Use of old hand lenses on modern cameras

I inherited the “PRAKTICA” camera and two lenses with the “M42” threaded connection. This type of attachment was used on many cameras in the 70s-90s, in particular on the Soviet Zeniths. By the way, Zenit had a regular lens Helios-44. I have the Pentacon automatic mc with a focal length of 50mm and a focal length of 1.8.



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When choosing an old glass, you need to remember that most of them are “fixes,” the focal length is constant. Nowadays, mostly “zooms” are sold, and although they are an order of magnitude more convenient than “fixes”, due to the variable focal length, they lose a little by the quality of the picture, and lose a lot in luminosity.



Unfortunately, time does not spare the mechanic ... My Hanimar automatic F3.5 200mm does not close the diaphragm. Apparently, the spring has weakened, which did not prevent them from shooting all summer at the open diaphragm, and at the same time the picture from the football match was on the cover of the local sports newspaper. There are also problems with dried lubricant in the drive of the diaphragm or the focusing mechanism, but they are often fixed on their own. It is desirable that the glass was enlightened, and the surface of the diaphragm was black, otherwise unwanted glare from the matrix.

In principle, to replenish the ranks of the "mirror", you can try to shoot on film. 140 rubles for 36 frames, 10 for their development .... and for 6 rubles for printing each image. I got 5 “masterpieces” from the first film, which were immediately tucked into the flatbed scanner and uploaded to the network, and 31 defective frames, with blurry outlines or dark spots.



From the second film, the “masterpieces” became more, and the marriage was less. I liked the process of a long and thoughtful choice “what to photograph and how, so as not to spoil the frame of the film, made me shoot for sure. But the second film was no longer printed, and immediately in the photo lab I scanned them for 6 rubles per frame. The size of the same peg turned out to be 8 megapixels, but there was still no “sharpness”. Plus, the cost of the scan and the film has already become strained, I wanted to hammer with a “machine gun”, and immediately see the result.



Seeing how much I have got, I realized that I needed only 200-300 dollars for a 6-8 megapixel DSLR, but at that time I used an electronic auction for the first time in my life, I did not have a bank card, and there is too much chance to buy a camera. , repair of which will cost another 200-300 bucks. And this is the price of an entry-level camera, which, according to its characteristics, will plug those “bucks with Ibei” mirrors into the belt, but they have a couple of years of warranty and a whale lens to boot.

After a couple of weeks of “reading the Internet”, a famous 14-megapixel SONY a450 with a “whale lens” and a stabilizer built into the carcass were bought at that time in the well-known computer hardware store. And this means that all my old glasses installed on this camera through the adapter will be stabilized too. Another stabilizer in the carcasses makes PENTAX. But with Nikon you will not manage with a cheap adapter, they have a larger working segment, and the lens will not be able to focus “on infinity”. By the way, my “poltosa” infinity begins after ten meters. I set the focal length to infinity, and only compose the frame - nothing needs to be twisted, you set the diaphragm once depending on the lighting, in bright sunshine you need to cover up to 8-16, in the evening you need to open, and if there is a ring with a chip, the carcass self exposes. With a focal infusion of 16mm, infinity can begin altogether from 2 meters.



Rings are normal for $ 5 with delivery, or with a $ 10 focus confirmation chip. My camera without a chip can only be photographed in M ​​mode (some modes are available on some carcasses), and it’s necessary to focus only “by eye”. The same adapter allows you to use all modes and signals when the object is “in focus”. In fact, the same autofocus, but instead of your motor fingers.



Adapters were ordered in ibei, and were delivered in a period from 3 weeks to 1.5 months. Then how lucky: our mail can send for two or three months. I ordered Free shipping, because tracking number can show that your package is flying over the Atlantic for 2 months, or 2 weeks traveling through the city. At auctions, look for the “M-42 AF adapter”, well, immediately add the name of your camera to the request. I advise you to take a black color, they do not glare. For example, I saved a thousand rubles on each compared with local sellers.



Later, when I saw my dances with a photo, the manager of my work brought from her storeroom a new (in the package!) And a large Jupiter 36b glass (Pentacon-6 bayonet) for a medium-format camera "Kiev 6", and gave it to me. The Pentacon-6 chip adapter for Sony cost $ 45-60, but I bought it without a chip for $ 20, but not on a Sony and on the m42, and tried it with the existing m42-sony adapter for $ 10. It turned out the construction of 2 adapters, and everything works fine, and I saved $ 15-20, and I got a more universal solution if I change the carcass, for example, at Canon I can only buy the corresponding chip adapter m42-canon for $ 10. You can see a piece of black paper in the photo, this is a self-made anti-glare spacer, it seems to remove some of the glare from the matrix inside the lens. (The photo is still an adapter without a chip, do not throw out the same)


As a result, I received a free 3.5-lens telephoto lens and a focal 250mm for free ... The lens is sharp, not chromatic, and quite suitable for birds, cats, walking on roofs, beautiful portraits, shooting football, etc., of course, and Hanimar is not bad, but at 3.5 it is “soapy” and, moreover, chromate is terrible.



PS
Sonya's carcass weighs 700 grams and 1.6 kg of glass ... hard, but very stable in the hand. Now I think how to make a mount for a tripod.

And by popular demand, I post examples of photos made with old glass, processing only lightroom 500px.com/Andrianov