Adapter for Pentax?

[benjie]

I've got the Pentax SMC P-FA 50mm F1.4 Lens, which is nice, and I'd like to use it on my G1.

I see the Voigtlander adapter is available for £125 (excl VAT I've just noticed). This would be ideal, but would a cheaper one be any good, and could it possibly damage the camera?

 

[pxpaulx]

Since the lens has an aperture ring, the voigtlander isn't necessary - any of the ebay adapters will do, they are essentially a metal tube. I think I purchased mine from the seller foto4easy, works fine, locks the lens in place and no problem with inifinity focus. (of all the user reviews of adapter tubes I have read around here and dpreview, there have never been one of a particular maker that I have found are to be avoided)

The voigtlander is designed with a mechanical aperture lever - essentially it manually turns the lever, so no actual F stops are marked - it is designed to be used with newer lenses that do not have an aperture ring.

 

[benjie]

Thanks for that pxpaulx. Found it on ebay and will order forthwith!

 

[usayit]

Since the lens has an aperture ring, the voigtlander isn't necessary -

...

The voigtlander is designed with a mechanical aperture lever - essentially it manually turns the lever, so no actual F stops are marked - it is designed to be used with newer lenses that do not have an aperture ring.

As far as I can tell from pictures that I've seen the voigtlander doesn't have a lever. Do you have a link with details? Are you referring to a mechanism to set the aperture on lens or to open and stop down the lens?

 

[pxpaulx]

As far as I can tell from pictures that I've seen the voigtlander doesn't have a lever. Do you have a link with details? Are you referring to a mechanism to set the aperture on lens or to open and stop down the lens?

Now that you mention it, I think you are correct! So, the voigtlander is just plain expensive Novoflex does make an adapter with the manual aperture lever, I though the voigtlander did the same. Thanks for the correction!

 

[usayit]

One difference between the cheap and more expensive is how tension is applied to the lens flange. The more expensive ones have "leaf springs" while the others are just bent metal. The "leaf spring" design is similar to that on cameras... designed for more even pressure that can withstand over time. If you look closely at the photos on ebay versus the ones on cameraquest's website, you can see.

One of my cheap ones started to develop some play and I took a screw driver to bend the metal pieces... a little too much made it difficult to turn the lens into lock position... and not enough didn't eliminate the slack. The more expensive ones wouldn't have this problem. As for M42 style adapters, the design is so simple.. don't see why not go with the cheaper versions.