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Old Pentax lenses on new ist d?
#1

I have at the back of a cupboard a Pentax MV with a broken shutter, and on it is a 50mm Pentax lens along with a cosina 80-200 zoom which date back to around 1970 ish.
Will they work on a Pentax ist d, dl,ds or the latest? ds2. I realise that it will not be auto (electronic).
At the camera end is a small lever which opens the aperture, and as far as I recall a K mount.
I thought I may get a body and use these 2 lenses.

Or would I be better starting from scratch, with either Pentax and lenses or (my favourite) Canon 350d and lenses.
This is just a fun thing, I dont expect to be selling Photo's or services.
Thanks in anticipation.
(Polly sent me)

Lumix LX5.
Canon 350 D.+ 18-55 Kit lens + Tamron 70-300 macro. + Canon 50mm f1.8 + Manfrotto tripod, in bag.
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#2

Hey NT73... Welcome to Shuttertalk! How's Polly these days? Big Grin

I'm not terribly familiar with Pentax gear, do you know what type of lens they are? Here's a lens compatibility chart from the pentax site:
http://www.pentaximaging.com/products/ca..._chart.jsp

Also some faqs:
http://www.pentax.co.uk/photographic/faq_lenses.html

Quote:Will the current range of lenses fit my old Pentax SLR?
All current Pentax lenses fit and work correctly on all Pentax SLR cameras that have a Pentax bayonet mount.

Will my old Pentax lenses work on my new Pentax SLR?
Yes they will, but there are some limitations. See below for general advice. If you wish to check specifically, contact us with your lens and body combination and we'll tell you about all the functions available.

M lens1975 to 1983 approx.
No AF, Power zoom, Program modes, Shutter Priority, Multi-segment metering

A lens1983 to 1987 approx.
No AF, Power Zoom

F lens1987 to date
No Power zoom

FA lens1991 to date
no loss of function

M and A lenses are manual focus, F and FA are auto focus.
Hope that helps!

Jules
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#3

shuttertalk Wrote:Hey NT73... Welcome to Shuttertalk! How's Polly these days? Big Grin

Jules
Hiya Jules, I'm still alive and kicking, still looking in a few times a week but haven't been doing much shooting recently nor doing much posting anywhere - apart from a UK ISP community board that has a small photography forum, which is where I sometimes talk with NT73. I'm trying to spend a bit less time babbling in forums and a bit more time looking at other stuff and learning about improving a few skills.

NT73, glad to see you mananged to find your way in here and 'noisynoodle' will probably look in soon and catch up with the thread. In the meantime - I forgot to mention there's a "Musician's Corner" forum in here that you might enjoy browsing as well as the various photography and image manipulation topics.

Pol
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#4

You are up late Pol, you will never be beautiful or so they told me.
Thanks ST will look tomorrow at the links.

Lumix LX5.
Canon 350 D.+ 18-55 Kit lens + Tamron 70-300 macro. + Canon 50mm f1.8 + Manfrotto tripod, in bag.
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#5

Hey NT73,

I shoot with the *ist DS and just recently got an old (1970's) 50mm pentax lens and it works a treat. It only works in fully manual mode but it does work. The pentax camera can pretty much take any old pentax lens without trouble. I would definitely recommend getting a pentax and using the glass you already have.

There is a quick sample shot from the old lens in this thread.

Hope that helps!

Muzza

"The goal is not to change your subjects, but for the subject to change the photographer." -Anonymous
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#6

NT73 Wrote:You are up late Pol, you will never be beautiful or so they told me.
Thanks ST will look tomorrow at the links.
I've been freezing cold out on the beach and nature reserve most of yesterday so I went to bed early, fell asleep about 8-00pm and woke up about half after midnight - so I came downstairs for a cuppa and to refill the hotwater bottle - still trying to defrost my feet after the beach Big Grin

muzza - that's a super portrait shot! Looks like you got yourself a good buy with that lens! Cool

Pol
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#7

If they are "A" lenses they will work in apperture priority mode, if they are "M" lenses you need to manually meter, it is easy and simply requires you to press one button.

Personally I would probably not use the Cosina lens, the cheap AF lenses available today are much better and did I say they are pretty cheap anyway, the 50mm I think you will find is not as usefull as they used to be and you would be much better off with one of the 18-50mm lenses or similar, took me a few goes but I have settled on the Pentax 16-45mm ED AL as my general walkaround lens and am very happy with that.

Whatever you end up doing make sure you post some pics back here.

Cheers.

Pete D

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm
not sure about the former.

Albert Einstein
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#8

Thanks all It would seem the main lens is a (SMC Pentax-M 1:2 50mm)
The Cosina zoom was dropped by my brother, and it sorta scraped the paint off in places. Being old (the lens), I stuck a screwdriver in it and stopped it scraping. Shortly after my wife decided to get a Fuji F2800 and so the Pentax got stuck in a cupboard.
I think I will start at the beginning again with relatively modern stuff, as it is lighter and possibly better. And it will mean the camera will function as it is supposed to.
Just weighed them and the cosina lens weighs 1lb 1oz. (xxx gms)Rolleyes

Lumix LX5.
Canon 350 D.+ 18-55 Kit lens + Tamron 70-300 macro. + Canon 50mm f1.8 + Manfrotto tripod, in bag.
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#9

Hi,


Finally spotted your post (better late than never), but it seems your questions have already been adequately answered!

I'll just add that as you only have the two older lenses and the Cosina is not likely to be very good on a digital body you're probably wise to start from scratch and not factor the existing Pentax lenses into your decision as to which manufacturer to go with, (the 50mm f2 wasn't the best of the old 50's either).

But, if like me, you have limited funds then Pentax backward compatibility is fantastic. Almost every lens I own was bought used on eBay for peanuts and most is very high quality glass. Even using old screw mount lenses is relatively easy and one can obtain high quality for very little outlay.

Here's an example from an old 28mm f3.5 Super Takumar screw mount lens that cost me £10:

[Image: 42612855.jpg]

and this is from a Pentax M (k-mount) 135 f3.5 that also cost £10:

[Image: 46611456.jpg]

finally an example from a very old Takumar 105mm f2.8 screw mount (less than £10):

[Image: 42612862.jpg]

Good luck with your camera hunting and hope to see some examples on here once you've taken the plunge.

--NN
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#10

noisynoodle Wrote:Hi,

Finally spotted your post (better late than never), but it seems your questions have already been adequately answered!

I'll just add that as you only have the two older lenses and the Cosina is not likely to be very good on a digital body you're probably wise to start from scratch and not factor the existing Pentax lenses into your decision as to which manufacturer to go with, (the 50mm f2 wasn't the best of the old 50's either).

But, if like me, you have limited funds then Pentax backward compatibility is fantastic. Almost every lens I own was bought used on eBay for peanuts and most is very high quality glass. Even using old screw mount lenses is relatively easy and one can obtain high quality for very little outlay.


--NN
Thanks for dropping in, NN. You have some real belters off those old lenses - real bargains!

I did go through all of David's old Pentax lenses but the only one that interested me is a Vivitar Autofocus Series 1 - a 200mm f 3.5 prime lens. I finally sussed how to get it working on the istD, thought I was going to be thrilled with it but the wretched thing will only work at an aperture of f/3.5 and I'd been hoping to use it at smaller apertures ... so I gave it back to him and never bothered trying it again.


Pol
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#11

Hi Pol,

I've actually got the ancient original screw mount MF Series 1 200mm, but mine's an f3 and weighs about a ton!
Haven't tried it yet, but it's supposed to be excellent. The more recent Series 1 lenses (especially the AF ones) tended to trade a little on past glory so I doubt you'd have been as knocked out as you might have expected if it'd worked properly.
I'm surprised it only worked wide open. I would have assumed being AF it also has an auto-aperture A position so should be totally compatible withe *istD in all modes. Perhaps it's faulty? I take it you tried setting aperture ring control on and manually setting aperture with the "green button" press for exposure?

--NN
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#12

noisynoodle Wrote:Hi Pol,

I've actually got the ancient original screw mount MF Series 1 200mm, but mine's an f3 and weighs about a ton!
Haven't tried it yet, but it's supposed to be excellent. The more recent Series 1 lenses (especially the AF ones) tended to trade a little on past glory so I doubt you'd have been as knocked out as you might have expected if it'd worked properly.
I'm surprised it only worked wide open. I would have assumed being AF it also has an auto-aperture A position so should be totally compatible withe *istD in all modes. Perhaps it's faulty? I take it you tried setting aperture ring control on and manually setting aperture with the "green button" press for exposure?

--NN
It certainly wouldn't work for me in the A position, tried that first. It ony worked for me when I manually set the aperture, using the rings.

However I don't recall using the "green button" press for exposure - not sure what you mean either. D'ya mean the green button on top, near the shutter button, the one that resets the exposure for you if eg - you're in P mode?

Having said all that - I must admit I wasn't very impressed with the pix I did get from it. He'd bought it secondhand many years ago so it's possible it never wasn't working as it should. He never did buy any new lenses in the past - most came from 'bargain bins' at the local camera shop.

Pol
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#13

Ah right, now I see what's gone wrong. If you want to use a lens with manual aperture setting you need to go into the custom functions settings in the menu and set "use of aperture ring" to "permitted" (something like that anyway). It can be set and left like that permanently as it has no detrimental effect on fully automatic lenses. Then with the camera in AV or M mode you have to set the aperture required using the aperture ring and press the green button (yes, it's the one by the shutter button). That will stop the lens down momentarily and the camera will meter and set the appropriate shutter speed. With older lenses (especially screw mounts which have no aperture lever) the procedure is much the same except that you have to use the camera in manual mode.
Incidentally, for any DS and DL users out there, the procedure is the same, but you don't have a green button so for your cameras you use the AE Lock button to meter.

--NN
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#14

Sounds complicated...Do you need a degree? Big Grin
Your doggy looks sweet. Nice shots.
If I get somewhere near I will be happy. All the MV stuff was on slides and weve been scanning and saving them for ages (read years).

Lumix LX5.
Canon 350 D.+ 18-55 Kit lens + Tamron 70-300 macro. + Canon 50mm f1.8 + Manfrotto tripod, in bag.
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#15

noisynoodle Wrote:Ah right, now I see what's gone wrong. If you want to use a lens with manual aperture setting you need to go into the custom functions settings in the menu and set "use of aperture ring" to "permitted" (something like that anyway). It can be set and left like that permanently as it has no detrimental effect on fully automatic lenses. Then with the camera in AV or M mode you have to set the aperture required using the aperture ring and press the green button (yes, it's the one by the shutter button). That will stop the lens down momentarily and the camera will meter and set the appropriate shutter speed. With older lenses (especially screw mounts which have no aperture lever) the procedure is much the same except that you have to use the camera in manual mode.
Incidentally, for any DS and DL users out there, the procedure is the same, but you don't have a green button so for your cameras you use the AE Lock button to meter.

--NN
Doh! I already had the camera set so that the shutter clicks 'with the lens on anything other than A' (or whatever the precise wording is) and I was using Av and choosing the aperture with the ring - definitely did NOT use the green button.

I'll have to have another go and see what happens, if we ever get a break in the endless dull flat/grey skies.

Thanks for that extra little snippet! Big Grin

Pol
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#16

Hi Pol,

Just a thought, that even if you didn't use the green button the only issue should've been incorrect exposure. You still ought to have found the photo getting darker as you stopped down. I'm guessing here, but if it wouldn't work on 'A' and also stayed at f3.5 using the ring regardless of the aperture set then it sounds like the lever that actually stops the lens down when you fire the shutter may not be working. If that's the case then it's faulty and probably not worth the cost of repair. Sad When you try it again, make sure you're in aperture priority or manual mode as stopping down manually using the aperture ring does not work in program or shutter priority modes.

--NN
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#17

NT73 Wrote:Sounds complicated...Do you need a degree? Big Grin
.
Could be. I'm the one who was slung out of art classes because my teacher insisted I was "just fooling about" - but I wasn't, I was sincerely doing my best.

A few years later my piano tutor described me as "high on passion but low on talent" and Classical Guitar tutor told me I was wasting my time and his as I wasn't "strident enough".

So now y'know why I'm thrilled to have Jack Russell Terriers teaching me about photography. They'll put up with virtually anything in exchange for a titbit and a waggle of the ears. Big Grin

Pol
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#18

noisynoodle Wrote:Hi Pol,

Just a thought, that even if you didn't use the green button the only issue should've been incorrect exposure. You still ought to have found the photo getting darker as you stopped down. I'm guessing here, but if it wouldn't work on 'A' and also stayed at f3.5 using the ring regardless of the aperture set then it sounds like the lever that actually stops the lens down when you fire the shutter may not be working. If that's the case then it's faulty and probably not worth the cost of repair. Sad

--NN
As a matter of fact he's finally beginning to agree the lens may have keeled over and died. In fact, the failure of my efforts with that lens was the reason he was hoping the apparent bargain offer from amazon was a genuine 'D' - so that he could mess about with it himself. I flatly refuse to let him get his hands on my own camera - I'd never get 'true ownership' back again!

I'll still give it another go when the weather picks up - just for the heck of it. I'll let you know if I manage to get it working properly.

Pol
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