Yes, it another (short) gear post. Sorry for that but I just wanted to announce that my glorious Spotmatic SP is back from Knoxville, Tennessee where it got the loving and much needed care of Eric Hendrickson!
I also finished the test-roll in the Pentax MX. And I really really enjoyed being out with a camera again.
I’ll develop the roll tonight or tomorrow and will be able to tell if the MX is OK.
Then I’ll have to chose as I won’t invest in two lens systems (M42 and Pentax K).
More to follow…
Frank Lehnen Photography 
everything is ok – gear blogger 🙂
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Of course if you choose a K mount camera you can still use all of your M42 lenses with an adapter…
But I have ended up with two film SLRs now, the Spotmatic F for proper old school manual photography, and the Contax 139Q for more compact, luxurious aperture priority fun, again with M42 lenses as I have the adapter. The Contax just edges out the many M series Pentax bodies I’ve used.
But I have K mount lenses (and M42) on my Pentax K10D, and ones like the A 50/1.4 are a joy to use.
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And the radioactive 55 1.8 looks great on the tiny MX. And I just got a gorgeous 135mm f:2.5 in mint condition… what a beautiful lens!
Do you happen to have a Pentax-A 50mm 1.8? Ist the aperture ring really that ratchety and quite stiff, much nastier than the Takumar apertures? Might be juts my copy but I don’t like the feel of it very much
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Which 55/1.8 is it, the SMC K Mount, or a Takumar? I’ve never had the 135/2.5. I don’t think there is a Pentax-A 50/1.8? There’s a 1.2, 1.4, 1.7 and 2?
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Sorry, I got everything wrong… of course I talk about the Pentax-A 50mm 1.7! Not 1.8!
And I mounted the Takumar 55 1.8 to the MX with an adapter. Great lens!
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If I had to use just one SLR lens for the rest of my life, then step right up Tak 55/1.8… Glorious lenses.
The A 50/1.7 should be very smooth focusing, but many of the A series had a plastic aperture ring rather than the metal ring of the M series – but usually the same optical design.
On a film camera I’d prefer an M 50/1.7, but on my K10 DSLR the 50/1.4 is great as the focusing is manual and very smooth, and the aperture ring I just leave on Auto and adjust with the camera, so I forget it’s a plastic aperture ring.
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Thanks Dan, good to know. My A 50 has a very stiff aperture ring that’s hard to adjust without shaking the camera. As I like to adjust aperture rather than shutter speed on the Spotty or MX this is quite bothering.
One more thing I noticed on the MX vs the Spotmatic. On the Spotty I can adjust the shutter speed with just my forefinger, on the MX I need to take the camera from my eye and use two fingers…. Niggles….
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