Pentax K-01 and Manual Focus lenses

mo · Expire: 2016-07-30

I assume it goes into this section as it's mirror less and does not have a viewfinder.These are some of my findings after playing with it today.

#1 UPDATE the firmware!!!

As I found out after trying to use my Manual Focus lens,the CZJ Biotar there was something wrong but I did not know what until I found this article on the Pentax forums....

K-01 and MF lenses and the "green button" Pentax forums

Now after the update the green button works as it should.I am forever grateful to that Pentax member for writing that handy piece of info. Very Happy

#2 The camera is not as ugly as I first thought or as tiny,for some reason I thought it was a tiny little P&S type camera.It is of a nice size and weight,it does not feel plasticky at all.I put it next to my K200D it was only slightly smaller in body and style.

#3 The design could have been way better with the placement of dials and buttons.The grip certainly could have been a little bigger...something more to hold onto.I guess I will get used to the layout so its really no big deal.

#4 The lack of viewfinder...it's not as bad as I thought it would be. I am finding using the focus peaking a little difficult but that may change in time.

These are only my brief findings as its only been one day in dull overcast light.

parabellumfoto · Joined: 06 Apr 2013 Posts: 413 Location: Sydney, Australia

Hey Mo,

This is 4/3 right? So the the sensor is smaller than APS-C and crop factor is x2 ?

I'm coveting the NEX, but might get tempted. Surprised

Aanything · Expire: 2014-05-30

parabellumfoto · Joined: 06 Apr 2013 Posts: 413 Location: Sydney, Australia

mo · Expire: 2016-07-30

For me I only have Pentax lenses or M39 so its perfect for me and my lens needs.The Nex maybe an better option for you....but at a higher price. It has, as Aanything points out an APS-C sized sensor.

parabellumfoto · Joined: 06 Apr 2013 Posts: 413 Location: Sydney, Australia

nrparsons · Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 10:55 pm Post subject:

mo, glad my article on PentaxForums was of help to you. I got my K-01 as soon as it was first released, mainly because I was having such difficulty focusing manual lenses through my DSLR's tiny viewfinder--even with an aftermarket Katzeye focusing screen. The K-01's focus peaking, which can be magnified 6x by pushing the OK button, allows extremely accurate focus. With the tape-over-the-pins trick described in the article (not discovered by me), a K-01 can use practically every lens ever made in M42 (with the adapter) and K mount in TAv or M modes, and many in Av, Tv, or P as well.

Unfortunately, the K-01's body was designed specifically for the M42/K mount register distance of 45.46 mm. So lenses with approximately the same or slightly longer register, such as Nikon, Olympus, and Contax/Yashica, will work if the mounts are modified. I understand that pre-AI Nikon lenses will fit K mounts without modification (although they won't lock in). Another article in PentaxForums describes modifying the Pentax camera mount ring to accept all three of those mount types and Mamiya ZE as well.

Of courses lenses with somewhat shorter registers and smaller mount diameters, such as those for Kodak Retina Reflex III, IV, and S and Voigtlander Bessamatic, can be used with adapters on the K-01. Minolta MD can't be adapted because its diameter is about the same as that of the Pentax.

Lots of options available, and some good glass out there to be used.

PS: The K-01 has an APS-C size sensor similar to the one in the K-5 DSLR.

mo · Expire: 2016-07-30

Hi, it did help me as the K-01 is only my 2nd Digital (exchangeable lens) camera.I had totally forgotten about the firmware side of things.The internet is great for sorting out any minor issues with cameras and software as I am finding.

Thanks for that "ok" button tip, I new I could focus in closer but I did not know how. Laughing

I even read the manual but reading and understanding can be so be a challenge. Very Happy

Farside · Expire: 2013-12-27

Your article was helpful to me too; it caused me to look more closely at settings on my K20D, which wasn't treating M42 and Deckel lenses the same way as had been no problem with the K10D. I recall when the K10D first appeared, several people discovered the green button and were amazed by its functionality - I never had to use it, as the K10D worked fine in Av mode and never gave me a moment's pause.
The K20D, I thought, just more of the same. Which led to a quite frustrating afternoon in bright and variable sunshine, as the camera produced one wrong exposure after another, with no apparent reason or relation between them. Then a string of wrong exposures would be followed by some perfect ones - inexplicable. This was with green button use, too; but I could not get the ISO to stay set - it was always drifting high, despite setting it to remain at 100, 200, several times.
There's some more cunning stuff going on in that camera than the K10D had, and I suspect I was at cross-purposes with a couple of things, which is never a good idea. I'm getting closer to a solution, though.

nrparsons · Posted: Sat Jul 27, 2013 1:26 pm Post subject:

A Deckel-mount lens (Schneider-Kreuznach Retina-Tele-Xenar f/4 135mm with a Takumar 58mm hood) on the K-01. The lens register distance is only 44.7mm, but the small-diameter mount allows the lens mount to fit far enough into the camera to give infinity focus. Unfortunately, the lens's iq isn't any improvement over the Super Tak f/3.5 135, and the close focus is several feet, so I don't use it very often.

1-IMGP6997 by nrparsons, on Flickr

Farside · Expire: 2013-12-27

Messin' around with the K20D today, I found that Av mode with manual lenses is an unpredictable waste of time (with this camera, ymmv). However, in full-on camera 'M' mode stopping down with the green button, it's mostly consistent and reliable (apart from one or two occasions when there was a camera brain-burp and it would under or over by a stop, but only when putting a new, different lens on.
I also had to disable Live View, enable Optical Preview, and lock the ISO (that's an annoying thing on this).
Now, this was all with fairly subdued lighting as it was both indoors and overcast outside, so I'll be curious to see what it's like on a sunny day with significant clouds scudding over and light levels varying by the second.

philslizzy · Joined: 07 Aug 2012 Posts: 4744 Location: Cheshire, England

I'll be honest it looks great but sounds like more trouble than its worth.

mo · Expire: 2016-07-30

Just an update,
I have found the battery does not last as long as the 4 AAs in my old K200D. When the battery is low the camera/lenses makes more noise when I change settings (and just generally the camera seems more noisier)...for example pushing the green button for the exposure when using the Vivitar 28-85mm auto variable focusing lens (PK Mount)

I had an issue using a PKA tamron adapter,something went wrong, I am not sure what and I am not sure I can describe what happened, so that you would be able to understand. Smile

I know these PKA adapters can be a challenge to use,for now I choose not to use them on the K-01.It may be the way I was using the camera or perhaps I was using the wrong mode settings when the adapter was attached to the camera?

I find AF lenses (the Pentax 18-55 lens is the only one I own) work better with the movie mode than MF (there is potential it just requires a learning curve using this feature),I have not fully explored this feature yet, so take these findings as someone who has just started using them....and not from a technical point of view.

I still like the camera Very Happy

For better reviews, I reccomend you use the pentax forums as they go more in depth than I do. Embarassed

scsambrook · Expire: 2011-11-18

My only Tamron PKA adapter seems to have its contacts misaligned with the digital Pentax lens mounts on my K100d and K10d when seated and locked in place. It works fine on both my P30 film bodies but has to be rotated ever-so-slightly back from its locked position in order to come to life on the digitals. Provided I can keep it in the right place, then all functions work fine on both of them. On the K10, it finds a second working location if I depress the body locking catch and rotate the Tamron a bit further. Moving it even a tiny bit loses the contacts, though. A real nuisance.

mo · Expire: 2016-07-30

Thanks Stephen,
I did read about doing that on the pentax forums,it seems a hit and miss solution, Very Happy

and I have the older K/M adapters that work without hassle so it was easier to swap back to those.

I also found another solution, and that was to apparently scrape (I would assume very very gently) the screws near the contacts as the glue used to cover them may upset the connection?? I have not tested this theory out, as I don't want to damage the adapter...but I may try it eventually once I have fully understood that that is what they meant in the thread on the Pentax forum.
I am sorry I never bookmarked that particular thread.