M42 lenses

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caddie152

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Ok so i have now purchased these 2 lenses from a mate and i have ordered adapter to get them to fit my Cnon 500d.

Lens1 Prinzflex Auto Reflex 1:3.5 f=200mm No.710317

Lens2 Helios ~44~2, 2/58,7322785


Can some one point me in the right direction as to where to start in the playing around in Manual for these 2 lenses.
Also what is the ideal photography for these lenses.
I am a complete novice.
 
Obviously neither will autofocus and you'll have no auto modes (av might work?) so I'd suggest action might be tricky at first till you get used to manual focusing, The 135 should make a half decent portrait lens although a little on the long side on a crop sensor, the 58mm might be a better bet.
 
hi
to get a feel for your m42 lenses turn your canon to manual and turn auto focus off(on your lens's) that is what you will be up against when you fit the screw fit lens's
hope that helps
 
They will be good for just about anything, I find that a 58mm with a cheap set of m42 macro tubes makes a great macro lens for starting out.

The camera will need to be in M mode to work fully and you will need to set the F stop on the lens as the camera will just show a blank and be unsettable.

There great fun
 
You'll need an adapter like this http://www.srb-griturn.com/m42-lenses-on-canon-eos-224-p.asp though there are probably cheaper on ebay.

I'm not a big fan of using old lenses like this. It's a bit of cheap fun, but not really practical and manual focusing on a crop format DSLR is tricky at the best of times.

The 200mm Prinzflex lens is a Dixons exclusive and was never the best. It's for action shooting at distance, which won't be easy at all. The Helios 58mm f/2 is a good focal length and aperture for portraits on a crop camera.
 
HoppyUK said:
The 200mm Prinzflex lens is a Dixons exclusive and was never the best.
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I bought an adaptor for my G1 so I could try some old Prinzflex lenses I had from my Dad, you're right, they were rubbish compared to the Panasonic lenses I have.
 
Adaptor has arrived and everything fits. Just need to wait and have a play around with these lenses now. Thanks to everyone for their help in this thread.
Any more help will be appreciated.
Thanks again.
 
I have a couple of M42s including the Helios 135mm. They are a bit of a fun thing to play with but can give some wonderful results. As somone said, focussing is an issue of you have a small view finder - difficult to see what you're doing.

Colours can be a bit washed out compared to modern optics so often I end up doing mono conversions to get the best from them.
 
manualfocus-g said:
M42 lenses are a dangerous game...you buy a couple and before you know if you have a room full of them! :D For additional advice I can recommend the mflenses.com forum too...stay here as well though ;)
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+1 from me too:bang:
And after M42 there all kinds of other mounts to go chasing after. I didn't follow the link someone gave you for the lens/body adapter but you'll find one with a focus confirm chip improves your keeper rate to the point where you'll hit focus most of the time.

Something else to watch out for, particularly with some of the 50mm lenses at towards infinity focal lengths is the back of the lens fouling the mirror. :gag: You'll discover that some lenses extend backwards under focal length adjustment. It amy be less of an issue on a 1.6 crop body than it is on either 1.3 or FF but just be careful.

My guess is that you'll either get a new addiction or not really quite quickly. I reckon that with care you get a lot of lens for the money (how else are you going to get a 50mm f/1.4 for under £100?) and using MF lenses may nudge you into using full manual on your camera.
 
You may also find you can only use them at maximum aperture. The mechanism for stopping down the M42 lens probably won't work. I know it doesn't on my adapter. I have a Pentacon 50mm with an auot/manual switch, that's fine (shame about the lens!) but the Helios 58mm is auto only, so no aperture control. Bit of a PITA and I'm cogitating upon the subject :)
 
The Canon adapters usually have a flange built in which makes all lenses manual aperture only (pushes in the pin), so no need for a switch :)

For users of other cameras using Helios 44M-4 auto only lenses, remove the rear mount, stick a piece of cotton bud plastic over the pin to keep it pushed in and screw the mount back on. Voila, you can use all apertures :)

E.g. http://forum.manualfocus.org/viewtopic.php?pid=67687
 
Carter64 said:
You may also find you can only use them at maximum aperture. The mechanism for stopping down the M42 lens probably won't work. I know it doesn't on my adapter. I have a Pentacon 50mm with an auot/manual switch, that's fine (shame about the lens!) but the Helios 58mm is auto only, so no aperture control. Bit of a PITA and I'm cogitating upon the subject :)
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Really? Just had a look at my Helios and it has this strange aperture double ring thing: the aperture settings are marked on the ring at the front of the lens, immediately behind which is another ring which, at one end of its travel allows full range of f stops, at the other locks it to one setting or, guess what - in between - gives a limited range. My Pentacon Auto 1.8/50, on the other hand, hasn't got an auto/manual switch but has a preview stopdown button on the side.

Nerdy, innit?
 
tikkathreebarrel said:
Really? Just had a look at my Helios and it has this strange aperture double ring thing: the aperture settings are marked on the ring at the front of the lens, immediately behind which is another ring which, at one end of its travel allows full range of f stops, at the other locks it to one setting or, guess what - in between - gives a limited range. My Pentacon Auto 1.8/50, on the other hand, hasn't got an auto/manual switch but has a preview stopdown button on the side.

Nerdy, innit?
Click to expand...

Ah, your version is the older pre-set Helios 44-2. This one indeed has two rings, the idea is you set the top ring to the aperture of choice, focus wide open and then close the second ring when you are ready to shoot.
 
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