OT: Pentax screwmount SLRs

[Sonnar2]

You wanna have a short break from RF cameras?
Look at this site:
http://www.taunusreiter.de/Cameras/Pentax_MX.html

I just got this Pentax H2 from 1960. Seriously, it costs me 82 GBP..! If you ever thought SLRs i.e. Pentax are ugly and heavy you are on the wrong side! It weights 568g like my Canon P! Not to speak about the MX. The lens is 170g like a dual color 60's Canon lens too!

And look at this camera!

cheers, and a nice weekend to all of you... Sorry most of my pages are in German, maybe I translate a few sometime...

Frank

 

[chug]

They are fantastic SLRs 🙂 My first SLR was and is a KM, which is what they made after the K1000. Its a fantastic camera and is doing better than my Dad's(now mine) MX, which needs new light seals. Cant go wrong with em 🙂

 

[Penguin_101]

Make the site into English: http://world.altavista.com/babelfish/tr
COpy the URL and then select German to whatever you need.

 

[Sonnar2]

..translation sounds quite stupido.. 🙂) even not good enough to start with for a real translation .. well, if 5 people complain, I do it 🙂

 

[Jan Brittenson]

Some of my favorite lenses are M42! The SMC Tak 50/1.4, MC Flektogon 35/2.4 (CZJ), Helios 44-2... I even just bought a brand spanking new Bessaflex to use with my M42 lenses.

 

[doubs43]

The Pentax Spotmatic in it's various models is an excellent choice in SLR's. There are also numerous other brands available with the M42 screw mount; Mamiya-Sekor, Fuji, Vivitar, Praktica and others. It's been estimated that more lenses in M42 mount have been made than any other and excellent lenses are available at good prices.

IMO, one of the best buys in an M42 mount camera is the Praktica L series. They all have a vertical metal focal plane shutter with X-sync at 1/125. Even is the meter doesn't work, they are fine mechanical cameras.

Walker

 

[Graham Line]

Made money for years shooting with Spotmatic F bodies plus an ES and mostly the 28/3.5 and the 85/1.8 lenses. Excellent quality, excellent build. The meters tended to drift over time (the ES was always very accurate) and the screwmounts never really had an easy-to-use and reliable motor drive. But the bodies were compact and reliable and well-made. Some of the good fast lenses are hard to find. I never thought their wide angles were quite as good as the rest of the line.

 

[bmattock]

Some of my favorite lenses are M42! The SMC Tak 50/1.4, MC Flektogon 35/2.4 (CZJ), Helios 44-2... I even just bought a brand spanking new Bessaflex to use with my M42 lenses.

I've got a Bessaflex TM as well - the "Topcon" looking one. Love it.

I just bought a Pentax *ist DS and a M42 adapter for it. I'm sitting here right now, getting ready to go out with a Meyer Gorlitz Oreston 50mm f1.8, a Helios 44-M 58mm f2, Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 80mm f2.8, Meyer Optik Gorliz Trioplan 100mm f2.8, and a Pentax Super Takumar 35mm f2.

Of course, I am also bringing a Zeiss Ikon Contina III and a roll of B&W film. Foot in both worlds.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[ray_g]

Count me in as another screwmount fan. Also my first SLR. How can you resist? Elegant mechanical cameras, and a sea of great lenses, often at bargain prices - Takumar, CZ Jena, Pentacon, EBC Fujinon, Zenitars, Jupiters.... 🙂

BTW, Sonnar2, you page on how to tell if a sonnar's a fake was very useful to me a month or two ago. Thanks!!

 

[Duncan Ross]

You wanna have a short break from RF cameras?
Look at this site:
http://www.taunusreiter.de/Cameras/Pentax_MX.html

I just got this Pentax H2 from 1960. Seriously, it costs me 82 GBP..! If you ever thought SLRs i.e. Pentax are ugly and heavy you are on the wrong side! It weights 568g like my Canon P! Not to speak about the MX. The lens is 170g like a dual color 60's Canon lens too!

And look at this camera!

cheers, and a nice weekend to all of you... Sorry most of my pages are in German, maybe I translate a few sometime...

Frank

Yep, some of the M42 SLRs are superb! My wife's Praktica MTL5 will probably last longer than I will and for me the Fujica ST605N is the best kept secret of M42 SLRs - it is so beautiful to use, cheap as chips and takes the Pentax 50mm f1.4. As always with SLRs from this period do check the mirror cushion at the front of the mirror box isn't turning into gunge.

Hope you get some good shots!

 

[nikon_sam]

Back in 1976 my parents bought me my first real camera...a Vivitar 400/SL. It came with a normal 50mm, a 200mm tele and a 2x teleconverter. I loved that camera and still have it (it's been retired). It too used M42 lenses and even by today's standards these are very sharp lenses.
Just the other day I was looking through my drawers and pulled out that oldie and though "You know...it would be fun shooting with this old boy", but then quickly I wrapped it up and put it away.
Again...hurray for the oldies!!!

 

[Scarpia]

I have a Takumar 50mm f1.4 that I use on a Canon Rebel TI with an adapter of course.
Incredibly sharp! Last year I found a Spotmatic witha Takumar 55mm f2 at a garage sale and took it home for thirty bucks. Works perfectly, and would you believe I put in a 392 watch battery with a little shifting around and I get perfect exposures with color print film. I wouldn't try Kodachrome, though.
Kurt M.

 

[kiev4a]

One of my first SLRs was an H2 with the meter that clipped on over the pentaprism. It was a great camera and I still regret selling it. You are correct, it was very small compared to later SLRs and was very nicely finished. I got it and normal plus a 200 and 35mm Takumars used but like new (Every lens was sharp). Think I paid about $300 around 1968.

A super Takumar was the 17mm. They now fetch fairly high prices. What a hunk of Glass. Another in the long list of equipment I wish I hadn't sold. Attached is a shot I too about 1978 of our kids with the 17mm.

 

[doubs43]

I've got a Bessaflex TM as well - the "Topcon" looking one. Love it.

I just bought a Pentax *ist DS and a M42 adapter for it. I'm sitting here right now, getting ready to go out with a Meyer Gorlitz Oreston 50mm f1.8, a Helios 44-M 58mm f2, Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 80mm f2.8, Meyer Optik Gorliz Trioplan 100mm f2.8, and a Pentax Super Takumar 35mm f2. Best Regards, Bill Mattocks

Bill, I'd like to know how the Oreston, Tessar and Trioplan perform. The Orestons I've used - and I have several - are great lenses and about as inexpensive as can be found in 50mm. They also focus to about 13".

The attached picture was taken with a 135mm Pentacon on a Praktica LTL. She won't see it until next month when there's another match at the gun club but I think she'll like it.

Walker

 

[bmattock]

Bill, I'd like to know how the Oreston, Tessar and Trioplan perform. The Orestons I've used - and I have several - are great lenses and about as inexpensive as can be found in 50mm. They also focus to about 13".

The attached picture was taken with a 135mm Pentacon on a Praktica LTL. She won't see it until next month when there's another match at the gun club but I think she'll like it.

Walker

Walker,

I didn't get the shots in that I hoped today - maybe tomorrow. But I took a few on the lawn this evening as the sun was setting with the Meyer Gorlitz Oreston 50mm f1.9, just for you! I shot wide-open, say about 1/250 second. These were the best of ten or so...

Oh yes, remember these were shot with the *ist DS, so 1.5 cropping factor applies - this would act like a severe center crop or a lens of 75mm instead of a 50mm.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[dmr]

One of my first SLRs was an H2 with the meter that clipped on over the pentaprism.

My brother had a Pentax screw mount with the meter over the prism, but H2 wasn't it. I want to say HV or XV or something. The meter was coupled to the shutter speed but not to the aperture. His did go to 1/1000.

My second "Real Camera" was a Spotmatic. Original Spotmatic "black press" model. Got it up at the old Minifilm shop on 8th Av. and 30-something. I eventually got the real Pentax Takumar 135 and the Vivitar 28mm wide, which I very much preferred over the regular wide angle of 35mm, and still do. My only real gripe about this camera was the time and hassle of changing lenses. That was the real reason I sold it many years later and got the K1000, which is still my main camera for serious stuff. Ironically, before I got any lenses other than the normal one for the K1000 I got a 28-135 zoom, so changing lenses is a moot point. If I had to do it over, I would have probably kept the Spotmatic and just got a zoom. So much for 20/20 hindsight. 🙂 I do love the K1000, since I've had it for about 20 years now. 🙂

But anyway, the Spotmatic was a great camera. Back in those days (early 70's) the holy grail of SLRs was the Nikon F series but nobody my age (my age then) could afford one. Several people I knew got the Nikkormat as a second choice, but I chose the Spotmatic, mainly because my brother had a Pentax, and I had used it and liked it.

I'm receptive enough in Deutsch to understand most of that page, but I know I'm missing many of the nuances. If you look around on the site, they also have a very good English language page covering some of the early Canon rangefinders too. Lots of information about the Canon lenses, including the f.095 normal lens. I've always been fascinated with fast lenses like that, but never got to play with one. 🙂

 

[doubs43]

Walker, I took a few on the lawn this evening as the sun was setting with the Meyer Gorlitz Oreston 50mm f1.9, just for you! I shot wide-open, say about 1/250 second. These were the best of ten or so... Best Regards, Bill Mattocks

Bill, I'd say that the Oreston acquitted itself very nicely. The color looks to be accurate and they're certainly sharp enough. Nice-looking puppies too! 🙂

Walker

 

[ChrisN]

Compact SLR? Don't forget the old Oly OM10 - my first serious camera bought new when they first came out. Cheap as chips now and good lenses available too.

 

[Doug]

Chris, I believe the Olympus OM10 was made for them by Cosina, so is a very close cousin to Jan's and Bill's Bessaflexes. 🙂

I have four screw-mount Pentaxes, including the motor-drive Spotmatic and an H3 just like my first good camera back when. These are very elegantly designed cameras, and well made too. Here's a pic of my Pentax K... (long way from that one to the K2!)

 

[doubs43]

Here's a pic of my Pentax K... (long way from that one to the K2!)

Doug, does that lens have the semi-auto diaphram that requires setting it to full open after each exposure? I just received a 105mm f/2.8 Takumar "Auto" lens with the pre-set knob. Advertised as "never used", after examining it, I can believe it. It's pristine. Now to take some pictures with it........ 🙂

Walker