Some perspective on practicality...
I'm still not exactly keeping up with traffic on PDML, but I did catch
part of the discussion about screwmount lenses on K-mount bodies, and
how practical that is, given that you lose open-aperture metering and
auto-stopdown when you push the shutter release.
I haven't used an M42->K adaptor myself yet, but I can still make this
comment: it's practical. It's not as convenient as using an automatic
aperture setup, or open-aperture metering, but it's no worse than what
some old cameras require anyhow, and it's certainly no less convenient
than using a handheld meter.
I've got a K-mount lens (okay, I think it's actually T-mount) of the
"preset" variety. The camera cannot close down the aperture for
shooting, and the lens cannot tell the camera what aperture it's set
to. I stop down, I meter, I open up, I focus, I stop down, I shoot.
Is this any different from using a screwmount lens on those cameras?
It slows me down a little, but not much. Two days ago I was hanging
out a window chasing seagulls with it. (The fact that I was trying
to track a flying subjet with a 400mm lens was a heck of a bigger
problem than the fact that I was using a preset lens!)
I've got at least one "preset" screwmount lens: it doesn't have the
pin to let the camera stop it down, so I have to manually close the
aperture before I take a picture. The difference is that I'm using
a handheld meter, so through-the-lens metering is not an issue.
(That is, I _was_ using a handheld meter until it got stolen. Can
I ask for suggestions for "I'm really on a budget" light meters to
replace it?) Of course, that also means that I don't have the
_option_ of using TTL metering, stopped down or otherwise. (At least
until I figure out what's wrong with the Spotmatic's meter ... but
there's still the pre-Spotmatic bodies that I use, with no meters
at all in 'em.)
"Preset" lenses have two aperture rings: one with detents to set
the desired aperture, and one that you just throw wide open -- to
focus -- or as far closed as it will go (on the ones I've got it'll
stop at what the other ring is set to) -- to shoot. On a camera
with TTL metering this can be kind of cool: on my KX, I can decide
what shutter speed I want, and just turn the second aperture ring
until the needle points to that shutter speed, then fire. A manual
version of shutter-priority. "In-between" f-stops no problem. :-)
Using an "automatic" screwmount lens means you'll either be doing
it all with the single aperture ring, or you'll be switching between
wide open and your chosen aperture using the "auto/manual" switch on
the lens.
Most of my screwmount lenses are automatic: that is, in auto mode
I can set the desired aperture but the lens stays wide open until
the mirror flips up after I press the shutter release. Convenient.
But I still keep flipping that "auto/manul" switch over the manual
mode to check depth of field every so often. Not as convenient as
pressing the DOF preview button on the Super Program or the KX, but
a lot more convenient than half-dismounting the lens on some of the
K-mount bodies I've borrowed that lacked DOF preview.
Putting a screwmount lens on a K-mount body means you lose some of
your automation. Just like putting a manual focus lens on an AF
body means doing without AF, or putting a K or M lens on an A or
later body means doing without shutter-priority and "program" modes.
The cool thing is that all the stuff that really matters still works,
and it's really a not unreasonable way to work: you're not going
to some bizarre kludgey way to shoot, you're just backing up a few
decades to the way all cameras once worked.
Yes, it _is_ more to think about. And it is a somewhat slower way
to work. And it does mean more steps at which operator error can
creep in. But one adapts to it pretty quickly, and it really is
quite useable. More so if you're not dealing with a rapidly changing
environment and multiple subjects, of course, but even so, there's
a lot one can accomplish.
Some time back I posted about what shooting HIE infrared film
involved, and all the things one must keep in mind and remember
to do (focus, look at IR focussing mark, refocus to that, bracket
your shots 'cause the meter doesn't tell you how much IR there is).
I said I knew what I was describing sounded like a pain in the
arse, but that it wasn't as bad as it sounded and was worth trying
anyhow. This is much less hassle than _that_, and even that isn't
so extreme as to be really difficult.
So yeah, you'll lose a lot of automation putting a screwmount lens
on a K-mount body (and if it's an auto lens, you won't even have
all the capabilities of the lens), but I sometimes shoot under very
similar constraints, and it's quite useable. How much of a pain
in the butt it is depends on how much automation you're used to
and how much you rely on it. (My first Pentax was an H3 -- I'm
accustomed to not having TTL metering but I am accustomed to having
the camera close the aperture for me.)
Not that I don't appreciate an A lens on my Super Program as well,
of course. ;-)
-- Glenn
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