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Best M42 to PK adapter
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 17, 2021 8:06 pm    Post subject: Best M42 to PK adapter Reply with quote
Recently acquired a lovely Pentax K1000 and would like to use some of my screw thread lenses on it.

So I bought a Pixco adaptor from ebay. It worked ok (except I couldn't stop down on lenses that didn't have an A/M switch).

But when it came to take it off, I couldn't get it to turn. The supplied tool did nothing except bend. I eventually had to remove the lens mount and fiddle with it to get it off.

Are there better ones than this? I don't want to waste any more money on this.


PostPosted: Tue Aug 17, 2021 10:15 pm    Post subject: Re: Best M42 to PK adapter Reply with quote
philslizzy wrote:
Recently acquired a lovely Pentax K1000 and would like to use some of my screw thread lenses on it.

So I bought a Pixco adaptor from ebay. It worked ok (except I couldn't stop down on lenses that didn't have an A/M switch).

But when it came to take it off, I couldn't get it to turn. The supplied tool did nothing except bend. I eventually had to remove the lens mount and fiddle with it to get it off.

Are there better ones than this? I don't want to waste any more money on this.


The original Pentax ones are the best, no special tools, just a small spring that holds it into the K mount. This can be released wityh a finger tip when you want to switch back to bayonet lenses.

When I was first adapting M42 lenses to PK I didn't use them on anything else, so I removed the catch from adapters & stuck them to the lens with thread lock - converting the lens to PK in a semi permanent fashion.

Any of my m42 lenses that are without the A/M switch are I think all presets which shut down just fine.
If you have later M42 lenses which are auto only you can wedge the pin on the rear so that it stops down straight away. Some adapters have an internal ring to press in this pin but there are apparently a few M42 lenses that will foul on adapters with this feature.


PostPosted: Wed Aug 18, 2021 12:23 am    Post subject: Re: Best M42 to PK adapter Reply with quote
DConvert wrote:
philslizzy wrote:
Recently acquired a lovely Pentax K1000 and would like to use some of my screw thread lenses on it.

So I bought a Pixco adaptor from ebay. It worked ok (except I couldn't stop down on lenses that didn't have an A/M switch).

But when it came to take it off, I couldn't get it to turn. The supplied tool did nothing except bend. I eventually had to remove the lens mount and fiddle with it to get it off.

Are there better ones than this? I don't want to waste any more money on this.


The original Pentax ones are the best, no special tools, just a small spring that holds it into the K mount. This can be released wityh a finger tip when you want to switch back to bayonet lenses.

When I was first adapting M42 lenses to PK I didn't use them on anything else, so I removed the catch from adapters & stuck them to the lens with thread lock - converting the lens to PK in a semi permanent fashion.

Any of my m42 lenses that are without the A/M switch are I think all presets which shut down just fine.
If you have later M42 lenses which are auto only you can wedge the pin on the rear so that it stops down straight away. Some adapters have an internal ring to press in this pin but there are apparently a few M42 lenses that will foul on adapters with this feature.


Worth repeating imho! Smile


PostPosted: Wed Aug 18, 2021 7:25 am    Post subject: Re: Best M42 to PK adapter Reply with quote
visualopsins wrote:

Worth repeating imho! Smile

Thanks.
I should have added that some of the adapters have a ring between the camera & lens flanges. These mess up infinity focus, so are generally not recommended , but can provide cheap mounts when hacking your own lens adapters - I glued one to my DIY tilt shift & have used one to mount a M42 bellows.


PostPosted: Wed Aug 18, 2021 10:49 am    Post subject: Re: Best M42 to PK adapter Reply with quote
DConvert wrote:
philslizzy wrote:
Recently acquired a lovely Pentax K1000 and would like to use some of my screw thread lenses on it.

So I bought a Pixco adaptor from ebay. It worked ok (except I couldn't stop down on lenses that didn't have an A/M switch).

But when it came to take it off, I couldn't get it to turn. The supplied tool did nothing except bend. I eventually had to remove the lens mount and fiddle with it to get it off.

Are there better ones than this? I don't want to waste any more money on this.


The original Pentax ones are the best, no special tools, just a small spring that holds it into the K mount. This can be released wityh a finger tip when you want to switch back to bayonet lenses.

When I was first adapting M42 lenses to PK I didn't use them on anything else, so I removed the catch from adapters & stuck them to the lens with thread lock - converting the lens to PK in a semi permanent fashion.


Any of my m42 lenses that are without the A/M switch are I think all presets which shut down just fine.
If you have later M42 lenses which are auto only you can wedge the pin on the rear so that it stops down straight away. Some adapters have an internal ring to press in this pin but there are apparently a few M42 lenses that will foul on adapters with this feature.


I had a Pentax one when I had my K10, when I sold the K10 the adaptor went with it. Original ones are now going for £40+ and thats out of the question.

My intention was to reduce my lens and body collection. There was nothing in PK that I didn't have in screw thread. Perfect on my Canons and my Sony. But now I have the K1000 and its Pentax lens - and a bag full of M42s.

I'm not bothered about the auto pin, thats not an issue and can be solved quite easily.

I had several PK adaptors at one time, one or two were difficult to get off but this one is impossible. If I remove the spring I'm guessing it wont lock? I don't want to use thread lock or I wont be able to use the lenses on anything else and I don't want to buy PK adaptors for my Canon EF, FD, Sony or Pen F just because I cant find a decent adaptor.

So apart from the original Pentax, are there any good ones that anyone can recommend?


PostPosted: Thu Jan 20, 2022 2:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
It's been a mixed bag of experiences; for lenses without the A/M switch I had to either so surgery or use some electrical tape. Until I found the Kipon brand (expensive but worth it)

The original is the best, of course, smooth as butter and super easy to take off.
Bower brand is good
Fotodiox sold one as well, almost all worked but the lenses ended up upside-down

I bought a few cheap ones in EBay, and some where ahrder tha others but some tweaking of the srpings did it.
I see K&F has one, but I havent tried it.
THe Pixco looks OK in theory but probably the reatiner spring is to strong
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