Huh?

nealjpage · Apr 21, 2007

Ok, so now I'm really cornfused. I was thinking of buying some older M42 (screw-mount) Pentax lenses to use with my K1000 because they're so much cheaper. I knew that there was an adapter made, so I went to B&H to check it out. Here's the link. I always thought that the lens was a direct fit, but this description seems to be telling me that the adapter won't work with my meter. Is that the case? Will the apeture release work, too, then?:scratch:

Alpha · Apr 21, 2007

The letter "A" that you see on some lenses stands for Automatic aperture, which is basically aperture that is electronically controlled by the camera itself instead of being set manually by the lens. What the B&H description says is that the adapter will not allow you to shoot in auto aperture mode, because it's physically blocking the connection by which the lens communicates with the camera and vice versa. Kind of silly in this case, though, as most m42 lenses aren't going to have an auto mode of this sort anyway. So in sum, all it really means is that you have to manually set the aperture on the lens itself (which is probably something you do anyway).

On a side note, a number of people use these adapters. Personally, I hate them. They tend to get stuck a lot. What happens is that you screw the adapter onto the lens, and then you put the mount into the body and rotate clockwise to lock it in (like any normal k-mount lens). But when it comes time to switch lenses, it's easy when you rotate counter-clockwise to remove it, for it to unscrew and leave the adapter sitting in the camera body, which is an unbelievable pain in the ass to get out.

Don Simon · Apr 21, 2007

It may depend on the camera body, but for what it's worth I found the M42-K adapters to be an incredible pain in the ass too... until I bought a Pentax one. They look identical but the better machining really does make a difference; with the 'own-brand' one it's easy to remove the adapter from the body whereas the cheap Ebay-bought one always used to get stuck.

Neal, as Max says you won't get the aperture controlled by the camera and will have to set it on the lens' aperture ring, which is exactly what you'd do on a K1000 anyway. You will of course have to stop down for shooting and for metering, but when stopped down metering should be possible.

Torus34 · Apr 21, 2007

Gave up on the whole scene a few years ago. Got a hand-held meter and never looked back. A pox on the houses of all poorly-machined adapter manufacturers.

nealjpage · Apr 21, 2007

Aha! I think I've got it now. I'm still kind of confused about the stopping down for metering, though. If I understand my K1000 correctly, when the lens is on the body, the apeture is always wide-open to make it easier to focus and set up the shot, and then it automatically stops down to wherever it's set when the shutter is released. If the apeture is all the way open when looking through the viewfinder, I'm not sure how that is coupled to the meter, then. Anyhoo, if I want to try the PITA that is the adapter ring (and I think I do--I've got a line on a 35mm f2.0 for $15) I just need to know if the meter will behave the same as it normally does with the K-mount lens.

Don Simon · Apr 23, 2007

Well with the m42 and adapter, obviously there's nothing to tell the camera what aperture you want to use, and there is nothing to automatically close the aperture. Unlike the K-mount lenses you will need to stop down to the appropriate aperture for an accurate meter reading. If you want a meter reading for f/8, you will need to actually stop down to f/8 when metering.

Now M/42 lenses tend to have an "Open/Close" aperture switch, which can be helpful here... for example say you want to shoot at f/8... so you have the aperture ring set at f/8, but have the switch in the position where the aperture remains wide-open... you can now compose wide-open for a brighter viewfinder image, then just flick the switch to close the aperture, then meter and shoot.

Other things to note: With an m42 lens you get spot or centre-weighted metering, but not the matrix metering you get with a newer K-mount lens. Also, obviously you will not be able to use Program or Shutter Priority mode because the camera can't control the aperture, but you can use Aperture Priority mode.

Paul Ron · Apr 24, 2007

Oh just go and buy yourself a Spotmatic.

nealjpage · Apr 24, 2007

Paul Ron said:
Oh just go and buy yourself a Spotmatic.

There were a few of those available, too, but I've already got two K1000 bodies and a myriad of lenses for them. Really no need to go to a different system.

Paul Ron · Apr 25, 2007

I jsut saw a Spotmatic with a 55mm lens going for $60. At that price it's worth buying a body for each lens.

The K1000 is a great old camera. The problem with adapting screw mounts on it is that your auto stop down feature won't work because the adapter doesn't let the control rod engage with the mechanism in the body.

That just means you will have to set the lens on Manual so it's stopped down all the time. The meter will still read properly as long as you are stopped down in manual mode.

On your ETRS, try the other back. Fire the body with no lens or back on it to see if that is working. Try firing the lenses off camera as well. Just be sure to cock the lens before mounting it on the clcked camera bidy or you'll lock it onto the body and will need some minor surgery to get it off.

.

nealjpage · Apr 25, 2007

Paul Ron said:
On your ETRS, try the other back. Fire the body with no lens or back on it to see if that is working. Try firing the lenses off camera as well. Just be sure to cock the lens before mounting it on the clcked camera bidy or you'll lock it onto the body and will need some minor surgery to get it off.

I've only got the one back. I tried firing it with the camera switched to multiple exposure but it won't fire. I can't remove the lens since I can't cock it. Now the mirror's stuck about half-way up and the leaves in the lens are closed.

Paul Ron · Apr 25, 2007

Take the back off. Set it to multi mode and cock it. The back might be your problem. Once you have it off we'll talk more about getting the lens off from inside the body if you need.

nealjpage · Apr 25, 2007

Paul Ron said:
Take the back off. Set it to multi mode and cock it. The back might be your problem. Once you have it off we'll talk more about getting the lens off from inside the body if you need.

Back removed, set to multi-mode, still can't turn the crank. Shutter won't fire. Mirror still stuck. I followed the link to remove the lens, and pushing that little lever with a chopstick, i stil can't remove the lens. Maybe i bought a lemon...

Paul Ron · Apr 25, 2007

Chop stick is too big to get to the latch. Look closer and you'll see what you have to push to release the lens.

PhotoNet has a ton of threads on ETRS jaming problems. Can you return it? Did you get it so cheap you can try to do your own repairs? Did you get it so cheap it would be worth sending it out to repair?

Man I have a few ETRS and I have never had any jams yet. You may have a lemmon is my gut feeling. Most jams are user error. So be patient and use your head, not brute force. Force kills em.

check this site out as well... http://buonaluce.com/

nealjpage · Apr 26, 2007

Paul Ron said:
Chop stick is too big to get to the latch. Look closer and you'll see what you have to push to release the lens.

PhotoNet has a ton of threads on ETRS jaming problems. Can you return it? Did you get it so cheap you can try to do your own repairs? Did you get it so cheap it would be worth sending it out to repair?

Man I have a few ETRS and I have never had any jams yet. You may have a lemmon is my gut feeling. Most jams are user error. So be patient and use your head, not brute force. Force kills em.

check this site out as well... http://buonaluce.com/

Well, I paid $100 for it, plus shipping, so I really don't see it as being a good guinea pig. The seller said he would possibly return it, but he suggests sending it out to camerarepair.com, which is in new jersey, for evaluation first. I'm not sure if I should agree to that or if I should insist on return and refund. The return policy on the eBay listing doesn't say "as-is," but it must be returned within 3 days.

Dimitri, do you have any thoughts on this one? You're quite the eBayer!

Paul Ron · Apr 26, 2007

Well to isolate the problem you really have to take the lens off to see if it's the lens or the body missfiring.

The problem could be a simple lever in the body out of alignment or a shutter not latching or lens mounted wrong. Yes a pro will be the way to go, after all you only paid $100. That camera is well worth the reapir of up to about $150 to still be a great deal since a working camera would normaly get around $300-$450 depending on it's condition and options.

Is that ETRS the plastic body or metal body?

If you'd like I'd look at it if you pay the round trip postage? E-mail me at [email protected]

Paul, NYC.