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

By: Robert Fuchs

Robert Fuchs — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 03:40:54 +0000

Excellent article. I’ve got an M42 adapter for my Alpha and it works well with many M42 lenses; however, (and you’ll have to forgive my ignorance) some of the old Mamiya lenses with the little button on the back of the lens that when depressed will stop down the aperture (I’m not sure what it’s technically named) do not work as I cannot adjust the aperture. Am I making any sense? If so, is there a workaround? Thanks

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vintage photos of women — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 04:41:25 +0000

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[…]Sony Alpha: inexpensive lenses with a M42 adapter | Alphatracks[…]…

By: Deckchairboy

Deckchairboy — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 18:43:04 +0000

Thanks foor taking the time to share this, real information very well communicated. Thanks again.

By: mike

mike — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 20:44:16 +0000

Great clear info,been snaping since 72,thanks.

By: ReviewsBonus

ReviewsBonus — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 22:16:09 +0000

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By: S.

S. — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 22:38:41 +0000

> There is no way for the Sony Alpha to â€œreadâ€ the focal length of a M42 lens.

Exactly for this reason, modern Pentax DSLRs ask for approximate focal length when a manual lens is mounted. My K20D allows to enter focal length only approximately (to choose one of the presets), but it seems to be enough for the in-body image stabilization.

So probably this can be fixed with firmware if Sony allows for it.

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,

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 â€œShutter lockâ€ options and should be set to â€œOff: no lensâ€. On the A700 the option is â€œRelease w/oLensâ€ and should be set to â€œEnableâ€.” (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.