2X Ape teleplus MC8 M42 converter

[Eugen Mezei]

Anybody knows this teleconverter?
It comes in M42 and I hope the MC8 means 8 lenses, but I don't really believe it. (No information on the net at all, asked price too low, etc.)

[RioRico]

Roughly one zillion such anonymous / no-name M42 TC's exist and are for sale online. US$5 is a decent price -- I recently sold a lot of 3 of them for US$16.50. At least, mine were branded as Vivitar. A TC labeled KFT, CPC, Spiratone, Hama, Varimax, Mepro, Albinar, Cambron, Focal, all brands that have passed through my hands lately, or your Ape -- these are all almost impossible to trace. Your MC8 might mean nothing, or that 8 coatings were applied, or that it contains 1/8 of a coating, or that it came off Manual Construction line #8. Good TCs usually bear a major brand. I only use a no-name if image quality doesn't matter.

[Eugen Mezei]

Well... I know that myself.

I asked the seller (a fotoshop) and they answered me: "theoretically it should be a 6 lenses converter". Well... a bit elusive answer. Anyhow, the next day the converter was sold. So maybe something was with it. Other converters on his site (you can buy from his website or personally from the shop) are sitting there for months or years. (The aformentioned ones by you.)

[visualopsins]

I have one of these! And an APE 3X TC. Got them with an all-Asahi Pentax kit. Both 2X and 3X are in custom-fit Kenko leather cases felted inside with same color green as inside Asahi lens cases. I have seen them associated with other AP kits. The AP in APE may stand for Asahi Pentax. The 2X is a 7-element converter (I counted reflections, I suppose there may be an 8th reflection difficult to see). Pretty good as TCs go, imho, IQ on par with the pretty good Komura 7-element model, definitely much better than cheapo 4-element converters. I wouldn't pay over $20 for it...