Hin's Photo Corner

I find this by accident when I search for M42 topic and the video is something that I have been wanting to make to inform others on the mounting. Though portion of it is not as sharp focus as I would like, I find the instruction clear and it serves the purpose well for new users who has questions mounting M42 lens. It also talks about the preset rings in my favorite M42 lens with Jupiter 9 85mm f/2.0



Notes

• In the video, the creator uses only one finger in the dismounting, I personally find it easier to use 2 fingers to grab onto the 2 opening holes as I find it easier to dismount
  
• And remember in the dismounting, the spring plate needs to be pushed inward toward to the center of the camera. If you move the spring plate in the opposite direction, you are locking the adapter in the camera body.
  
• The video talks about the genuine adapter, you can't perform this simple operation with the 3rd party M42 adapters. I highly recommend others with the genuine adapter as it is safe and much easier to use without the need of extra dismounting tool
• I personally prefer to position the camera not lying totally flat on the horizontal position for fear of dropping the adapter into the mirror chamber
• You can search all related articles in this blog page tagged with M42 adapter
  

Related & Resources:

• Articles labeled M42 Adapter
  
• How to mount and dismount genuine adapter
  
• Pentax M42 Adapters
• Warning on 3rd party adapter
• How to convert M42 lens to K mount lens
• Custom settings on M42 lens
• Jupiter 9 85mm f/2.0 m42
  
• Hin's Camera Gear

I got this M42 lens from a good friend of mine in PentaxForums. Too bad, I get a bit of oil in the blades but so far I don't run into shutter problems and the lens is in pristine condition and James has given me a nice matching lens hood to guard against flare. The lens is built like a tank and I used a genuine Pentax M42 adapter to use with my K100D body.

This is one of the hardest manual lens that I have ever used. Test shots come out blurry due to mistakes on my part missing the right focus and the use of ISO 400 and aperture at f/2.0 for all test shots are taxing on the image quality. With more experience, I should be able to adapt to the lens.







Initial Impressions:

• Lens is well constructed and it feels very different than the plastic lens
• A portraiture lens with soft touch
• More difficult than other manual lens to use due to stiff focusing ring and design in aperture ring.
  
• Aperture ring is in front and there is an odd extra ring that allows one to stop down manually to the f/2.0 aperture for better focusing perhaps.
  
• The combination of two rings for aperture and the placement of aperture ring in front make it quite awkward to change aperture in between shots
  
• Prone to flare without lens hood
• Quite soft at wide open aperture but I find f/2.0 quite good for indoor without flash.
  
• I see shots sharpened a bit by f/2.8 and I see great results by f/4.0 and beyond
  
• Bokeh is very nice with a soft touch
• My copy is an used copy without coating and it has a bit of oil on the blades. Few others noted a bit of oil on the blades and commented as normal for the lens.

About Lens Hood:

• I get my lens hood from heavystar, an Ebay store with good reputation for lens accessories and others.
  
• I get the 49mm tele lens hood with a cap and I always have it mounted on my Jupiter for both guarding against flare and lens protection.
  
• Search for Item Number: 360202869580 in ebay search
  
• If expired, simply look up heavystar on 49mm lens hood and pick the one with both hood and cap together. It is the tele lens hood that is long enough to cover for the 85mm
  

Related:

• Spring Little Flower
• How to convert M42 to K mount lens
• Genuine M42 to K adapter
• Custom settings for manual lens
• Articles labeled M42 Adapter
  
• How to mount and dismount genuine adapter
• Hin's Camera Gear