Finally upgrading my D40 to...

[Allan Brown]

a Pentax K-x

Why, well I have several pre-ai primes from my film days. While the D40 will allow the mounting of these without modification, it will not meter and has no in-body IS.

The K-x will:

a) mount the pre-ai lenses without an adaptor - I tried it with the K-7 and they lock into place

b) give me metering - automatic exposure

c) give me IS

d) allow for trap focusing - I have seen this working with old M42 screw mount lenses

e) with the Pentax autofocus adaptor, I will get limited range autofocus with the manual focus lenses - again tried this with the adaptor on a K-7. Works very well and is quite fast

f) it is the same sensor as the D90. Good for low light where these primes are really useful

No Nikon body in existence will give me those features.

I have used Nikon cameras since 1979. It is really pitiful that Pentax and Canon cameras are more compatible with older Nikon glass than Nikon is.

Comments?

Allan

 

[André BARELIER]

If all you write is true (and sure it is), you've done a very good choice. I didn't know old nikon lenses could be mounted on a Pentax body.
You made the right decision : I'm confident the Kx will be a fine camera.
Is it possible to mount the new Nikon lens (DX) on Pentax bodies ?
André

 

[Allan Brown]

Is it possible to mount the new Nikon lens (DX) on Pentax bodies ?
André

No, they won't work. You need the aperture ring on the lens. The new G type lenses don't have one and rely on the camera to set the aperture. Another factor is the flange on the lens body. On the older lenses it quite deep and this allows for a snug fit if the lens won't lock into place. Mine do lock. The new lenses don't really have this flange.

BTW, I made a typo on my first post. I have used Nikon SLR cameras since 1970, not 1979.

Have a look at this thread.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1036&message=19738793&changemode=1

Here is a photo of my 50mm f1.4 Nikkor on my friend's Pentax K-7 body. Yes, they do focus to infinity.

Allan

 

[MightyMike]

d) allow for trap focusing - I have seen this working with old M42 screw mount lenses

I'd ad that you'll likely need a piece of tinfoil to allow the camera to know a lens is mounted which will therefore activate the focus trap ability

e) with the Pentax autofocus adaptor, I will get limited range autofocus with the manual focus lenses - again tried this with the adaptor on a K-7. Works very well and is quite fast

I would like to point out in this case that the autofocus adapter will also need some tinfoil to activate and it is a 1.7x teleconverter

Point G perhaps can also be the ability with the right pin shorted you'll get the ability to shoot in Tv, or even TAv "Shutter and Aperture priority" with Auto ISO, instead of the typical Av, and M modes
--
Mike from Canada

'I like to think so far outside the box that it would require a telephoto lens just to see the box!' ~ 'My Quote '



http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?sort_order=views%20DESC&first_this_page=0&page_limit=180&&emailsearch=mighty_mike88%40hotmail.com&thumbnails=

 

[neil holmes]

d) allow for trap focusing - I have seen this working with old M42 screw mount lenses

I'd ad that you'll likely need a piece of tinfoil to allow the camera to know a lens is mounted which will therefore activate the focus trap ability

Mike,
I do not need tinfoil with my Nikon 85 1.8 It trap focuses just fine as is

Same with the faulty 35 1.4 I played with (though that lens needed a little surgery to stop it vignetting).

e) with the Pentax autofocus adaptor, I will get limited range autofocus with the manual focus lenses - again tried this with the adaptor on a K-7. Works very well and is quite fast

I would like to point out in this case that the autofocus adapter will also need some tinfoil to activate and it is a 1.7x teleconverter

No needed with the afa either, at least with my 85.

Some lenses might need tinfoil to short the camera contacts, scraping a bit of paint where the lens covers the contacts also works.

Point G perhaps can also be the ability with the right pin shorted you'll get the ability to shoot in Tv, or even TAv "Shutter and Aperture priority" with Auto ISO, instead of the typical Av, and M modes
--
Mike from Canada

'I like to think so far outside the box that it would require a telephoto lens just to see the box!' ~ 'My Quote '



http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?sort_order=views%20DESC&first_this_page=0&page_limit=180&&emailsearch=mighty_mike88%40hotmail.com&thumbnails=

Anyone planning on doing this though does so at their own risk, it works very nicely though.

neil

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26884588@N00/

 

[MightyMike]

Thanks Neil, I tried my friends 50mm F1.4 and the way it was mounted the contacts didn't get shorted out, as my friend has suggested to me not every Nikkor lens from that era had an identical mount, good to know about the 85/1.8 and 35/1.4
--
Mike from Canada

'I like to think so far outside the box that it would require a telephoto lens just to see the box!' ~ 'My Quote '



http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?sort_order=views%20DESC&first_this_page=0&page_limit=180&&emailsearch=mighty_mike88%40hotmail.com&thumbnails=

 

[lee lindquist]

I have used Nikon cameras since 1979. It is really pitiful that Pentax and Canon cameras are more compatible with older Nikon glass than Nikon is.

Comments?

Beware of half-truths.

 

[Allan Brown]

I have used Nikon cameras since 1979. It is really pitiful that Pentax and Canon cameras are more compatible with older Nikon glass than Nikon is.

Comments?

Beware of half-truths.

In this case this is the full truth. I put my Nikon pre-ai lenses on a K-20 and a K-7 and got the results as described above.

Look at the other posts on this subject. They go back a few years.

Allan

 

[Allan Brown]

Thanks Neil, I tried my friends 50mm F1.4 and the way it was mounted the contacts didn't get shorted out, as my friend has suggested to me not every Nikkor lens from that era had an identical mount, good to know about the 85/1.8 and 35/1.4
--

Just a clarification. While the mount is the same, there are minor differences to the machining around the mount and to the lens barrel. It is these differences that determine such things as locking in place or making electrical contact with a Pentax body.

Allan

 

[lee lindquist]

I have used Nikon cameras since 1979. It is really pitiful that Pentax and Canon cameras are more compatible with older Nikon glass than Nikon is.

Comments?

Beware of half-truths.

In this case this is the full truth. I put my Nikon pre-ai lenses on a K-20 and a K-7 and got the results as described above.

OK, full-truth-guy: Which canon camera is more compatible with older Nikon
glass than a D3?

 

[Allan Brown]

I have used Nikon cameras since 1979. It is really pitiful that Pentax and Canon cameras are more compatible with older Nikon glass than Nikon is.

Comments?

Beware of half-truths.

In this case this is the full truth. I put my Nikon pre-ai lenses on a K-20 and a K-7 and got the results as described above.

OK, full-truth-guy: Which canon camera is more compatible with older Nikon
glass than a D3?

The D3 can not mount pre-ai lenses. There is no adapter. However, the D40 et all can mount these lenses.

There are adaptors for pre-ai lenses that work with Canon cameras.

Allan

 

[lee lindquist]

OK, full-truth-guy: Which canon camera is more compatible with older Nikon
glass than a D3?

The D3 can not mount pre-ai lenses. There is no adapter. However, the D40 et all can mount these lenses.

The question has nothing to do with the D40. It has to do with
your "full truth" claim that canon bodies are more compatiable
with older bodies than nikon bodies.

There are adaptors for pre-ai lenses that work with Canon cameras.

Pre-AI lenses can be modified to work with many current Nikon bodies.

Using "an adapter" to mount nikon on a canon body -- the lens won't focus at
infinity, and has no aperature control, and offers only stopped down metering.
That's certainly not "more compatiable"

I'm still waiting for you to name a particular canon body that's more compatiable.
Shouldn't be hard, as your statement asserts they all are.

 

[Allan Brown]

OK, full-truth-guy: Which canon camera is more compatible with older Nikon
glass than a D3?

The D3 can not mount pre-ai lenses. There is no adapter. However, the D40 et all can mount these lenses.

The question has nothing to do with the D40. It has to do with
your "full truth" claim that canon bodies are more compatiable
with older bodies than nikon bodies.

Explain this statement

There are adaptors for pre-ai lenses that work with Canon cameras.

Pre-AI lenses can be modified to work with many current Nikon bodies.

Not around here.

Using "an adapter" to mount nikon on a canon body -- the lens won't focus at
infinity, and has no aperature control, and offers only stopped down metering.
That's certainly not "more compatiable"

Of course it will have aperture control. This is part of the lens. Stop down metering is far better than no metering (D40) or not being to mount the lens (D3)

I'm still waiting for you to name a particular canon body that's more compatiable.
Shouldn't be hard, as your statement asserts they all are.

Please learn to read English! I did not say that.

Anyway, with the adaptor, all modern Canons will work with the pre-ai lenses

So what is your hang up? You can buy an adaptor for Canon to enable the mounting of pre-ai lenses without having to modify the lens. So what if it not fully functional compared to a modern Nikkor on a Nikon body. The fact is it can be done!. This is not possible with the D3 without modifying the lens. As I said above, modifying the lens is not always possible. The D40 will accept un modified pre-ai lenses but has no metering.

Why are you so upset that Pentax and Canon offers something that Nikon does not?

grow up.

Allan

 

[zygh]

If you hadn't posted the K7+1.4/50 I would never have believed such a thing. I am a great fan of old manual Nikkors as well. Do you know if AI/AI-S Nikkors will mount on a Pentax digital body? I'm using the D40 as my only digital SLR right now and although it's an amazing little camera, I would love to benefit from metering and stabilization. The K-x does not seem that much bigger than the D40, so it would be a nice fit
Thanks for posting.

--
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gearporn/

 

[Allan Brown]

If you hadn't posted the K7+1.4/50 I would never have believed such a thing. I am a great fan of old manual Nikkors as well. Do you know if AI/AI-S Nikkors will mount on a Pentax digital body? I'm using the D40 as my only digital SLR right now and although it's an amazing little camera, I would love to benefit from metering and stabilization. The K-x does not seem that much bigger than the D40, so it would be a nice fit
Thanks for posting.

I don't have any AI/AI-S lenses so I'm not a hundred percent sure. The main thing for this to work is that the lens must have an aperture ring. This rules out the newer lenses which I believe are called G type. My two new lenses for my D40 are like this and won't work with the K-x.

Another factor is just how tight is the lens on the K-x body especially if it doesn't lock. The older pre-ai lenses are well suited for this. Since I happen to have several of these, this is why I'm in the market for a K-x.

There are Pentax adaptors available for newer Nikkor lenses which you should investigate.

Have a look at the Pentax forum. There are many posts there on this topic.

Also check out the Pentax autofocus tele converter. It turns a manual focus lens into a limited range autofocus lens. You focus the lens manually to approximately the correct focus point then the tele converter does the rest.

http://cgi.ebay.com/SMC-PENTAX-F-AF-1-7X-ADAPTER-K20D-K200D-K100D-K10D-K110_W0QQitemZ200284488123QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCamera_Lenses?hash=item2ea1e2c1bb&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Allan

 

[lee lindquist]

I'm still waiting for you to name a particular canon body that's more compatiable.
Shouldn't be hard, as your statement asserts they all are.

Please learn to read English! I did not say that.

"Learn to read english"??? I find that rather insulting.

Here's is exactly your comical statement:

"It is really pitiful that Pentax and Canon cameras are more compatible with older Nikon glass than Nikon is. "

So, my question remains -- name a single canon body that supports
your assertion.

Or, resort to insulting my english to back up your silly claim.

So what is your hang up? You can buy an adaptor for Canon to enable the mounting of pre-ai lenses without having to modify the lens. So what if it not fully functional compared to a modern Nikkor on a Nikon body. The fact is it can be done!. This is not

Thank you for contradicting your original assertion.

grow up.

You're the one making silly claims, and then insulting my language.
So, grow up yourself.

I would reply more directly, as your comments deserve, but I'm sure I'd
be banned.

 

[neil holmes]

If you hadn't posted the K7+1.4/50 I would never have believed such a thing. I am a great fan of old manual Nikkors as well. Do you know if AI/AI-S Nikkors will mount on a Pentax digital body? I'm using the D40 as my only digital SLR right now and although it's an amazing little camera, I would love to benefit from metering and stabilization. The K-x does not seem that much bigger than the D40, so it would be a nice fit
Thanks for posting.

I don't have any AI/AI-S lenses so I'm not a hundred percent sure. The main thing for this to work is that the lens must have an aperture ring. This rules out the newer lenses which I believe are called G type. My two new lenses for my D40 are like this and won't work with the K-x.

Another factor is just how tight is the lens on the K-x body especially if it doesn't lock. The older pre-ai lenses are well suited for this. Since I happen to have several of these, this is why I'm in the market for a K-x.

There are Pentax adaptors available for newer Nikkor lenses which you should investigate.

Have a look at the Pentax forum. There are many posts there on this topic.

Also check out the Pentax autofocus tele converter. It turns a manual focus lens into a limited range autofocus lens. You focus the lens manually to approximately the correct focus point then the tele converter does the rest.

http://cgi.ebay.com/SMC-PENTAX-F-AF-1-7X-ADAPTER-K20D-K200D-K100D-K10D-K110_W0QQitemZ200284488123QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCamera_Lenses?hash=item2ea1e2c1bb&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Allan

Hi

Ai lenses have to have the meter coupling rim removed to work on Pentax, otherwise they will only mount very very loosely.

Nikon has a device similar to the auto focus adpter...the TC-16A (and TC-16), though that only works on a few higher end bodies unless modified.

neil
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26884588@N00/

 

[StillHaveMyDiana]

Allan Brown said:

It is really pitiful that Pentax and Canon cameras are more compatible with older Nikon glass than Nikon is.

There is always a compromise between improvements and backward compatibility. I don't expect my new laptop to have all the old parallel and serial plugs of 10 years ago. Nikon has had to make these tradeoffs and they seem to have made the right choices relative to Pentax, as they have grown their SLR business much more than Pentax has.

 

[Allan Brown]

I'm still waiting for you to name a particular canon body that's more compatiable.
Shouldn't be hard, as your statement asserts they all are.

Please learn to read English! I did not say that.

"Learn to read english"??? I find that rather insulting.

Here's is exactly your comical statement:

"It is really pitiful that Pentax and Canon cameras are more compatible with older Nikon glass than Nikon is. "

So, my question remains -- name a single canon body that supports
your assertion.

Or, resort to insulting my english to back up your silly claim.

So what is your hang up? You can buy an adaptor for Canon to enable the mounting of pre-ai lenses without having to modify the lens. So what if it not fully functional compared to a modern Nikkor on a Nikon body. The fact is it can be done!. This is not

Thank you for contradicting your original assertion.

grow up.

You're the one making silly claims, and then insulting my language.
So, grow up yourself.

I would reply more directly, as your comments deserve, but I'm sure I'd
be banned.

Since you are in an argumentative mood, I suggest you poll this and the Canon forums (you do post there) about this adaptor ring. You are unlikely to believe me, so consult the others.

This topic has been discussed many times in both forums.

For your reading here are just a few links from google.

http://www.adorama.com/NVEOSNK.html

http://www.rugift.com/photocameras/nikon-canon-eos-adapter.htm

http://luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=21231

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fox-orian/2636670653/

Allan

 

[lee lindquist]

Since you are in an argumentative mood, I suggest you poll this and the Canon forums

No thanks. You already contradicted the original post that I thought was silly,
which makes my point.

No reason to continue, as I wouldn't be sure which one of your faces to argue with.

I suggest you consider a career in politics.