ValliPride Loc: Lost in Florida

A very good friend of mine,ask me a question, His Dad while being in Viet Nam bought this Pentax 35mm manual camera with all the manual lens, is there any Camera that will be able to use these old lens, I do not know the model of the camera Yet. He wants to surprise his Dad with semi or new body for the old lens. His Dad is old school and was a Gunner on the Helicopters. Thank you all for your info.

jethro779 Loc: Tucson, AZ

Those would be M42 screw mount lenses. Read this from WikiHow.

http://www.wikihow.com/Use-M42-Lenses-with-a-Canon-EOS-DSLR

ValliPride Loc: Lost in Florida

Thank you. I will relay your information 👍👍

jim quist Loc: Missouri

Call BnH photo

blackest Loc: Ireland

Yes any Pentax Dslr and nearly all Pentax film SLR's (2 that don't) M42 lenses will work in aperture priority (manual too) and can be metered spot centre weighted or matrix like any other lens. Focus is confirmed with all DSLR bodies and the lenses also get the upgrade of Pentax's in body stabilization.

To be fair Canon would be almost as good, however the lenses wouldn't be stabilized and some wide angle lenses can contact the mirror at some focusing distances. Canon has a slightly shorter registration distance which is good for adapting quite a few lenses but where rear elements move in to the mirror box this can be a problem. Since Pentax never changed the registration distance going between m42 and the K mount this isn't an issue (m42 lenses would have had problems on m42 bodies if this wasn't the case).

Nikon is a problem since they use a slightly longer registration distance. Mirrorless cameras are also a good candidate for m42 lense use.

ValliPride Loc: Lost in Florida

Thank you, my friend will like this info. He is going to Surprise his Old School Dad with a new camera body👍👍

kymarto Loc: Portland OR and Milan Italy

You can easily adapt M42 lenses to Canon or Sony E mount cameras via inexpensive adapters (of course all functions will be manual including the diaphragm, which has to be used in stopdown mode). Not possible with Nikon, as the lenses won't focus to infinity. I'm not sure about Pentax K or Sony A mount, but you should be able to look it up quite easily. And also possible to adapt to all mirrorless cams via adapters.

tturner Loc: Savannah Ga

Pentax makes an adapter that will allow M42 lenses to be used on k mount Pentax bodies.

Bill1967 Loc: Castle Rock, Colorado now Wilmington NC

Why not stick with Pentax? Any on the new Pentax bodies will work and you will get in body stabilization. You will need an inexpensive M42 to K adaptor. Nikon, Canon or Sony don't have IBS.

tturner Loc: Savannah Ga

You are right, also Pentax bodies are weather sealed, I'm not sure about Nikon and Canon.

James Slick Loc: Pittsburgh,PA

Yep!


Also, check out this discussion at the Pentax forums:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/60-accessory-memory-articles/87287-right-type-m42-k-mount-adaptor.html

It's an older discussion, But M42 is an older​ mount.

royden Loc: Decatur, GA

Pentax is best option. Check www.pentaxforums.com. Lots of info there.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Yes, via inexpensive adapters those M42 lenses would be usable on modern Canon or Sony or Pentax cameras.

A "full frame" camera model will utilize the lens fully, the same way it performed with a 35mm film camera. Most DSLRs sold are not full frame... they use a sensor that's considerably smaller which makes telephoto lenses seem more powerful, but also makes wide angle lenses "act" less wide.

Currently Canon's least expensive and most basic full frame camera is their EOS 6D. Other full frame Canon are 5D-series, 1DX-series and 1Ds-series models. I don't know the Sony system well enough to advise about the choices among their models.

The Canon EOS 6D sells for about $1500, body only. But it can often be found for less as "open box" or refurbished (little different from new, in many cases).

Pentax has recently introduced their own full frame camera, the K-1. It sells for $1800, body only. Adapters would still be needed, M42 to Pentax K-bayonet, sometimes called "P/K" mount. I don't know if it functions with vintage, manual focus lenses the way a Canon does.

APS-C "crop sensor" cameras from Canon, Pentax and Nikon also will work fine and in all brands can be much less expensive than full frame models such as above. However, keep in mind that on the crop cameras, those old lenses won't "behave" the same way they did on film cameras. With Canon APS-C cameras, it's as if you were adding a 1.6X teleconverter... with Sony or Pentax it's like adding a 1.5X TC. So, for example, on any of these crop sensor cameras a 20mm lens that was super wide on film will only act like it's moderately wide, a 28mm wide angle lens will act more like a "normal" lens and a 50mm lens that was a normal of film will now behave as a short telephoto.

I've used various adapted lenses with my Canon cameras (both full frame and APS-C) and can describe the basics of that:

M42 to EOS/EF adapters for his lenses are very widely available. There are two basic types: "unchipped" and "chipped" (example, https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1009420-REG/fotodiox_m42_eos_fl_dc_p_adapter_for_m42_lens.html). The main advantage of the slightly more expensive "chipped" type is that they allow modern camera's Focus Confirmation feature to work with manual focus lenses like those vintage Pentax. This is especially helpful because the focus screens of modern cameras, designed for use with autofocus lenses, typically don't have any of the classic manual focus assist features such as split-image rangefinders and micro-diaprism focusing dots. As a result it can be difficult to manually focus lenses the "old school" ways. Focus Confirmation is one means of getting around that. But, in order to enable Focus Confirmation, a Canon DSLR needs to first be fitted with an auto focus lens and set to One Shot focus mode... so he will also want at least one modern AF lens for the camera, too... a relatively inexpensive Canon lens like the $125 EF 50/1.8 STM would work fine. If a zoom were preferred, the EF 28-135mm IS USM is a pretty good general purpose "walk-around" lens that can be found at reasonable prices ($340 new, under $200 lightly used).

NOTE: I really don't know, but if an autofocus lens were needed with the Pentax K-1 for the same reasons or simply to have one, the least expensive Pentax lens is their FA 50mm f/1.4 DA, selling for $330... or their least expensive zoom is the FA 28-105mm costing about $500.

Those vintage manual focus lenses will also be manual aperture control only. In some cases the aperture will actually close down when set to smaller apertures. This will cause the viewfinder to dim down. But, some Pentax M42 lenses use a separate aperture "trigger" on the lens itself, don't actually stop down until that's tripped manually. And it's used to reopen the aperture after the exposure. Using this type lens will be pretty much the same as it was on the film cameras.

Canon DSLRs with vintage manual focus/manual aperture lenses can be used in Manual exposure mode. While watching the meter readout, the user adjusts ISO/ASA, shutter speed and aperture themselves, until the indicator is "centered"... this is often still called "match needle metering", even though today's cameras have LCD and LED displays, instead of needles!

It's also possible to use "Av" (aperture priority AE) mode with those vintage lenses on a Canon camera. In this mode, the user selects the ISO (same as ASA) and sets the aperture, but then can leave it to the camera to automatically set the shutter speed.

It might also be possible to use Auto ISO feature that many of the recent Canon models offer. In this the camera is set to "Manual" mode, but with Auto ISO enabled will still give a form of auto exposure. I haven't tried it with vintage lenses, but the user selects aperture and shutter speed, and the camera chooses an appropriate ISO (again, same as ASA). It should work, too.

Cannot use "Tv" (shutter priority AE) or "P" (program AE) auto exposure modes with vintage lenses. Some other modes on many Canon cameras "A+" (super-auto-everything/point-n-shoot-style AE), "SCN" (scene) and "CA" (creative auto) also cannot be used with manual focus/manual aperture lenses.

But all this might be moot anyway, to an "old school" shooter who may be accustomed to setting exposure fully manually.

More info about using Canon cameras with vintage lenses can be found here: http://bobatkins.com/photography/eosfaq/manual_focus_EOS.html

Canon and Sony cameras can accommodate the widest variety of vintage lenses... many different vintage mounts can be adapted to use on either of them. Other camera brands are less flexible: Basically, Pentax can use vintage Pentax, Nikon can use vintage Nikon, and Olympus can use vintage OM lenses. But even with some limitations, there's a huge variety of vintage lenses avail. for use on any brand.

He'll need to learn a few new tricks to use a modern DSLR... be it a Pentax, Sony or Canon... full frame or crop sensor. But once learned I think he'll really enjoy some of the significant advantages of digital over film. It's great to be able to vary ISO from shot to shot (used to have to use the same ISO until the roll of film was finished). It's also great to not have to reload the camera every 24 to 36 shots (large memory cards can hold thousands of images... tho I don't like to put all my eggs in one basket, so I use memory cards that hold 250 to 500 images apiece). Not to mention, the immediate feedback of digital is fantastic (image review and the histogram... versus waiting hours or days for film to be developed!).

Hope this helps!

louparker Loc: Scottsdale, AZ

I have and use 2 of the Pentax screw mount adapters with my current Pentax DSLR and they work great with my original Pentax Super Takumar lenses that I bought when I got my original Pentax Spotmatics in 1966, one of which I still have (gave the other to my ex-wife when we got divorced).

kymarto Loc: Portland OR and Milan Italy

The new Sony A7's have excellent five-axis stabilization, arguably the best in the business, apart from that of Olympus.