Thanks to all who have shared their experiences, suggestions, and cautions.
I have two Pentax adapters. One came with no instructions. The other came
with instructions in Japanese. I confess, I was stupidly trying to twiet
the gizmo off the body. I didn't realize that one can simply depress a
spring and it is free. Thanks, guys!
When I had the 85/1.8 in my hot little hands, only to discover that I
couldn't meter at full aperture on my K-mount bodies, I considered getting
a late-model SpotMatic. But I prefer the amenities and lighter weight of
more recent bodies. SInce I would want to use the lens at all apertures, I
decided it wasn't for me, and sold it. Sigh! It was the best built,
smoothest-operating lens in my collection!
To acquire the Vivitar 135/2.3 on EBay, I had to buy two screwmount
teleconverters, a screwmount Ricoh 50/1.4, a 1975-model Ricoh screwmount
SLR, for a total of $200. (I thought the setup would be K mount, but that
was my own misunderstanding.) On the Ricoh, I confirmed that the auto
Vivitar could meter at full brightness with any f/stop selected, and I
thought, "Yes!" Now I have it all." But after spending an afternoon
studying the Ricoh manual and the body, I gave up. Perhaps I'm spoiled by
aperture priority, but the Ricoh required far more intervention than I was
prepared to provide. ("Using the dial at the upper left, tell the camera
the maximum f/stop of your lens." I thought that was the camera's job!) And
it's damn heavy.
Perhaps when I have a couple more K-mount bodies in my stable (currently
consisting of two working Super Programs), I'll dedicate one to the
screwmounts. But chances are, wherever I go with the 135mm, I'll want to
take the 200 to switch between them as the subject requires. So I'll still
be needing two bodies.
Paul Franklin Stregevsky
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