Confused over M42 Adapters

gembobs · Joined: 02 Oct 2008 Posts: 3

Hi,

Just bought my first two MF primes today of e-bay - a Zeiss Jena 135 F3.5 and a Soligor 28mm F2.8! I got them both pretty cheap (£6 for the Soligor, and £38 for the Zeiss), so I am expecting to have to clean them / kill some fungus.

I have been looking at adapters to fit these lenses onto my Canon 40D, but after reading some posts on the web for what I should get I am really confused!

From what I can gather, the Zeiss does not need the adapter with a flange as it doesn't have a pin, but I think the Soligor looks like it does have a pin, so would need the flange? Would it affect the lens / camera if I used an adaper with a flange on a lens which doesn't require it or vice versa?

For these lenses, do I need the AF confirm chip? Should I be looking at the cheaper aluminium adapters or the brass ones? Can anyone recomend a retailer in the UK for these? Embarassed

Sorry if these questions appear a little silly, but I just want to make sure I get the right adapter(s)!

Gembobs

Attila · Expire: 2025-11-18

These are right questions, I think some of our Canon owners will answer to you within one day.

Welcome to aboard!

patrickh · Expire: 2011-11-18

If your eyesight is like mine (failing with age after being poor when young) then I would strongly recommend the chipped version. Do some research to find the good ones (I don't think I have found the right one yet). Live view can help, but I find the confirmation quite effective/accurate most of the time.

patrickh

Orio · Expire: 2012-12-04

hi,
there are lenses that need the flanged adapter, lenses that can use both, and (more rare) lenses that need the not-flanged adapter.
So I have both adapters in my arsenal, and I suggest you to do the same. If you have to start with only one, start with the flanged one because it covers most lenses.

gembobs · Joined: 02 Oct 2008 Posts: 3

Thanks for the tips, so now I know what I should be looking at a flanged adapter with a chip!

Anybody have any recomendations on where to buy one from in the UK?

Thanks for the advice so far!

martinsmith99 · Expire: 2013-11-18

I have the Zeiss 135 for my 40D. I use a AF confirm adapter on it. It doesn't need a flange and in fact it may be better without. I think I'm right in saying that if you have an M42 lens with an auto/man switch then the flange is not needed but it will work fine with either adapter.

If you have an adapter with the flange, you need to set the aperture to its largest setting, focus, then stop down to the required aperture.

If you have an adapter without the flange, you can do the above, or an easier way is to set the lens to the required aperture then set the auto/man to auto (which will open the aperture), when focused select manual (which will stop the lens down to the selected aperture) and shoot away.

The 40D has a tendency to overexpose with my zeiss by about a stop. Use centre weight metering get used to the lenses. The zeiss is a very sharp lens.

As to buying, UK doesn't have many options. I bought mine from US dealers www.fotodiox.com & www.goshotcamera.com. They both have ebay stores. I did have to chase go shot when they sent me a faulty adapter. The others I bought from them were fine, but I'm annoyed that I had to chase them for a refund.

Hope this helps.

rick_oleson · Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 3:29 am Post subject:

I'm sure everyone will have had his own experience, so advice will vary.

First, I would look for a brass adapter rather than aluminum: there is not a high risk of aluminum threads seizing on your lens, but the risk will be effectively eliminated if you choose brass.

You do not need a flanged adapter if your lens has either (1) a preset diaphragm or (2) an Auto/Manual switch. Most M42 lenses fall into one or the other of these groups, but not all; I would try to use lenses that do not need the flanged adapter, unless there is a particular lens that you really want that is Auto-only. The Auto stop-down pins are not exactly the same on all lenses, so the flange may work just right, or not press the pin all the way in, or hit bottom before the lens is fully seated, depending on the lens. Chances are it will work fine, but other things being equal I would prefer to leave this variable out of the equation.

A focus-confirmation chip will certainly do no harm, and you may find it helpful. If you go without it, and use fast manual lenses, you will probably get better results if you swap out the focusing screen with one that is designed for manual focusing. One frustrating thing for me with the AF chips is that they (of course) blink the AF light as you hit exact focus, and (also of course) the focus ring is moving when this happens. The result is that you never stop quite on focus but are constantly hunting back and forth trying to catch the signal light. I'm more comfortable using a better screen and trusting my eyes.

peterqd · Expire: 2014-01-04

Hi gembobs and welcome. I agree with Rick - in preference always go for an adapter without the flange whenever possible. There are some lenses whose rear element needs to pass right through the opening in the adapter, or have stop down levers and stuff, and sometimes the opening is too small. Helios and Tamron lenses are the only ones in my experience so far that need the flange.

I bought my M42 chipped adapters from happypagehk in Hong Kong. His site has some videos and examples of different adapters mounted on lenses. The adapters are very good quality and he's very knowledgable and helpful if you have any questions. I recommend him without hesitation.

Click here to see on Ebay

martinsmith99 · Expire: 2013-11-18

peterqd · Expire: 2014-01-04

Throndor · Joined: 15 Sep 2008 Posts: 157 Location: Ankara / TURKEY

Is there ANY way, to convert an M42 lens to a K mount lens, without ANY risk of unscrewing and dropping the lens while focusing (particularly on lenses with a stiff focus) and still be able to reverse the procedure WITHOUT any permanent changes (like drilling) on the lens?

martinsmith99 · Expire: 2013-11-18

rick_oleson · Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 7:27 pm Post subject:

That's correct: if you have a pin in the back, and no A/M switch or cocking lever on the lens, then you will need the flanged adapter.

rick_oleson · Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 7:30 pm Post subject:

Throndor · Joined: 15 Sep 2008 Posts: 157 Location: Ankara / TURKEY

rick_oleson · Posted: Sat Oct 04, 2008 10:29 pm Post subject:

If it has a stop-down button, you can use it without a flanged adapter and push the stop-down button just before you release the shutter. This is more convenient than a flanged adapter anyway, because it lets you focus with the lens wide open and then stop it down qucikly just as you are about to shoot.

None of this has anything to do with focusing to infinity, though .... you've lost me there.

Throndor · Joined: 15 Sep 2008 Posts: 157 Location: Ankara / TURKEY

rick_oleson · Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2008 1:57 am Post subject:

We're talking about two different flanges on two different adapters that do two different things:

If you want to adapt an M42 to a K mount, the proper adapter fits flush inside the mount, with no flange sticking out in front. If you get an M42/K adapter with a flange around the outside on the front, you will not be able to focus to infinity on a Pentax K body.

But we're talking about adapting an M42 lens to a Canon. These adapters always have a flange on the outside, because the register distance of the M42 is longer than that of the Canon so you need an extra mm or so out front. But that is not the flange that we've been talking about up to now: the "flanged adapters" here have a flange on the INSIDE, in the BACK end of the adapter. The purpose of this flange is to depress the auto diaphragm pin on the lens as you screw it into the adapter. This flange has no effect on focus, unless you have an incompatible lens that hits the flange before it's fully seated into the mount.

Sorry if this is wordy, I'm trying to unconfuse you a little bit.

Throndor · Joined: 15 Sep 2008 Posts: 157 Location: Ankara / TURKEY

Ah, thanx.. Clearer now..

rick_oleson · Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2008 1:59 pm Post subject:

No problem!

Back to your situation with the M42-K adapter: As you suggested, you want a flangeless adapter that will fit entirely within the K bayonet, in order to allow infinity focus. The "flanged" M42-K adapters are easier to install and remove, but they will not allow infinity focus.

In either case, these adapters (the ones that I've seen, anyway) do not have a flange inside in the rear to depress the auto aperture pin in. So with any K mount adapter, you will want an M42 lens that will let you close the blades without having the auto pin pressed in from the back. These would include any lens that has an Auto/Manual switch; any lens that has a stopdown button; early auto lenses that required you to manually reopen the blades with a cocking lever on the side of the lens; and any manual or preset lenses. The only ones that will be a problem are auto-only lenses with no manual switch.

montecarlo · Joined: 04 Apr 2007 Posts: 1865 Location: Romania

gembobs · Joined: 02 Oct 2008 Posts: 3

I have bought a brass adapter with AF confirm chip with a flange - I figured that if the Soligor needs the flange it will work, if it doesn't then it may still work! If not, then it is no great loss!

Many thanks for all the tips and advice given, it is greatly appreciated!