mm is a good one.

Galah · Jun 18, 2009

dougjgreen said:
If you want a fisheye, that Pentax 17mm is a good one.

I found this site with some sample images:

http://forum.mflenses.com/viewtopic.php?t=17340&view=next

Someonenameddavid · Jun 18, 2009

John Koehrer said:
The Minolta's Is the CLE and uses an electronically controlled shutter.
The CL is Mechanical.

Well there were three, the Leica Cl, the Leitz-Minolta Cl (essentially the same camera with a different badge) and the Minolta CLE... sweet Cl size with what appeared to be Minolta XG series electronics.

David

Vanishing Point Ent. · Jun 19, 2009

Look for the Pentax 120 mm f 2.8 S.M.C.T. lens.

wayne naughton said:
i'm specifically looking for portrait lenses, somewhere between 70 to 135. and a decent wide...don't really want to start collecting unless someone comes up with something too good to refuse...grin

Look for the Pentax 120 mm f 2.8 S.M.C.T. lens.
For it's day, it's very sharp, & still very small.

Not like the 135 & 150 mm which are not really better, but a lot heavier.

Besides think about telling people that you did this shot, with a 120.

Vanishing Point Ent. · Jun 19, 2009

Paul Howell said:
never heard of a 120mm, sounds like a bit of an oddity.

Pentex made 42mm lens from 35mm to 150, for the most part, in 15mm increments, although from some reason they jumped to 105 rather than 100: 35, 50, 85, 105, 120 135, and 150. The 120 is somewhat rare, the 150 is easy to find. I find the 150 to be a better fit than the 180, I have a sologair 180 in 42mm as well, fast but just close to a 200. I dont think the 120 and 150 were carried over in the K lineup.

The 150 mm was not carried over, however the 120 mm was carried over in to the K lineup,
but not for long.

Now that's rare !

Vanishing Point Ent. · Jun 19, 2009

Adapter for CAMERA with lens M39 Leica to M42 Zenit

Galah said:
Pardon my ignorance, but is the Leica screw-mount compatible with the Asahi-Pentax M42 mount: are the lenses interchangeable?

They certainly made an adapter for it, try this from eBay:

Adapter for CAMERA with lens M39 Leica to M42 Zenit
from Visit seller's Store: sovietmilitarystuff

mabman · Jun 23, 2009

Vanishing Point Ent. said:
They certainly made an adapter for it, try this from eBay:

Adapter for CAMERA with lens M39 Leica to M42 Zenit
from Visit seller's Store: sovietmilitarystuff

I'm coming in late here, but to clarify - just to be confusing "M39" was also a thread designation used by some Soviet-era SLRs, specifically some Zenits. Despite what the sellers say, the M39 lens to M42 camera adapter listed on eBay is actually intended for the Zenit-mount M39 lenses so that they can mount on an M42 camera and focus properly. Although the thread diameter is the same as Leica screw-mount, if you try an LTM lens on an SLR you will only be able to get macro focussing with it due to the flange-to-film distance being different on a Leica (as with all rangefinders) than an SLR due to the SLR's mirror.

That said, I've noticed sometimes the Zenit M39 version of a Soviet lens is cheaper than its M42 version, so if that's the case for the lens you're looking for, and it's a manual lens anyway, if you have this adapter it might be worth your while.

Back to the main topic, my personal favourite M42 lens is the already-mentioned Jupiter-9 (85/2). The Takumar 35 is also quite good when I'm in the mood for something wider.

magkelly · Jun 15, 2010

I have the Super Takumar 105MM lens. It's just awesome and I'd highly suggest you get your hands on one if you can find one that's affordable. It's a beautiful lens.

Dennis S · Jun 16, 2010

I have discovered one of my M-42 lenses ....Super-Takumar 1:1.4/50... On my Canon FT b Gives outstanding clarity with a beautiful bokeh. I just posted a few on my Flickr photo page that is in my signature. I must say I was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. Nice small lens and built very solid. I will be looking for more Taks in the future

Vincenzo Maielli · Jun 18, 2010

In the universal range, Tamron SP and Tokina SL are both very good. But if you want the maximum, Pentax SMC Takumar and/or Carl Zeiss Jena for Praktica are the best choice.
Ciao.
Vincenzo

ContaxRTSFundus · Jun 18, 2010

One lens to look out for is the outstanding Ultra Unitor Hi-D 135 1.8 with the 82mm filter diameter - this was also sold under the Weltblick brand. It's a huge piece of glass and makes an amazing portrait lens. I had a couple and now only have the one left which has a small patch of oil inside the rear element - I still can't work out how to disassemble it to clean this. They do pop up on ebay occasionally and I've seen a mint one with hood, caps and hard case sell for nearly $600 thoough usually they go for about $250.

darinwc · Jun 18, 2010

I havent seent too many comments on telephoto lenses >150mm..

i have a very nice Vivitar 200mm f3.5 that looks very nice on the glass, have yet to try it out.
What others are good in this range?

Simplicius · Jun 18, 2010

what is peoples experience of Fujica Fujinon EBC lens range that came with the fujica slr bodies of 70's ... they have a range of M42 lens that are cheap.

paulfish4570 · Jun 22, 2010

Super-Takumar or SMC 55/1.8 or 55/2 (really, the same lens) or 50/1.4. The 1.8s and 2s go for a song ...

M42 mount.... desirable lenses

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M42 mount.... desirable lenses

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