Viability of of older M42 lenses on an T2i?

My father game me his Asahi Pentax quite a few years ago (complete with 4-5. lenses) and I've unfortunately not had the time to use it more than a few times.

I've read that those 42MM can work on my EOS body (in the FAQ here; I even already found an adapter), but the question is will they produce good pictures?

I know that's a vague question.


I know I can physically adapt the two together, I know I'll have to manually adjust aperature and focus on these old lenses.

Anything I should know about doing this before I just dive right into it?

The adapter is cheap enough and I already have the lenses, so I suppose I really cant go wrong trying it out.


Thanks in advance.

Also Here are some pictures I took of the whole setup awhile back:
LINK

List of lenses:

• Montgomery Ward 67-584 auto zoom
  
• Super Takumar 1:1.9/85
  
• Takumar Super-Multi-Coated 1:3.5/28
  
• Takumar Super-Multi-Coated 1:3.5/135
  
• Takumar Super-Multi-Coated 1:1.4/50
  

Try doing a search for takumars in the "MF Adapted Lens Image Samples" thread. You may find image examples of the lenses you have. A lot of people use them, and I believe people say good things about them, so I think they're probably pretty good. I don't know about your specific lenses though, but I'm sure they'd be ok.

What camera do you have? Depending on the camera, you may be able to get focusing screens to help focus with faster lenses (the f/1.4 and the f/1.9), but the focusing screen would be darker compared to the stock focusing screen when using lenses slower than f/2.8 (so kit lenses and most zooms). Even if your camera doesn't support changing focusing screens officially, you can still change them w/ third party options (ebay, katzeye optics, focusingscreen.com), but your metering may be affected a little if you use those.

The best thing (most accurate) is if you have live view. I find that I can focus pretty well with regular live view and x5 magnification, if necessary. If I'm focusing on really small details, then sometimes I need to go with x10. An lcd viewfinder would help if you plan on using live view a lot for manual focusing (you can get a cheap one for ~$20, but the better ones get expensive pretty quickly).

I don't think you have to worry too much about image quality. You may have some CA (purple/green fringing), or may be more prone to flaring depending on the lens, but even modern lens can have those problems. Just try it out and see. From there you can determine if the image quality is good enough for you.

Also, if they are all the same mount type (M42), you don't need to get an adapter for each lens, but you can if you want. Oh, if you do plan on getting one for each lens, you may want to check the optics to make sure they're ok (make sure there's no fungus or haze on the glass) and also check to see if the focusing is smooth. If the focusing is really stiff, you may not want to use that one (the whole point of manual focus lenses are the nice smooth focusing ring) or maybe not buy it it's own adapter. Also, a stiff focusing ring with the M42 may cause the lens to unscrew from the adapter while it's on the camera (instead of focusing), so be careful about that.

Sorry it's kind of long. Hope you have fun and hope to see some images in the MF Adapted Lens Image Samples thread soon

"will they produce good pictures?"

A friend of mine has a 40D and a whole bunch of m42 lenses. He gets great photos and I think it's a very viable option if you don't mind the lack of AF.

The four Takumars are probably worth trying... The Wards zoom, probably not so much, but what the heck. Wards stuff was always made for them by someone else, often was pretty cheap gear... but some of it was good. Old zooms were pretty pitiful, too... but you never know until you try.

Adapters are easy to find for those lenses. There are tons available from China via eBay. I've bought them and been surprised at the value and speed of delivery. I recommend getting the "chipped" type of adapter so you can use Focus Confirmation (only possible when the camera is set to One Shot in advance, while an AF lens is still on it... and limited by the aperture you are using, see notes below).

Some of the chipped adapters can be programmed, too, to indicate the focal length and max aperture of the lens in the image EXIF. It can't show what actual aperture was used, though.

The lenses will be manual focus, of course. That's not a big problem, just a bit slow. Probably more importantly, they also will be manual aperture only. You have to stop them down just prior to taking the shot. And, once stopped down, your viewfinder will get dim and beyond some point Focus Confirmation will stop working. Depending upon the EOS camera you are using and the lighting/subject detail and contrast, the center AF point will continue to give Focus Confirmation until f5.6 pretty consistently, might start to struggle a bit at f8 and likely will fail at f11, definitely will stop working at any smaller aperture.

It's harder to manually focus with the lens stopped down, but sometimes possible... The follwing image was shot with a vintage, adapted lens (chipped type of adapter):

I'm sorry I didn't reply right away everyone, admittedly I kind of forgot that I posted this, thanks for the replies.

I'm glad I bookmarked this.

ohata0 wrote in post #14494932
Try doing a search for takumars in the "MF Adapted Lens Image Samples" thread. You may find image examples of the lenses you have. A lot of people use them, and I believe people say good things about them, so I think they're probably pretty good. I don't know about your specific lenses though, but I'm sure they'd be ok.

I should have done a search, I guess I went into noob mode like everyone else. I've been using forums for years now (and have probably berated a newbie for doin as I have) but coming to a new forum is often overwhelming.

I'll check that out and see what there is, even if they aren't my specific lenses they can give me some examples of what I can achieve.

ohata0 wrote in post #14494932
What camera do you have? Depending on the camera, you may be able to get focusing screens to help focus with faster lenses (the f/1.4 and the f/1.9), but the focusing screen would be darker compared to the stock focusing screen when using lenses slower than f/2.8 (so kit lenses and most zooms). Even if your camera doesn't support changing focusing screens officially, you can still change them w/ third party options (ebay, katzeye optics, focusingscreen.com), but your metering may be affected a little if you use those.

It's a Rebel T2i, I may have to look into once of those screens if i can't get anything decent without one. I'll definitely hold off on that for awhile though.

ohata0 wrote in post #14494932
An lcd viewfinder would help if you plan on using live view a lot for manual focusing (you can get a cheap one for ~$20, but the better ones get expensive pretty quickly).

I've looked into those and it seems like the decent ones are very expensive, but one would definitely come in handy. Though ideally I should be using the viewfinder as often as I can anyways.

ohata0 wrote in post #14494932
Also, if they are all the same mount type (M42), you don't need to get an adapter for each lens,

I only planned on buying one right off (they're cheap enough I guess, but I'm not at the pint where I change lenses that often anyways) but I'll keep that in mind.

cleh1 wrote in post #14501120
"will they produce good pictures?"

A friend of mine has a 40D and a whole bunch of m42 lenses. He gets great photos and I think it's a very viable option if you don't mind the lack of AF.

Thanks, so far it seems like I'll be pleased with these lenses.

I can always buy more if I want as well.

amfoto1 wrote in post #14501217
The four Takumars are probably worth trying... The Wards zoom, probably not so much, but what the heck. Wards stuff was always made for them by someone else, often was pretty cheap gear... but some of it was good. Old zooms were pretty pitiful, too... but you never know until you try.

I figured as much with the zoom lens.

amfoto1 wrote in post #14501217
Adapters are easy to find for those lenses. There are tons available from China via eBay. I've bought them and been surprised at the value and speed of delivery. I recommend getting the "chipped" type of adapter so you can use Focus Confirmation (only possible when the camera is set to One Shot in advance, while an AF lens is still on it... and limited by the aperture you are using, see notes below).

Yeah I believe the one I have has the contacts on it to allow focus confirm.

amfoto1 wrote in post #14501217
The lenses will be manual focus, of course. That's not a big problem, just a bit slow. Probably more importantly, they also will be manual aperture only. You have to stop them down just prior to taking the shot. And, once stopped down, your viewfinder will get dim and beyond some point Focus Confirmation will stop working. Depending upon the EOS camera you are using and the lighting/subject detail and contrast, the center AF point will continue to give Focus Confirmation until f5.6 pretty consistently, might start to struggle a bit at f8 and likely will fail at f11, definitely will stop working at any smaller aperture.

It's harder to manually focus with the lens stopped down, but sometimes possible...

I'll have to play around with it until I get used to it, hopefully I get the hang of it pretty easily.

amfoto1 wrote in post #14501217
The follwing image was shot with a vintage, adapted lens (chipped type of adapter):
*posted image*
Bee on orange poppy
Vintage Tamron SP 90mm f2.5 macro lens (1:2) with 20mm macro extension tube, at f11. EOS 7D camera at ISO 400, 1/400 shutter speed. Handheld, available light. .

That turned out very nice, great job on that.
Just goes to show you that older lenses are definitely still viable.


Thanks all.

If you shoot a lot with EF lenses, you might want to hold off on the focus screen and try live view instead.

Andrewr05 wrote in post #14494850
Also Here are some pictures I took of the whole setup awhile back:
LINK

List of lenses:

• Montgomery Ward 67-584 auto zoom
  
• Super Takumar 1:1.9/85
  
• Takumar Super-Multi-Coated 1:3.5/28
  
• Takumar Super-Multi-Coated 1:1.4/135
  
• Takumar Super-Multi-Coated 1:1.4/50
  

Montgomery zoom is likely junk.

The Takumar primes are all outstanding top end lenses that will produce great image quality. The 85mm in particular is worth as much as a new Canon 85mm f1.8.

All you need is a basic ebay m42 to Canon EF adapter. Then you can just mount the lens on the camera and shoot in either M or Av modes. You'll obviously control aperture and focus on the lens. The viewfinders on modern cameras are not ideal for focusing, but it's manageable. Liveview is sometimes useful for more accuracy if you need.

tkbslc wrote in post #14525429
The 85mm in particular is worth as much as a new Canon 85mm f1.8.

Damn I just looked that up on eBay...
WOW!

Yeah, it's a cool lens. I'd hang on to it, as they are only going up in value.

If you want to see what they can do, just search for the lens name on flickr. Most of the pictures are from adapting the lens to digital.

I use a M42/EOS adapter for some old Pentacon lenses (28mm & 135mm) I have kicking around. It works really well and I find manual lens work great for video work. I've used this setup on a T2i, 7D, and 5DII.

Is that really a 135mm f1.4 lens?

I have the pentax 50 1.4, it is really sick on a digital camera if you can handle no autofocus.

saintz wrote in post #14530624
Is that really a 135mm f1.4 lens?

Is that particularly good?

You seem surprised.

There are no 135mm f1.4 lenses, that was a typo. You have a 135mm f3.5.