Non-SA Lens Questions

I'm finally considering non-SA mount lenses. I already have a T-Mount adapter that I use with my Orion 1250mm f/13.9 ( 90mm Ø ) Maksutov Cassegrain and my DIY 53mm f/176 Pin Hole.

But I'm not sure which direction I should go next. I've read that the Sigma SA Bayonet is physically identical to the Pentax K, but since the K has a greater flange focal distance, 45.5mm versus 44mm, this implies that a lens may not focus to infinity. Alternatively, I could go with a M42 adapter, permitting a full focal range, but I've read how the quality of these from the various suppliers/manufacturers can vary considerably.

I would appreciate recommendations and a good source for a quality M42-SA Adapter.

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Steaphany Waelder
Loving, Texas
Please visit my galleries at:
http://Steaphany.imagekind.com/

Pentax lenses (with removed aperture levers) will focus over infinity at the end. So the only problem is you will lost close-focusing with some lenses. With extrerme wide angle lenses you will be able to focus only over infinity. With wide lenses you'll lost half of the focusing range (lens will focus over infinity from the point). But for tele lenses it's not a major problem. Their focusing helicoid is at least 15-25mm long, so 1.5mm is nothing.

Btw. you can make a 1.5mm pad and place it under the lens mount. But you'll probably need longer screws...

I'm using so-called "polish" M42 adapter with success. You can read about adopting different mount lenses to SA here:
http://foto.nordjylland.biz/SD14/SD14-NonSigmaLenses.htm

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Arvo
Sigma/Foveon information collection and little gallery:
http://www.stv.ee/~donq/sigma.htm
http://www.stv.ee/~donq/images.htm

Arvo,

I've done a search on ebay for "Sigma SA M42" and received 13 hits. The prices vary all over, ranging from $4.49 US to $36.99 Australian. Most are out of Hong Kong, China, and one was from Russia, but none from Poland.

Can you please point me to the Polish M42 to SA dealer ?

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Steaphany Waelder
Loving, Texas
Please visit my galleries at:
http://Steaphany.imagekind.com/

http://cgi.ebay.com/Sigma-SA-SD-M-42-lens-adapter-/250634174012

Seems that he has spelt M42 wrong (M 42), thereby not easy to find.

--
Arvo
Sigma/Foveon information collection and little gallery:
http://www.stv.ee/~donq/sigma.htm
http://www.stv.ee/~donq/images.htm

Don't think M42 SLR think Kiev 60 and 88 and Pentacon P6 etc medium format lenses... Often the adapter to M42 will come with the lens. You get good glass often recently made (the first two numbers of the serial number indicate the year of manufacture). Do a google image search on each lens you are interested in... Sadly ebay has become overpriced of late mostly with "buy it now" listings... I'd suggest looking elsewhere...

Andrew_Mr_Bad_Photographer said:

Don't think M42 SLR think Kiev 60 and 88 and Pentacon P6 etc medium format lenses... Often the adapter to M42 will come with the lens. You get good glass often recently made (the first two numbers of the serial number indicate the year of manufacture). Do a google image search on each lens you are interested in... Sadly ebay has become overpriced of late mostly with "buy it now" listings... I'd suggest looking elsewhere...

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Sadly. medium format lenses are generally not as sharp as their smaller format cousins.

The only P6 lens worth getting IMO is the Carl Zeiss Jena 180mm f2.8 "Olympic" Sonnar.

The only three M645 lenses worth getting are the 35mm f3.5 N, 80mm f2.8 N and the 80mm f1.9 N.

Apart from them and perhaps a few others only notable for their bokeh quality, your better off getting 35mm format lenses.

Even some 35mm format lenses can be shockingly bad however so be carefull when going on the recommendation of others....If you cant find any decent image samples from a particular lens, dont just rush out and buy one because someone says they are good. Do some research and you will avoid the clangers and save yourself a lot of money.

You cant really go wrong with anything made by Nikon, Contax Carl Zeiss (non Jena) and Canon, though some are not known for having nice bokeh quality. Tamron, Minolta and Olympus also have some gooduns.

If your main priority is that they should fit onto a Sigma DSLR with easily available adapters thus avoiding the need for possibly difficult mount conversions, then your looking at Nikon mount, M42 mount, PK mount and of course SA mount lenses.

Nikon mount lenses will fit any Sigma DSLR vis the Roxsen Nikon lens-M42 camera adapter plus an M42-SA adapter, but they will only focus to infinity on the SD9 and SD10 via the JTAT Nikon-SA adapter...Of course you wont need infinity focus for Macro use with Micro Nikkors.
M42 lenses include the Tamron Adaptall lens range via an Adaptall-M42 adapter.

PK (Pentax K (Bayonet) mount) lenses will fit without an adapter, but you will need to remove the protruding AA lever and its associated protector moulding on the bezel ring...The idea is to make the rear of the PK lens as flush as possible.
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DSG
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http://sigmasd10.fotopic.net/

The best Adapter for M42 mount lens to Sigma SA mount is
http://www.jtat.com/sd/sd_main/SD_M42.html

Steaphany said:

I'm finally considering non-SA mount lenses. I already have a T-Mount adapter that I use with my Orion 1250mm f/13.9 ( 90mm Ø ) Maksutov Cassegrain and my DIY 53mm f/176 Pin Hole.

But I'm not sure which direction I should go next. I've read that the Sigma SA Bayonet is physically identical to the Pentax K, but since the K has a greater flange focal distance, 45.5mm versus 44mm, this implies that a lens may not focus to infinity. Alternatively, I could go with a M42 adapter, permitting a full focal range, but I've read how the quality of these from the various suppliers/manufacturers can vary considerably.

I would appreciate recommendations and a good source for a quality M42-SA Adapter.

--
Steaphany Waelder
Loving, Texas
Please visit my galleries at:
http://Steaphany.imagekind.com/

Click to expand...