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M42 to SD14 adapters

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leegold

Member
The option to use M42 lenses seems awesome. Could anyone link me to what in their opinion are the best adapter(s)? There are a few on the "market"...

Also I read the Sigma mount changed to SD10 to SD14. Is this a factor for M42 adapters? Wouldn't the spec change slightly?

Thanks,

Lee G.
 
C

collin2424

Member
Lee,

The general consensus is that the Polish-made adapter is one of the better ones available. I purchased a less expensive Chinese-made adapter and it's quite cheap. It also can get stuck on the mount, which isn't fun for anyone. I am going to order this Polish one instead:
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Hope that helps. Also, I don't think the mount changed on the SD14. I think the dust filter is a bit closer to the lens, which may affect a very slight percentage of lenses that protrude deep into the SD14 body.

Cheers,

-Collin-
 
akv

akv

Well-Known Member
Hi Lee,
I think there's a thread on that issue in this forum somewhere.
There are couple different ones, the only one I bought was one from China. It was garbage, very cheaply made, it was a Pentax K mount and they just assumed that an SD 14 would take it. It had rust on it. There are Polish ones, and ones from Hong Kong that I've heard good things about. There's also the JTAT. Which is $80 US.

I returned the adapter I bought and tried to explain that they were selling trash but they didn't seem to care.
 
C

collin2424

Member
I swear I replied to this thread, but I guess I closed it without hitting submit!

Agreed that the Polish ones are great, as is the JTAT version if you can afford it. The Chinese one I had was garbage and I think I got the exact same one you are speaking of! It says M42-PK on it, and it jammed a lens on my camera so tight that I was barely able to get it off. It was very nerve-racking and I think it may have messed up the threads on my beloved SMC 50mm f/1.4! I have a Polish one on order now, and it was $27 shipped from eBay.

-Collin-
 
akv

akv

Well-Known Member
Haha,
I didn't see your post when I replied. I think we did get the same Chinese made one. Mine had rust on it! Ridiculous...
 
akv

akv

Well-Known Member
Yup, that's who I went through, I think they're based in Canada but they ship their stuff from Shanghai China, at least that's where mine came from. I sent it back and got a refund plus the shipping I had to pay to send it over.
 
jasonh

jasonh

Well-Known Member
I guess when the time comes for an adapter I will stay away from the chinese one. People seem to like the polish one, but some say it doesn't allow infinity focus - but the ebay listing guarantees infinity focus. Which is correct? Was there an earlier polish adapter that didn't allow infinity?
 
jesito

jesito

Well-Known Member
collin2424 said:
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Click to expand...

It happened the same to me. The Virtual Village ad was wrong, they stated a SIGMA adapter and priced the PK one. Initially I didn't notice this until them arrived. (I bought two of them). To be honest, the VV people took care of the replacement (they send me only one because the price of the SIGMA was double of the PK) and allowed me to keep the PK ones for free... That is not bad for my Pentax boxes :)
Even with this fair compensation, the VV adapter is bulky and sticks too hard to the camera body. The outer diameter is smaller than the polish one, so removing it is more difficult.
I'd recommend the polish one without hesitation.

Regards.

Jes.
 
jasonh

jasonh

Well-Known Member
Well I just ordered a Polish adapter. Hopefully it works with my Vivitar 28/2.5 (don't see why it wouldn't). Now I just get to wait...
 
L

leegold

Member
I just got the jtat adapter...

There's a local seller with M42:

Mamiya 200mm f3.5
Soligor 28mm 2.8
Yashica 50mm ??

but I'm hesitating...
 
akv

akv

Well-Known Member
Jason,
Did you get the one with the block or without? I emailed the seller on thebay and asked about infinity and he said it works. Then he mentioned he had one with a block and one without. Not sure what that was for. Tell me how it works out for you. I read on another forum that after the Jtat adapter that the Polish one is best.

Lee,
Did you get your Jtat from the website? I haven't heard or read much about it but apparently it's the standard.

I guess the only thing to watch out for with the adapters is the dust/IR filter and the contacts.

Looking forward to seeing some pics!!
 
jasonh

jasonh

Well-Known Member
akv said:
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From what I gathered from the ebay listing, the one with the block is the standard and it works with most lenses. Some lenses have a longer screw mount so they won't work with this one. That is what the other version without the block is for.

I got the standard one with the block. Not that it mattered though, since my lens has the A/M switch on it.
 
L

leegold

Member
I got the Jtat from the website.

And, I got the depth guage they make - maybe that will help prevent using lenses that go in too far..
 
C

collin2424

Member
jasonh said:
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Jason, you're correct. Good call on the one with the block. The only thing the other one is good for are a few older, more obscure lenses that I haven't seen many of. Had you gotten the one without the block, even though your lens has an A/M switch you risk that little aperture pin making contact with the Sigma contacts inside the body. That would be disastrous.

My 50mm f/1.4 SMC Takumar is having a bit of trouble reaching infinity because of the rear element hitting the dust filter. Don't really know what I'm going to do about that, actually. :(

What other lenses are people using?

-Collin-
 
akv

akv

Well-Known Member
Hi collin2424
Is there a way you could use an extension ring on the lens between it and the adapter?

Not sure what the registration numbers are but Oyvind has it on his compendium.

Oyvind, Thanks for putting together that compendium! It helped me out a lot when I was deciding on the SD14 and also afterwards.
 
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collin2424

Member
I've read of numerous people doing that and achieving excellent macro results. I haven't personally tried it, but I'm sure it could be done. Maybe I'll grab a cheap one and try it out.

Also, that compendium was a huge help to me when buying my SD14 as well. I even successfully mounted a few K-mount lenses on the SD14 :)

-Collin-
 
jasonh

jasonh

Well-Known Member
I actually just tried that last night as I finally got my adapter in. Seemed to have very good results, but haven't given it a serious try yet.

Just beware of the extension tubes you buy. I got some cheap ones from China and they are painted black, which makes the threads a bit bigger and makes it hard to screw them into the adapter all the way...and even harder to remove. I almost destroyed my adapter last night trying to remove a ring.
 
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