NEW CAMERA - OLD LENSES

I bought a Pentax K5 DSLR in August and it came with two kit lenses but I had some old Tamron Lenses, [for a Canon], from my previous photography habit back in the 80's and wanted to reuse them. So I bought a couple of Tamron Adaptall-2 mounts so I could use them with the new camera and they have worked fine giving me two more lenses to play with. Some of these old lenses have very good glass and optical qualities and, according to some lens fanatics, are even better than modern lenses.
However, although I'd put the old lenses in a nice dry place where they stayed for at least 15 years, I noticed a couple of fungus patches on the inside of the front lens which while not showing up on any pics taken dropped my confidence in the lens. So after doing some research on the Net and different forums I decided to strip down the lens and clean the glass. It's a bit daunting at first but I took note of all the advice of people who done it before and posted on the Net [and that saved me a lot of trouble and gave me the confidence], got the right tools for the job and started dismantling the lens a few days ago. Now after an hour a night, taking my time, and trying to keep all items in order, I've cleaned the lens inside and out, tested the reassembled lens, and got it back in almost original condition.
One of the other reasons I've done that is that the Pentax camera allows you to use nearly all the lenses that Pentax have made over 40 years and, like I said before, they've made some really great lens. But over a length of time and usage lens pick up dust and fungus which can get inside a lens and affect the quality of pics. So being able to disassemble old lens and get them back to clean optics and almost new condition is a great perk as I can pick up old lens cheap, clean them and bring them back up to almost new standard. If nothing else it keeps the brain working and gives you satisfaction breathing new life into an old lens.
Has anyone else tried disassembling old lenses to clean them and reuse them??

 

I've been watching some of the old Pentax lens on ebay too, I'm looking at getting a cheap fast prime lens. The 50mm f1.7 go for around £30 which is great value, some of the exposure modes will work and of course the Shake Reduction but not auto-focus. You do have to read the auction pages carefully as some say there are slight fungal spots that don't affect the photo quality - I'll steer well clear of those. My banana fingers aren't up to the delicate dissassembly like you did Armandii

Here's a very useful resource for Pentax fans:

http://www.mosphotos.com/PentaxLensCompatibility.html

 

Hi JWK, I've actually bought a F1.7 from E.Bay and I'm waiting for it to arrive in the next couple of days. You're right there are some lenses on sale with some fungus in them but I've found the sellers are quite honest about the condition of the lenses and you can choose what not to buy. I stay away from mechanical faults, lens surface marks, and damaged filter rings.
The thing with the SMC M Pentax lens that puzzled me at first was that the Pentax would not fire the shutter, and then I found out about going into the Menu and choosing "Using Aperture Ring" and then opening up "permitted" which allows the shutter to fire. An old "A" M lens will allow automatic metering and if you press the Green Button the camera will select an appropriate shutter speed. I use Manual Mode all the time with the old lenses as I like choosing the aperture and shutter speed.
Actually, I don't think it matters about banana fingers, JWK I'm not all that nimbled fingered myself but I did that research and noted how others did it. The best advice was to have a tray covered in soft white cloth as a working area in front of you so that any thing tiny that falls [] falls onto it and doesn't bounce and disappear, and keeping a note of what's come off in what order. I even took pics with my compact camera as I disassembled the lens as I didn't trust my memory. I also bought the recommended tools such as:

Isopropanol Alcohol
Latex gloves
Watch Makers or JS Screwdrivers
Calipers
Lens cleaning clothes
Sponge
Magnet
Cotton Buds

After that it was just taking my time and enjoying what I was doing. Some of the worm screws were absolutely tiny and probably 1mm x 2mm in size! Otherwise it was just a case of figuring out how to dismantle the lens a stage at a time. There are some good articles on the Pentax Forum that tell and show you how to dismantle Pentax and other lenses so there is some good experience and advice out there. The most difficult thing was removing the fungus from the inside of the lens because although it looks thin and delicate, it ain't!!! You have to gently scrub the fungus with a Cotton Bud dipped in the Isopropanol Alcohol and gradually ease it off. So I may buy a couple of fungicided lens just to give me the satisfaction of breathing new life into old lens.
I'm also after a f1.4 lens but at the moment they seem to be a bit pricey for what they are so I'll wait awhile and play with the f1.7 There are some other size lens I wouldn't mind having but we'll see as I don't want a bad case of Lens Buying Addiction......there is one lad on the Pentax Forum with 30 lenses!!! I want to buy a old Pentax lens, renovate it if necessary, and use it, not have a collection of lenses just for the sake of it.

 

We'll have to make sure we are not both bidding on the same lens!

 

Don't worry I'll let you know, JWK

I've also got my eye on getting a Pentax M PK Macro 50mm F4, Pentax Takumar A Zoom 28-80mm f.4.5, M 40-80mm f2.8 PK, and possibly the Pentax 135mm f2.8. I've already got the Pentax M f.2 50mm and M f2.8 28mm, with the f1.7 on the way. One third party lens I've got and really like is a Sigma f2.8 52mm Ultra Wide which is really sharp even at the edges....but it's all down to personal taste I reckon.

 

These are some of the Manual lenses I've got for the K5, JWK, the first pic being the two Tamron Adaptall II's [from your left the 80-210mm and the 28-70mm] and it was the 80-210 lens that I dismantled and cleaned.



The two Pentax M Lens


The Sigma Ultra Wide and a Makinon 24mm f2.8 wide angle. The last one I bought very cheaply and as a Fun Lens but in fact it gives good saturation and contrast in the image plus it is a sharp lens so I do use it.



I've inspected all the Manual lenses that I've bought and they're all free from dust or fungus. The Makinon did have slight damage to the filter ring but it does take a 52mm filter without a problem.

 

You're going to need a big bag to carry all those lenses Armandii

 

Don't let Steve carry the bag

 

I usually wear a body warmer with big pockets, JWK, but I do restrict myself to carry 3 lenses usually one fast, one wide angle and a telephoto , including the one on the camera, around when taking a walk for pics.
The "new" f1.7 lens arrived this morning and it's a good 'un in almost mint condition. It came really well packed and insulated so that you could tell the seller thought it was a good lens too. It works fine and I'll take some proper test shots when I can get time over the weekend. I'll post a pic of it tomorrow.

 

Hi Steve, I was given a Spyderlenscal by the guys at McCanns as it's something they use for recalibrating lenses as well. There are other methods such a using a Moire Chart, tape measure, tripod etc. I can calibrate the lens in camera with the K5 using the Spyderlenscal and it's very easy to do and gets rid of forward and back focus. One guy on the Net was using an Icecream cone as a target.