K10D and M42 Lenses Experience

Well look at it like this...the focus points didn't exist on a manual focus camera that the M42s were designed for.

also, the exposure problems seem uniform in each mode. So you now figured out the exposures just remember the EV settings.

Can Pentax really be faulted for not making it's 2007 cameras fully functional with it's 35 year old lenses? In a perfect world yes, but in reality, it's just not practical to bend over backwards for used glass that you no longer sell.

To date every brand has switch or crippled it's mounts, Pentax seems to be the most committed to allowing backwards compatibility, even if there are some issues.

I hope my post isn't treated as a flame bait. Like I said, I was a bit surprised with these issues and I just wanted to ask the group for similar experience...especially regarding M and Av giving a different reading.

Well look at it like this...the focus points didn't exist on a manual focus camera that the M42s were designed for.

With Nikon cameras, you can still select focus points for focus confirmation...this is important for nailing focus for shallow DOF. Although you have a point (pun not intentional), I just found it weird that Pentax did/could not do what Nikon did for their old manual lenses for this feature.

also, the exposure problems seem uniform in each mode. So you now figured out the exposures just remember the EV settings.

I guess. It would have been easier if the over-exposure and/or underexposure is consistent. it behaves differently depending the set aperture. this renders the stop-down metering not very useful.

Can Pentax really be faulted for not making it's 2007 cameras fully functional with it's 35 year old lenses? In a perfect world yes, but in reality, it's just not practical to bend over backwards for used glass that you no longer sell.

To date every brand has switch or crippled it's mounts, Pentax seems to be the most committed to allowing backwards compatibility, even if there are some issues.

I would disagree on this to some extent. IMHO, Nikon provides a slightly better BC with their flagship cameras...stop-down metering actually works, (slightly) better focus confirmation (you can still select focus points even in MF)...plus you can program MF lenses in the camera so aperture will be recorded in the EXIF.

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With all that said, I still think the K10D is a great camera and the SMC Takumars are reason enough to buy one!

I was disappointed at first to not be able to use AV on my *ist DL with M42 lenses... but the pictures look so good, I quit worrying. I find M and pressing the button gives a perfect meter reading.

Really, pressing a button to get a metered exposure setting quickly becomes second nature. I actually think it's a very smart way to operate in metered-manual mode, because I pay more attention to exactly what I'm metering from. It's also convenient for taking a single reading off a grey card, or your palm, or the big blue sky.

""With Nikon cameras, you can still select focus points for focus confirmation...this is important for nailing focus for shallow DOF. Although you have a point (pun not intentional), I just found it weird that Pentax did/could not do what Nikon did for their old manual lenses for this feature.""

Actually Nikon has completely crippled some of it's bodies. And very few have ever allowed full matrix metering with older glass.

I only have two M42 lenses and mostly used them on the ist D but since I shoot in manual only the exposure was consistent. Like the above poster said, hit DOF or green button and you have your exposure.

Yeah, selection points are nice, but figure out what you did before they existed and go back to it. Someone was figuring out focusing using those famed fast lenses back in the old days. Heck does Leica have focus confirmation on it's cameras?

Nikon abandoned it's commitment to backwards compatibility recently, and it's have more mount changes than Pentax over the years. You never have to double check if you Pentax lenses will mount at all like you do with Nikon. Nikons lens nomenclature is alphabet soup. Ai, Ais, D, AF-S, ect ect. I'm sure I'm missing something.

Well, at least we have some Nikon "Fan"atics on this board. I was beginning to think it was all Canon Clones invading. I least I kinda like Nikon cameras so welcome Nikonian to the world of Pentax where we focus like men and shoot like little girls!!!

OK, two things:

first, this exposure issue only affects K10D (and maybe the K20D) and not the *istD.

second, I came across this very informative thread on K10D metering with manual lenses which more-or-less confirms my observations...maybe this would help:

(link)

Upon further reading, I have also found out that replacing the stock focus screen with *istD's LL-60 screen will get rid of the exposure errors.

(link)

I noticed this. Perhaps it's why I never noticed any issue.

I generally don't mount the m42s to the K10D but as noted the ist was pretty accurate.

I suppose you could simply change the screens as noted. This seems like a simple solution if M42 glass is what you seek.

I don't have any exposure errors when using M42 lenses on my EOS camera!

But the error is the EOS camera itself...thank god the Canon shooters spoke up. I was really thinking Nikon must have gained enough market share with the D3/D300 release to put a sock in the Canon users. But alas, you are still going strong!! Long live Canon Clones!

Don't feel bad about my remarks, with the rapidness of product cycles Canon could retake the "best pro DSLR" race in the next round. I mean all it has to do is produces\ a faster camera, with better high ISO, and autofocus that works (in daylight where some sporting events are held). Seems like an easy task for the finest engineers and camera enthusiast on the planet (that would be canon engineers).