Super-Takumar 35/3.5 & EOS adapter
The combination of retro manual lens and modern digital camera sounded fun for some reason, so I ordered an M42 screw-mount to EOS adapter and a 35mm lens to try out with my Rebel XT. The adapters are available all over the place, probably cheapest on eBay, but I ordered mine from Adorama along with the lens. The lens came with a silly old case that I guess can go on a shelf somewhere. The adapter is silver metal, which totally clashes with the black lens and camera. There are black adapters on eBay if you’re fashion-conscious. There’s also an adapter with a little chip that enables the ‘in-focus’ dot, which can apparently be helpful.
So far I like the lens. It’s a solid chunk of metal and glass, in contrast to inexpensive modern Canon lenses, which are mostly plastic. Even my 28-135 isn’t as solid and tight as the 35/3.5. Focusing can be tough, although with digital it’s easy enough to take a shot, check for focus, and take another if it’s not right. The shooting procedure goes something like this: set the lens aperture at its widest, focus a while, set the aperture where you really want it, make sure your exposure is acceptable with a half-push of the shutter button, then take the shot.
The lens, with the adapter and a Canon rear lens cap attached:
Some purple coneflowers with the lens wide open at f/3.5:
…and at f/16:
Some cherry tomatoes with the lens wide open:
June 23rd, 2007 at 7:40 pm
isaac…we’ve missed you on the org. thought i’d bounce over to izikistan and see what’s up. sounds like you’re happy with your new camera…your dad is getting some use out of the old one, and i think he’ll be taking more pics as he gets comfortable with it. my old sony f-717 started having issues at a braves game in atlanta a few weeks ago. not sure what it was, but the image would periodically go to hell…wavy, monochromatic and fuzzy. then, it would come back and work fine for awhile. anyhow, i’ve been thinking about a new camera, and have been thinking SLR for about a year now. but…ended up getting another SONY (DSC-H7). for one thing, i wanted a camera i could use right out of the box (we were going to a braves-cubs game that night, and i wanted to get pics of the turner field coke bottle spewing fireworks, among other things). and, i just wasn’t up for a learning curve on a new camera…this is the busiest summer i’ve had in years (and we’re traveling a lot, too), so just didn’t want to “go to school” with a new camera. anyhow, this H7 is just right for me. simple, easy, relatively familiar and very capable for my needs. in hindsight, the H9 would have been a better choice (i LIKE the tilting LCD feature which is not available on the H7). but, the H7 was available/affordable and has just about everything i need/want in a digital camera. might go with an SLR one of these days, but the H7 is a good unit for my purposes and just about every pic is “good.”
not sure what your summer schedule is like, but we’re headed for seattle august 1-6. we’re going to two mariner games against the red sox (8/3 and 8/5)…also, we’re planning to head for laconner on saturday, the 4th, and sounds like a few other family members will head up there, too. sure would be fun if you guys were in town then, and really great if you could go to one or both of those games. we’ve got diamond club seats behind home plate (row 6) for the sunday game…the boys are pretty excited about that. then, we’ve got 8 seats in the terrace club for the friday night game…jon, lisa and the kids are going, too.
hope things are going well there…assume you’ve been putting some miles on your bike. been a weird summer here weather-wise…sort of a follow-up to a rather brutal winter. we’ve had some nice weather the past few days, though, so maybe it’ll get better in the weeks ahead. more soon…speaking of bikes, cheri’s peddling a bike ride and i can probably use the exercise. M’s are up 8-0 on the reds in the 7th, so barring a griffey, jr. miracle, i think it’s safe to trust the bull-pen. hugs around, love, jack
June 25th, 2007 at 4:52 pm
isaac…got your email, and my minolta is an X700…the LAST of minolta’s manual focus line. so…doesn’t look like i can go to a digital SLR with these lenses. oh well. i’m really happy with the H7…for what i’m doing right now, it’s got everything i need/want. also, it does feature lense adaptors…haven’t looked into that yet, but they offer wide angle and telephoto units that go on the existing lense (with a coupling device). doubt if that’s very skookum, but might check it out at some point. thanks for the scoop on the minolta…more soon. l,jack