why don't they?

[rppaint]

Why doesn't anyone make adapters to mate different lenses to different bodies? (like a Cannon lens to a Pentax body)

 

[Josh66]

They do.

Lens Adapters

 

[mrpink]

somebodies mind just got blown....

p!nK

 

[Josh66]

somebodies mind just got blown....

p!nK

:lmao:

 

[rppaint]

I only saw one pentax adapter, and it was the old style to the new style. Idk maybe I'm looking at it wrong, or not explaining myself very well. :blushing: Oh well i was just curious not that i would wanna use that cannon junk! lol jk jk

 

[Overread]

$£%#!

OIIIIIIO I want one of these now: AstroScope | Night Vision Adapter 9350-EOS-3PRO | 914656 | B&H

kind of.. till I saw the price on one! Gah cheaper to stick to my original plan of IR spotlamps and an IR 400D camera body for night work..........


OI! I saw that comment rppaint!
Ebay has a lot more adaptors for this kind of stuff -though I've not looked into it myself, from what little I know there can be big problems getting the controls with modern electronic lenses and camera bodies. You might get the lens to mount, but you might not have any auto focus or aperture control - the lack of AF you can get round by manual focusing, but the lack of aperture control would be crippling for a lot of photography. That said I know quite a few canon shooters have some sort of setup to get access to a specific nikon landscape lens.

 

[Josh66]

Yeah - I saw that too. It would definitely be cool.

Looks like it's an ITAR controlled item though, so you wouldn't be able to get one anyway...lol.

(Can't be exported outside the US without an export license (which I doubt they would give to a non-US citizen))

Of course, you could come here, buy it, and try to sneak it back. You might make it, you might get caught...lol. Not sure what would happen if you got caught... It probably wouldn't be good though.

 

[matfoster]

I only saw one pentax adapter, and it was the old style to the new style. Idk maybe I'm looking at it wrong, or not explaining myself very well. :blushing: Oh well i was just curious not that i would wanna use that cannon junk! lol jk jk

which lens/mount and which body are you trying to connect together?

 

[KmH]

Some combinations of lens and camera just aren't practical because of differing distances from the mount to the image sensor.

 

[rppaint]

I have a Pentax K200d and I was just wanting to try out some different lenses without buying everything new. It seems like there are a lot of Cannon and Nikon lenses used (and relatively cheap) but Pentax lenses are scarce.

 

[rppaint]

Some combinations of lens and camera just aren't practical because of differing distances from the mount to the image sensor.

I was wondering if that had something to do with it. thank you

 

[matfoster]

if you're into manual focus then lots and lots of lenses..
M42, Adaptall-2, Nikon AI/AIS all potentially adaptable to PK.

shame K mount lenses for you are scarce..where i am, they seem the most common to turn up in charity shops (along with M42).

have a read through this ..
Pentax K mount - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[matfoster]

Some combinations of lens and camera just aren't practical because of differing distances from the mount to the image sensor.

I was wondering if that had something to do with it. thank you

that's the main issue. with pentax DSLRs i have no experience in doing it. but i use a Canon DSLR for this kind of thing. i've improvised custom-mounts for different lenses on it...including unconventional adaptations (eg FED industars ;-))
fed industar lenses - Google Search

 

[usayit]

I have a Pentax K200d and I was just wanting to try out some different lenses without buying everything new. It seems like there are a lot of Cannon and Nikon lenses used (and relatively cheap) but Pentax lenses are scarce.

For that Pentax, the best manual lenses to adapt are the K-mounts. Actually, that's a bit inaccurate as you don't need any type of adapter. It should work except for no autofocus. Pentax was nice enough to equip even their newest DSLRs with the proper aperture diaphragm linkages to automatically meter and stop down the lenses. One of my favs is the 40mm f/2.8 pancake.

Next, would be the Pentax adapter for Pentax 645 lenses (manual focus). Originally intended to allow for K-mount 35mm cameras to be a backup to the 645 body and share the lenses. The 645 lenses perform well (I have quite a few) but they are still relatively expensive. 75mm 645 takumar is wonderful.

Next would be the Tamron Adaptalls. All they require are the appropriate adaptall for K-mount. They work as mentioned above. A good one to have from here are the Tamron 90mm Macro and the 1:1 teleconverter design specifically for it. Wonderful lens.

Next are screwmounts with with a simple K-mount -> M42 adapter, you them proceed into M42 screwmount lenses that predate the K-mount. The adapter can be found online, ebay, and locally for about $20-30. There's not much to the adapter. They work fairly well but you will have to stop down the lenses manually. Only lenses that have the "A(auto) and M(manual)" switch will allow you to stop down the lens. Otherwise, you'll be stuck shooting wide open as the modern DSLR doesn't have the mechanism to activate the aperture (steel rod needs to be pushed in by the camera). Most noted of these are the "Takumar" lenses which were made for the Spotmatics manufactured by the Aashi Optical Company (Japan). These eventually get spawned off to the company now known as Pentax. Of course, the 50mm f/1.4 which is SHARP but the coatings are slightly radioactive and degrade overtime... turning yellow in color. Later serials have improved coatings to slow this effect. I also have the 500mm f/4 which performs well given its age. Speaking age, don't forget that these lenses can date back to the 50s/60s. Do research on which ones have coatings and once that don't (takumar == SMC).


My "budget" DSLR is a pentax mount Samsung copy of the Pentax *ist DL. Its a bit older than the K200D so the settings might be different. I had to change settings in the camera accordingly. Previous post of mine:

"All my old lenses work Both K and KA even though the camera sepecifically mentions only KA and KAF. There are few settings that got the manual k-mounts without the "A" setting on the aperture work. 1) "AE-L on M expr" needs to be set to 2 to allow the "AE-L" button function as the stop-down metering in aperture priority. 2) "Use Aperture ring" has to be set to 2 to allow you to use lenses even though they are not set in the "A" setting. 3) Move the switch from "AF" to "M" or else the camera will try to focus prior to letting you trip the shutter. 4) The camera has to be set to full "M" manual mode. Once you set 1 and 2, you can leave it that way even though you switching between AF lenses and Manual K-mounts. Once all set, you basically focus, set your aperture via the lens ring, hit AE-L (stops down and sets shutter), and then press the shutter. Works pretty seemlessly. I got a kick out of mounting my older screw mount M42 lenses too."

You can pretty much find anything in M42 mount to keep an interest... don't shy away from some of the other off brands as well. I've been collecting Pentax/Takumars/M42 for a while now. Its interesting how the "look" these older lenses produce... pretty fun.

As someone mentioned, the complexities of adapting lenses are 1) Flange Distance 2) Mirror clearance (watch those fisheyes) 3) Aperture stop down. Do research.. there is a wealth out there.

 

[rppaint]

Thank you for taking the time to respond. I will have to refer to that more than once! lol I am currently using older lenses that i got when my mother passed, that she used with her k1000 and zx10. I don't have a true "digital" lens, and the lenses I have don't go wide enough for a lot of things (due to the 1.5 factor).