Got a few m42 lenses, are they any good?

[jan_bremnes]

Hi!

 

I've got a Soligor 135mm/f:2,8, a Elicar 35mm/f:2,8, a Petri 55mm/f:1,8, a Porst

28mm/f:2,8 and a Vivitar 400mm/f:5,6. And I also have a 28-70mm/f:4 Cosina and a

set of three m42 extension rings (total of 50mm). I've never made any large

prints from the pictures I've taken with this equipment, so I don't know how

good they are. Any of you guys have any experience with any of these brands? I'm

thinking about buying the Pentax K100D, and one of the main reasons for the

choice of camera is the set of lenses I already have (those listed above). Do

you think it's a wise descision? Or are the lenses just crap?

 

Thanks!

[michael_madio]

FYI, those lenses will also work on Canon and Olympus DSLRs and maybe others. Whether the lenses are good or not, I don't know but once you get a digital body, shots are free so test away. This is also very subjective and what works for one person may be totally unacceptable for another. For example, a lens that is not particularly sharp or has low contrast may be deemed garbage by some, but may turn out to be an ideal portrait lens for others.

[wigwam jones]

I doubt that the lenses you describe are 'crap'. Of the ones you describe, I have some experience with the Soligor - a good if not great performer in my experience, except for the Soligor C/D series, which were quite nice. Porst, if I recall correctly was made by different companies, so it could be made by any number of different companies, hard to say. I've had a Vivitar 400mm f/5.6 and I liked it, but it was not what I would call 'great'.

 

With that said, I doubt any of them would be truly disappointing on a Pentax K100D. I use my M42 lenses on my Pentax *ist DS, and I enjoy them very much. I also shoot old post-WWII era German M42 lenses on the *ist DS - I get a very different 'look' to the photos than I do with my sharper Pentax lenses, and I enjoy it.

 

I bought my Pentax *ist DS without lenses at all - I used my M42 lenses for quite some time, and then eventually bought a couple of auto-focus zooms and then a 50mm K-mount manual-focus prime lens. I've enjoyed them all. I think the Pentax offers a lot of 'experimentation' potential for very little financial outlay, and the image quality is lovely.

 

Don't forget, if you're not planning to eventually move into Pentax K mount AF and other lenses, you can just as easily mount M42 lenses on any other brand of dSLR - almost everyone makes an M42 to whatever adapter. Pentax offers the upgrade path into the K-mount system, that's the main advantage if you think you'll end up going that way. And I've heard it said that the Pentax dSLRs are somewhat easier to manually focus with - but to each their own on that one.

 

Look at it this way - the lenses will never be worth LESS than they are now, so there is no danger of them losing value while you play with them. You could sell them now, or you could play with them and sell them later - you'll get about the same amount for them. So why not keep them around for a bit and play with them?

 

If, on the other hand, you want M42 lenses that you 'know' are good, Pentax lenses have the best or most consistant reputation overall, although there have been the odd 'wonderful' M42 lens from other manufacturers.

[jeffcallen]

These lenses will work on a Canon EOS with an $20-50 adapter. They will probably also need an adapter to work on the Pentax you mention.

 

NOTE: The hardest thing here will be to focus them through the DSLR viewfinders, which were made for autofocus, not manual focus. I've used 50mm 1.4 Pentax Screw mount lens on my EOS 20D with adapter, works fine, but when I tried a wider lens at F4, it was hard to focus.

 

If you can try side-by-side various DSLR's in manual focus mode with F4 lenses, then you might get a good idea which one to get. There are special focussing screens for $200+ that can be installed in some DSLRs for manual focussing.

 

These lenses will give you different, more interestingly arty results than a modern AF lens, also there's the 1.5 factor with most DSLRs, so your 50mm becomes 75 or 80mm, your 135mm becomes like 200mm, your 28mm becomes something like 45mm.

[h._p.]

I've been using old manual focus lenses on my Canon 10D with the standard screen and focussing isn't a problem. I'd certainly try using the standard viewing screen before spending a lot of money on a new one.

[stemked]

I love and use screw mount lenses all the time on Pentax K mount bodies. With the $15-20 adaptor you will get aperture priority on *most* Pentax K bodies that offer that feature (exceptions: MZ/ZX-30/50/60 and *ist film).

 

I have a Spirlton 135mm f2.8 that I suspect is very much like your Soligor and I really love the portraits I capture with it. It's a tad soft, but I like that effect for portraits.