old lenses on K10 (1 Viewer)

Ron Co · Jun 26, 2007

I have found a pair of old lenses for sale a Pentax f4.5 500mm prime lens - probably about 30 years old and a Leitz Telyt f6.8 400mm lens - both need new mounts to use on the Pentax but the seller is willing to source those for me .
My question/s are -
has anyone ever used either? and
if so what sort of quality could one expect from them?
- I realise both would be manual but I envisage using them wide open 90% of the time and resorting to the green button and manual setting on the Pentax
The 500 would need a monopod or tripod -the Telyt might be better for hand holding - both have appeal to the old b&W photographer side of me -but am I deluding myself would either measure up today?
I would appreciate for any comments from folks knowing either lens
I have been searching the net for sample images but came up with none
Ron

Swissboy · Jun 28, 2007

Ron Co said:
I have found a pair of old lenses for sale a Pentax f4.5 500mm prime lens - probably about 30 years old and a Leitz Telyt f6.8 400mm lens - both need new mounts to use on the Pentax but the seller is willing to source those for me .

Ron

Do I understand it correctly that the seller is trying to help you find someone who converts those lenses, but you still need to pay for it?
I wonder whether that is really worth the trouble. Though those Leica Telyts were supposed to be prime lenses at the time. You might also check here: http://www.photozone.de/
Not sure whether those old lenses are covered, but who knows.

Personally, I would be worried whether that custom rebuild might not damage the K10d with its delicate contacts etc.

Ron Co · Jun 29, 2007

Swissboy said:
Do I understand it correctly that the seller is trying to help you find someone who converts those lenses, but you still need to pay for it?
I wonder whether that is really worth the trouble. Though those Leica Telyts were supposed to be prime lenses at the time. You might also check here: http://www.photozone.de/
Not sure whether those old lenses are covered, but who knows.

Personally, I would be worried whether that custom rebuild might not damage the K10d with its delicate contacts etc.

Hi Swissboy,

hopefully thte price will be negotiated to include the new mounts - thanks for the link I found a couple of items on it I was interested in - the mounts should be safe the K10 is supposed to be able to use any Pentax mount even screw mounts with an adapter -I am currently using a 300mm prime Pentax f4 ( circa 1980s) which I picked up from ebay a couple of months ago - it has to be used in manual of course but it works well enough - any new mount would incorporate a genuine Pentax adapter as the point of contact with the camera body. Thanks for your concern

Ron

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ron-alenka/

Anavasi · Jun 30, 2007

I own an old SMC 500F4.5 and I tried it several times with my 10D. The lens is the newer bayonet type and does not requires any adapter. You should use it wide open and focusing could be delicate but not very difficult, thanks to the confortable aperture. The results are so-so: sharpness is OK, but CA is not. If you shoot a backlit subject (I am protographing mostly birds) the frame could be hardly usable. If you wish I can post some shots.

Anavasi

Ron Co · Jun 30, 2007

Anavasi said:
I own an old SMC 500F4.5 and I tried it several times with my 10D. The lens is the newer bayonet type and does not requires any adapter. You should use it wide open and focusing could be delicate but not very difficult, thanks to the confortable aperture. The results are so-so: sharpness is OK, but CA is not. If you shoot a backlit subject (I am protographing mostly birds) the frame could be hardly usable. If you wish I can post some shots.

Anavasi

Morning Anavasi,
that would be grreat if you could email or post some shots as I want it primarily for bird photography and as you know they rarely cooperate and sit with the sun over your shoulder -I have a Tamron 70-300 which is adequate until you shoot into the light and then the dreaded CA can just about destroy the image so I certainly do not want more of that. Your timing is great because I have not yet purchased the lens
many thanks
Ron
alenka_ron @ bigpond.com

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ron-alenka/

Anavasi · Jul 2, 2007

I post just a few frames, as I am in a harry. The jay shows a lot of CA, the 3 others less so. You can consider the jay as the worst case. If it is acceptable for you, then you can exploit the nice colors and good bokeh of the lens. It is widely said that CA could be easily corrected with PP, but I cannot confirm it.

I will be back in 2 days and then I wll have more time. Make a Good decision.

Anavasi

Ron Co · Jul 2, 2007

Anavasi said:
I post just a few frames, as I am in a harry. The jay shows a lot of CA, the 3 others less so. You can consider the jay as the worst case. If it is acceptable for you, then you can exploit the nice colors and good bokeh of the lens. It is widely said that CA could be easily corrected with PP, but I cannot confirm it.

I will be back in 2 days and then I wll have more time. Make a Good decision.

Anavasi

Thanks for those pics Anavasi
The Jay photo is very reminiscent what I am getting with some of my 300mm shots against the light - I will not commit to the lens until I can test it on the camera -but it is good to be forewarned so I know what to look and test for
most appreciated

Ron
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ron-alenka/

Ron Co · Jul 11, 2007

10th July I was able to put the 500mm on my Pentax K10 and test it out - quite an experience - stability on my tripod was surprisingly BAD - the position of the focusing mechanism meant it was virtually impossible to hand hold even if one wanted to -all the support at the camera end and the lens totally misbalanced as a result - toss in the CA I got with my test shots and I decided to walk away from it -at $900Aus it is probably wiser to put that towards some more modern glass suited to digital work-if I can find something to fit the K10D. It was fun to try but I know it would be totally impractical for my use
thanks to those who advised

Ron

Spot Focus · Jul 22, 2007

Lba

Hi Ron nice to see you here

and I see your LBA is alive and well

I finally got my K10 :-O Did you get your broadband sorted ?
Regards
Nick

Ron Co · Jul 22, 2007

funny you should mention that

Spot Focus said:
Hi Ron nice to see you here and I see your LBA is alive and well I finally got my K10 :-O Did you get your broadband sorted ?
Regards
Nick

Amazing timing Nick
I am in the thick of hating all things Telstra - yesterday I noticed they had upgraded their Broadband Manager from the Version 2.5.3 I was using to 2.7.1 - "officially supported " -so I did the sensible thing and updated -result I am now back on the old Mac using 2.5.3 as 2.7.1 does not recognise the drivers or modem and to install the latest drivers you need a Windows machine -for a Mac!!!arrrgghhh~~
I am sure they do these things just to annoy Mac users - it's a conspiracy I tell you !!!

)

Other than that life is good (still searching for a Tamron 200-500 I can use on the K10- any adapters around?- currently they only release it for Canon ,Nikon and Sony/Minolta) )
Ron

old lenses on K10 (1 Viewer)

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