Recomend me a Wide M42 lens

[Bandicoot]

Question though, how would one attach a MF lens such as an Mamiya 90mm f/3.8C (for the RB67) to the likes of an M42 adapter?

Pentax makes adapters to use their 6x7 and their 645 lenses on K-mount 35mm bodies, (and one for their 6x7 lenses on 645 bodies). That wouldn't connect with an M42 adapter, but I'm sure that there are K-mount to Pen-F adapters made.

Probably not worth doing unless you had a lens you already really wanted to use that way, but it is one answer to the question.

There are easily available P6 to screwmount adapters, of course, too - should you want to something as odd as attaching a 55mm T&S lens, or a 30mm fisheye to you Pen-F...


Peter

 

[kb244]

but I'm sure that there are K-mount to Pen-F adapters made.

Actually not that I've ever seen. Aside from the "Adapter P" which is a pentax screwmount adapter most of the other ones were for exakta, canon FD, Nikon, leica, and such and most of those are mostly priced about 250$ up to 300$ for the adapters. No one seems to make aftermarket adapters either.

 

[Tom Hoskinson]

I've a Zeiss Flektogon 20mm f4 M42 lens that is pretty decent. It's older, there's fall off and distortion but it's pretty wide.

They made a 20mm f2.8 as well but it's more $$$. I paid $120 for mine from Poland. There are a lot of these up there.

I like the 42mm screw mount 20mm 2.8 Multi coated Zeiss Flektagon very much, I bought mine via the internet from a seller in Slovakia.

I also like the older non Multi-Coated 20mm f4 Zeiss Flektagon. The only distortion I see with it is the expected geometric distortion. I am not bothered by the (expected) light fall-off at the edges of the frame. I've published several Black and White images that I took with the 20mm f4.

 

[ondebanks]

MF lenses on smaller formats

Many Medium Format lenses _do_ resolve as many lp/mm as a 35mm lens...don't write them all off on the basis of popular myths. Generally, any MF lens designed since about 1980 - including moderate wideangles - or any "normal/standard or long lens (on MF)" designed since the 1960s, will be very competitive with 35mm equivalents using the same fundamental designs and optical glass types.

Once you get into exotic ED and APO glass, aspheric elements and so on, then you might think that the 35mm lenses will pull ahead...but there are also APO MF lenses which keep right up with them!

The biggest differences are (a) 35mm lenses can be made with a faster f-ratio without becoming too gigantic, (b) MF SLR lenses move into the retrofocus design regime at focal lengths under about 80mm, whereas the threshold for 35mm SLRs is closer to 45mm; this makes it difficult to find a really good (or sometimes any) MF wideangle around the 35-45mm focal length, while the same thing applies to 35mm lenses shorter than 20mm.

Indeed, apart from just keeping up with 35mm performance, MF lenses can have some advantages. MF lenses will often vignette less. They may also provide improved corner sharpness, since the corner of the 35mm frame (where the designers give up) is well inside the MF frame (where the designers still have to be on their toes).

So if you don't need the fastest f-stops, and you avoid anything wider than the equivalent of about a 35mm-lens-on-35mm-film, and you stay away from simple, few-element designs like Tessars (ugly lenses on _any_ format!), MF SLR lenses can be damn good on smaller formats!

Some of my favourites, which perform admirably on 35mm film - even wide open, or at least 1 stop down from wide open:

Mamiya 645 55mm f2.8 N-type
Mamiya 645 80mm f1.9
Carl Zeiss Jena 120mm f2.8 MC Biometar
Mamiya 645 200mm f2.8 APO [amazingly, currently available new for the same as any good 200/2.8 APO for 35mm cameras!]
Carl Zeiss Jena 300mm f4 MC Sonnar

These are just M645 and P6 fitting lenses...every MF lens line will also have great performers, but I don't want to comment on anything I haven't used.

Ray

 

[kivis]

I have a Vivatar 28mm f2.5 in excellent condition. Interested?

 

[maxim]

MIR 20mm f3.5

YEs Russian Lens MIR
Makes a very sharp bulging 20mm lens
Its also very heavy

Really value for money
but difficult to find

comes in M42 or Nikon mount

 

[titrisol]

I wonder what would be the perspective change of a 28mm lens in the PEN FT.
I've been walking around with the Nikkor 28/2.8 lately to get used to such lens and founf it really interesting for 24x36... now for 18x24 I don't know