Keep using those M42-mount lenses on newer non-M42 bodies

 As I have written here often about M-42 mount lenses and cameras, you know how I love those Pentax Takumars.  There are many thousands of them in circulation, and most of them are still in good working order. The same can't always be said for M-42 mount bodies.  Meters die, shutters get old and cranky, and just because of age and abuse, those lovely (and some not so lovely) M-42 mount bodies can become unreliable.  Some are really heavy, too, which negates the benefit of those Takumars. 

When Pentax released their K-mount bodies, they also sold M-42 to K-mount adapters. Everything was the same as far as flange distance, so you could still keep using your screw-mount lenses on the Pentax K bodies.  However, that only allowed you to use the lens in manual stop-down mode for metering -- which you were probably already doing with a Spotmatic. So that's not a big drawback to their use.

Fast forward to today, and the best replacement would be to use one of the Vivitar V3800N K-mount bodies, which are relatively recent, as SLR bodies go.  Those bodies also appeared as other brands, such as the Promaster 2500 PK Super.  You get a lightweight body, red/green diodes for the metering, a top shutter speed of 1/2000 sec, multiple exposure capability, self-timer, a PC and shoe flash ability, and depth of field preview - because you are shooting in stop-down mode.  

The M-42 adapter in place

Be sure to move the aperture switch to Manual

Look at that beauty.

Another option is to use a Minolta Maxxum 7000 - which are plentiful and cheap.  You can find a Sony Alpha to M-42 mount adapter, and shoot in Aperture Priority or Manual modes.  Just like that, you have an M-42 mount camera with auto film advance!  Other Minolta AF bodies may also work well with the M-42 adapter, but I have not tested them.  Again, you'll need to use the lenses in Manual, not Auto mode, so they might be a bit dim for focusing in low light conditions.

There are other M-42 mount adapters for other bodies, such as Nikon, but they don't focus to infinity. Sticking with a K-mount body and M-42 adapter is the logical choice, especially if you already have a camera such as the Pentax ME.  However, the Vivitar 3800N remains a very good and inexpensive option to continue using the wonderful range of screw-mount lenses. on a small, lightweight body with modern electronics.

Of course, there are mounts for the latest mirrorless digital cameras, but we are talking only about using film cameras here.  The M-42 Pentax Takumar lenses are compact. I have a kit with a 50mm f/1.4, 24mm f/3.5, 105mm f/2.8, and a 17mm f/4 along with a Spotmatic F, filters, etc. and it occupies about 2/3 space  and weight that a Nikon kit has with similar lenses.  

So, give those old Takumars a new life with a newer body, and adapter.  You'll quickly realize how nice those old lenses are.

Holga 35 Fisheye

Recently, the Lomography store had a sale on some things, so I decided to pick up the slip-on fisheye lens and fisheye viewfinder for the Holga 35.  I have had the Holga 35bc (bent corners)  camera for several years, and it's a fun, simple toy camera that uses 35mm film.  Like its big brother (or big sister), it has very minimal controls - sunny or cloudy, bulb or instant, the four focus zones, and a hotshoe.  In general, 400 ISO film works for most conditions with this camera.

The lens and viewfinder come in little attractive boxes, well-packaged. That's always been a hallmark of Lomography -- they pay attention to package design.  No plain cardboard boxes for them!  The instructions inside are easy to follow, and the lens comes with front and rear protective caps. The lens and viewfinder fit exactly as they are supposed to, as well.

Looking through the viewfinder gives you a circular fisheye view, which does not actually match what the camera is getting.  It's good for framing, and certainly better than the regular viewfinder.

Since the fisheye is such wide-angle, I wonder if the actual focus position makes any difference.  Nonetheless, I set the lens to infinity while shooting with it.

The Holga 35 is a great cold-weather camera in that there are literally no controls to fiddle with, so for mittened hands, it is great.

I finished up a roll of 400 ISO Kodak (somewhat expired) color film and sent the film to Blue Moon Camera and Machine, where they do a wonderful job with processing.

I'll post two images here to give you an idea of the fisheye effect from this lens.  It's not a circular fisheye such as the one you get with the Diana version. The negatives are cropped at the top and bottom,   The effect is pretty good, though,  and perhaps the cropped image looks better than the circular fisheye.