Using Pentax manual lenses on Fuji mirrorless

I have a Fuji X-T10 and a cupboard full of lovely old Pentax K and M series bayonet mount lenses (11 primes in 10 different focal lengths). I am pretty sure they could work well together but I have absolutely no idea how to get started. Does anybody know of some good basic resources for learning to use manual lenses on Fuji? Recommendations for a good K to X mount adapter, and any other good advice, would be very welcome.

Here's my advice: do it!

/thread

...

Haha. I'd start with a cheap adapter from Amazon/eBay. Fotasy/Pixco/K&F/no-name - they'll likely all get the job done. If reducing the crop factor and gaining an extra stop of light might tickle your fancy, look into getting a focal reducer (Mitakon Zhongyi LT II looks to provide the best performance per dollar ratio).

With regards to using them on your camera, focus peaking and magnification will both come in handy. Aperture priority is my go-to, but shutter priority (set a speed that avoids camera shake and shoot away) and manual should do it too. Try comparing raw with jpeg. I can always get finer detail when processing raw. Your camera's jpeg engine can only do so much when it comes to a lens without a built-in profile.

It's mostly pretty easy - Pentax K to XF adapters are cheap (£10 this side of the pond, so $14 on yours - probably!) and good. My go-to manufacturer is K&F Concept (already mentioned) but they're not alone in making good ones.

Camera settings - you need to enable "shoot without lens" (page 96 of the manual). And I think that's it. (On the X-Pro1 there's also a menu item to say what FL lens you're using, but I think that's to do with the crop lines in the OVF - not an issue with the XT10's EVF, of course.)

Go for it! I may be right and I may be wrong, but I wouldn't fall over with astonishment if doing this with the XT10 pushes you further down the road to the X-Pro series. In general, the Pentax primes are small enough not to intrude into the OVF.

regards

John

I'll have another go - I was in a bit of a rush with my first effort.

I should have asked - what do you have, if anything, in 35mm FL? Anything that might give your XF 35/1.4 a run for its money? And what about a FL match for your old 85mm favourite? I bet you've got a good fast 55mm tucked away in your collection, and that wouldn't be far off.

Focussing is actually probably the most important thing to adapt to. You need to be in Manual Focus mode (I think) and then you have a couple of choices for "Focus Confirm".

Focus peaking. Some folk swear by it, but I'm not a fan - it's intuitively opposite to using an old SLR focus screen. Rather than everything snapping into focus, suddenly red (or yellow, or white - can't remember the Fuji options) make everything blurry. Not for me. Goes completely against one of the major claims for EVFs - what you see is what you get. Not with focus peaking you don't.

Split image focussing. Sounds like a proper throwback to the olden days, and it sort of is, it's just not very well implemented. There are some threads on the Fuji forum about it.

I thought that Focus magnification was available as well, it is in the X-Pros, but apparently not the XT10. Happy to be corrected, though. I find it useful in some circumstances.

Also I should have engaged my brain before talking about using MF lenses with the OVF. It would probably work using the aperture and DOF markings on the lenses, but that wouldn't work for anything that needs precise focussing. But for street? I bet it would be fine - shoot fairly well stopped down, with an appropriate focus distance, and shoot away. No promises, of course.

You guessed it--there's a gorgeous 55mm f/1.8 K in there that I'm particularly interested in trying. Plus a lot of other interesting options, including a 28 mm I remember as being pretty nice.

Thank you both for the replies-- I am compiling a list of tip and tricks into what I hope is an orderly set of processes.

John Michael Winterbourne said:

I'll have another go - I was in a bit of a rush with my first effort.

I should have asked - what do you have, if anything, in 35mm FL? Anything that might give your XF 35/1.4 a run for its money? And what about a FL match for your old 85mm favourite? I bet you've got a good fast 55mm tucked away in your collection, and that wouldn't be far off.

Focussing is actually probably the most important thing to adapt to. You need to be in Manual Focus mode (I think) and then you have a couple of choices for "Focus Confirm".

Focus peaking. Some folk swear by it, but I'm not a fan - it's intuitively opposite to using an old SLR focus screen. Rather than everything snapping into focus, suddenly red (or yellow, or white - can't remember the Fuji options) make everything blurry. Not for me. Goes completely against one of the major claims for EVFs - what you see is what you get. Not with focus peaking you don't.

Split image focussing. Sounds like a proper throwback to the olden days, and it sort of is, it's just not very well implemented. There are some threads on the Fuji forum about it.

I thought that Focus magnification was available as well, it is in the X-Pros, but apparently not the XT10. Happy to be corrected, though. I find it useful in some circumstances.

Also I should have engaged my brain before talking about using MF lenses with the OVF. It would probably work using the aperture and DOF markings on the lenses, but that wouldn't work for anything that needs precise focussing. But for street? I bet it would be fine - shoot fairly well stopped down, with an appropriate focus distance, and shoot away. No promises, of course.

Click to expand...

My xt10 does have focus magnification. I love it. I chose the back thumb wheel (between the AF-L and AE-L buttons) to control it. When I want to zoom in to check focus, I just tap the wheel. Rotating the wheel toggles between two zoom depths.

The focus assist options are available both when set in auto focus or manual focus for Fuji lenses. (Focus options are on a switch on the front, just to the right of the lens as you look at it from the front. Reads S, C, M for single, continuous and manual). However, on legacy lenses, focus assist functions are only available when you are in manual mode.

Sadly, there is no split screen focus assist in the xt10 (there is on the xpro2 ...not sure about the xt1)

There is a bit of a learning curve for the using focus peaking. This is hard to describe....

The edges of things glow (you choose the color) when they are in focus. However, the glowing is not all or nothing. As you turn the focus ring, the glow starts...then it grows... Then it fades. If I shoot when the glow starts, I do not have pinpoint focus. I need to catch that middle peak growth of the glow to get tack sharp. This is especially true for super shallow depths of field. With my manual lenses, I often adjust back and forth a few times to catch the peak (or stop down a bit to increase my focus tolerance). I'm also in the habit of shooting 2-3 of each shot ... Usually my second one has the best focus.

hollyghollyg said:

John Michael Winterbourne said:

I'll have another go - I was in a bit of a rush with my first effort.

I should have asked - what do you have, if anything, in 35mm FL? Anything that might give your XF 35/1.4 a run for its money? And what about a FL match for your old 85mm favourite? I bet you've got a good fast 55mm tucked away in your collection, and that wouldn't be far off.

Focussing is actually probably the most important thing to adapt to. You need to be in Manual Focus mode (I think) and then you have a couple of choices for "Focus Confirm".

Focus peaking. Some folk swear by it, but I'm not a fan - it's intuitively opposite to using an old SLR focus screen. Rather than everything snapping into focus, suddenly red (or yellow, or white - can't remember the Fuji options) make everything blurry. Not for me. Goes completely against one of the major claims for EVFs - what you see is what you get. Not with focus peaking you don't.

Split image focussing. Sounds like a proper throwback to the olden days, and it sort of is, it's just not very well implemented. There are some threads on the Fuji forum about it.

I thought that Focus magnification was available as well, it is in the X-Pros, but apparently not the XT10. Happy to be corrected, though. I find it useful in some circumstances.

Also I should have engaged my brain before talking about using MF lenses with the OVF. It would probably work using the aperture and DOF markings on the lenses, but that wouldn't work for anything that needs precise focussing. But for street? I bet it would be fine - shoot fairly well stopped down, with an appropriate focus distance, and shoot away. No promises, of course.

Click to expand...

My xt10 does have focus magnification. I love it. I chose the back thumb wheel (between the AF-L and AE-L buttons) to control it. When I want to zoom in to check focus, I just tap the wheel. Rotating the wheel toggles between two zoom depths.

The focus assist options are available both when set in auto focus or manual focus for Fuji lenses. (Focus options are on a switch on the front, just to the right of the lens as you look at it from the front. Reads S, C, M for single, continuous and manual). However, on legacy lenses, focus assist functions are only available when you are in manual mode.

Sadly, there is no split screen focus assist in the xt10 (there is on the xpro2 ...not sure about the xt1)

There is a bit of a learning curve for the using focus peaking. This is hard to describe....

The edges of things glow (you choose the color) when they are in focus. However, the glowing is not all or nothing. As you turn the focus ring, the glow starts...then it grows... Then it fades. If I shoot when the glow starts, I do not have pinpoint focus. I need to catch that middle peak growth of the glow to get tack sharp. This is especially true for super shallow depths of field. With my manual lenses, I often adjust back and forth a few times to catch the peak (or stop down a bit to increase my focus tolerance). I'm also in the habit of shooting 2-3 of each shot ... Usually my second one has the best focus.

Click to expand...

Holy freaking cow. I STAND CORRECTED!

My xt10 DOES have a split screen for focusing. I feel like I just got another Mother's Day gift.

Excuse me while I go play with this for a while....

:-D

Try not to be disappointed in it (split screen) - and please report back on how it works for you. Are you ancient enough to remember using split screen focusing aids on film SLRs?

My problem (not much of a problem!) is that having had an X100T for quite a while now, I've only had an XT10 for a couple of months, and an XPro1 for barely over a week. So my memories of playing with legacy MF lenses and trying to get focusing things sorted drifts back and forth between the two....

I was fairly careful yesterday, and I don't think the XT10 user manual talks about magnification being available for the camera in MF mode. But I also know that just because a user guide doesn't mention something it can't be done.... I'll maybe have a play later. I hope it does work, because it's my preferred option for focus confirm.

hollyghollyg said:

My xt10 DOES have a split screen for focusing. I feel like I just got another Mother's Day gift.

Click to expand...

Unfortunately, it's not sensitive enough to be useful. You have to be quite a bit out of focus before it's split by more than a pixel. It's easier to eyeball the focus than to try to figure out the split screen.

While we're into this manual focusing thing, I have now tried my XT10 in MF mode (Pentax M42 SMC Takumar 50/1.4) and can very happily confirm that magnification is available. Which is a very good thing from my point of view, and I'm very happy to have been shown to be wrong!

Doug Pardee said:

Unfortunately, it's not sensitive enough to be useful. You have to be quite a bit out of focus before it's split by more than a pixel.

Click to expand...

Let me modify that comment. The sensitivity depends very much on the f-stop of the lens. If you open the lens up for focusing, the split-image might be useful. But stopped down, probably not.

John Michael Winterbourne said:

:-D

Try not to be disappointed in it (split screen) - and please report back on how it works for you. Are you ancient enough to remember using split screen focusing aids on film SLRs?

My problem (not much of a problem!) is that having had an X100T for quite a while now, I've only had an XT10 for a couple of months, and an XPro1 for barely over a week. So my memories of playing with legacy MF lenses and trying to get focusing things sorted drifts back and forth between the two....

I was fairly careful yesterday, and I don't think the XT10 user manual talks about magnification being available for the camera in MF mode. But I also know that just because a user guide doesn't mention something it can't be done.... I'll maybe have a play later. I hope it does work, because it's my preferred option for focus confirm.

Click to expand...

I DO remember split screens on SLRs ... Ironically enough, I remember hating manual focus and was thrilled when I finally got a camera with auto focus. Alas, here I am now, 20 years later.

The Fuji split screen focusing aid is a rectangle with two horizontal focusing lines. (Different from the circle with one horizontal focusing line I remember). The old split prisms also had a microprism ring around and the Fuji appears to have faint microprisms around the rectangle, too

I need to play more. I'll leave it on for a week or so to see how well it works.

Now, if I could just fit into size 5 clothes again, I might be able to relive my 20s!

John Michael Winterbourne said:

While we're into this manual focusing thing, I have now tried my XT10 in MF mode (Pentax M42 SMC Takumar 50/1.4) and can very happily confirm that magnification is available. Which is a very good thing from my point of view, and I'm very happy to have been shown to be wrong!

Click to expand...

It's unexpected gifts all around today

Also - I believe we are shooting the same legacy lens. It's a nice one, eh?

hollyghollyg said:

John Michael Winterbourne said:

:-D

Try not to be disappointed in it (split screen) - and please report back on how it works for you. Are you ancient enough to remember using split screen focusing aids on film SLRs?

My problem (not much of a problem!) is that having had an X100T for quite a while now, I've only had an XT10 for a couple of months, and an XPro1 for barely over a week. So my memories of playing with legacy MF lenses and trying to get focusing things sorted drifts back and forth between the two....

I was fairly careful yesterday, and I don't think the XT10 user manual talks about magnification being available for the camera in MF mode. But I also know that just because a user guide doesn't mention something it can't be done.... I'll maybe have a play later. I hope it does work, because it's my preferred option for focus confirm.

Click to expand...

I DO remember split screens on SLRs ... Ironically enough, I remember hating manual focus and was thrilled when I finally got a camera with auto focus. Alas, here I am now, 20 years later.

The Fuji split screen focusing aid is a rectangle with two horizontal focusing lines. (Different from the circle with one horizontal focusing line I remember). The old split prisms also had a microprism ring around and the Fuji appears to have faint microprisms around the rectangle, too

I need to play more. I'll leave it on for a week or so to see how well it works.

Now, if I could just fit into size 5 clothes again, I might be able to relive my 20s!

Click to expand...

Update on my thoughts of the fuji split screen focusing assistant.

Blah.

I see see what you are saying John. It's just not the same as the old style prisms.

First - a correction - there are no microprisms around the center rectangle. (I was focusing on a porch screen, so I think I might have been seeing moire)

The split lines are, indeed, very hard to see and use. The don't split until it's way out of focus.

The center rectangle gives a monochromatic high contrast view, which does help with eyeballing the overall focus, but I found it was so dark much of the time that it hurt more than it helped. I touched the shutter button to hide it in order to check focusing lot.

I'm back to focus peaking in my favorite red color.

hollyghollyg said:

The split lines are, indeed, very hard to see and use. The don't split until it's way out of focus.

Click to expand...

Did you try with the lens wide-open? I had the same impression until I realized I was focusing with the lens stopped down.

Fortunately, the Fotasy FD adapters I use have a ring to switch between wide-open and stopped down. Unfortunately, that's still not enough to make me a believer in the Fuji split-image focusing. Yet.

Doug Pardee said:

hollyghollyg said:

The split lines are, indeed, very hard to see and use. The don't split until it's way out of focus.

Click to expand...

Did you try with the lens wide-open? I had the same impression until I realized I was focusing with the lens stopped down.

Fortunately, the Fotasy FD adapters I use have a ring to switch between wide-open and stopped down. Unfortunately, that's still not enough to make me a believer in the Fuji split-image focusing. Yet.

--
The open-source LightZone Project: http://lightzoneproject.org/

Click to expand...

Hmmm - can't really remember - I was going back and forth in aperture... I'll play around with it again.

I have a Fotasy adapter too, but mine has no wide-open switch.