Comments on: Sony Alpha: inexpensive lenses with a M42 adapter

By: Ed Scott

Ed Scott — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 21:18:58 +0000

Tom,
Excellent information and exactly what I was looking for. Do you plan to write a Sony A850/900 book I hope? I was a combat photographer in Vietnam from 1968 to 1970. I have a special fondness for Pentax Spotmatic cameras and lenses along with Leicas, the only two trouble free cameras I used there (I never tried a Minolta though). I used to be able to load a Pentax while crawling on my back in a firefight in the dark and they always survived monsoon season too. I have a fairly complete set of Takumar lenses (up to 300mm), can forgo auto-focus and am experienced at estimating exposure but IS would be real attractive. Later I worked as an engineer for Sony so either an A850 or A900 seems a good choice since it is the affordable full frame camera. Is there a reason that an M42 to A850/900 mount adapter could not have a chip with user set control to select focal length so IS would work with multiple focal length lens? Finally, if you purchased an M42 mount adapter where cost was not a big concern which brand or model would you purchase today? Thanks much,
Ed

By: Stefan

Stefan — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 11:03:25 +0000

“On the A100 and A700 there is an option in the menu to disable this shutter lock; on both cameras this option is on the second page of the custom menu (gear icon, purple colour on the A100). On the A100 the option is the second of two “Shutter lock” options and should be set to “Off: no lens”. On the A700 the option is “Release w/oLens” and should be set to “Enable”.” (http://www.flickr.com/groups/sony_alpha/discuss/72157608288010526/)

good luck…

By: Tom Gordon

Tom Gordon — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:07:47 +0000

I bought a plain M42 adaptor to use wuth my A700. The adaptor is a good fit and I attached a Pentax 50mm lens to it. I set the A700 to manual. I was able to manually focus OK but when I tried to press the shutter I got a message on the LCD – “no lens attached. Shutter locked”. What am I doing wrong ?

Tom

By: Jens

Jens — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:04:45 +0000

T-mount is not a camera mount like M42 is. T-mount is an interchangeable mount. You screw the T-mount adapter onto the lens and then mount this assembly to a camera. T-mount adapters for a wide range of cameras are (were) available and lots of great lenses. Some even produced to this day.
The normal T-mount has no aperture coupling to the camera body.
T-mount is always manual focus.

By: Minolta 50mm f1.4 comes out of retirement at Bar Camp Charlotte | Alphatracks

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:25:48 +0000

[...] Rokkor on the Sony Alpha requires a MD to MA (A-Mount) adapter, which has the same limitations as the M42 lens adapter. The MD to MA adapter also includes a glass element that is required for any Rokkor to focus at [...]

By: Bob Smith

Bob Smith — Mon, 18 May 2009 13:45:01 +0000

Hi,
Thanks for the article, you might be interested to know that I have been using a lens baby and a couple of antique M42 lenses on my Konica Minolta 5D for a couple of months now.
I had to ‘turn off’ the mirror lock that is used to prevent you tripping the shutter when a lens is not fitted, this can be found in the tools menu.
I purchased a Minolta AF bayonet to M42 adapter from SRB Griturn and the lenses work very well to infinity – I am used to doing things ‘manually’ and really prefer the experience to auto everything – I guess it depends what type of photography you do or indeed what type of photographer you are –
My Zeiss Pancolar 50mm F2 is a beauty and in my opinion is a superb quality portrait/short telephoto lens on the 5D – stunning bokeh! – I paid £20.00 for it off EBAY – a wee bit cheaper than a modern equivalent.
Thoroughly recommended for contemplative creative photography.

By: Tom Bonner

Tom Bonner — Sun, 10 May 2009 15:57:46 +0000

Hi Gordon,

I am working on an post about MD to A-Mount adapters. Much of what I wrote about the M42 adapters, applies to the MD adapters as well.

You can find many MD to A-Mount adapters on ebay and large photo outlets like B&H Photo. I don’t prefer one brand over another, but make sure you get one that will focus to infinity. There are several A-mount to MD adapters that do not focus to infinity, but are acceptable for close-up work. Get one advertised capable of focusing to infinity.

I would definitely suggest paying the extra cash for a “chipped” adapter that is matched to some of your lenses. That will get you Aperture Priority exposure on the A200 and A300 series as well as Anti-Shake on all Sony Alphas.

Good luck and watch for a MD adapter post in the next few weeks.

– Tom

By: Gordon Joslin

Gordon Joslin — Sun, 10 May 2009 07:51:13 +0000

Thank you for a most comprehensive and interesting article. I have a Minolta SRT 101 film camera with a number of Minolta lenses MD 100mm 2.8, 58mm Minolta MC 1.4 which I would like to use on my Sony Alpha 700 and Minolta 7D.
Could you advise me please on the adaptors I require to purchase which are simple to apply to the lens es and camera for use. Many thanks Gordon Joslin.