Shutterbug Strasse

A photographer's haven for the lastest in digital or traditional film cameras.

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Re: Pentax bodies

Posted by Bold Eagle on December 14, 2004 at 16:05:31:
Pentax abandoned screw mount lenses in 1974 with the introduction of the K series of cameras (K2, KX, KM). They were the last of the major manufacturers to go to a bayonet mount. The screw thread mounting made it difficult to incorporate automation into the camera/lens interface, so the Pentax Spotmatics lagged in that area and the majority of their cameras were manual of semi-automatic.
The Pentax lenses used a 42 mm screw thread, pioneered by Practika from Germany, and this was used by many manufacturers in the 50's and 60's until proprietary bayonet mounts took over in the 60's and 70's.
If you have screw mount Pentax lenses, you can use them on a Pentax from the Spotmatic series (and some other brands as well) of cameras which were around from 1962 to after 1974 (they overlapped the K series for a while). You can also use them on a number of other models and brands of camera with a screw mount adapter.
The Spotmatics were big heavy, well made cameras with a very large and loyal following. They were called the poor man's Nikon and many smaller newspapers and company photo dept's used Pentax through the 60's and into the early 70's. Optics were excellent and rivalled the Nikon glass.
Now, to figure the value of your lenses, it's important to know where they fit in the line. There is lettering around the front of the lens. If you can tell me what that says, I can give you some idea of the value and the optical properties. I have an extensive collection of Pentax literature from that era.
Some of the later screw thread lenses had some degree of automation, and with the right camera body can be fairly convenient to use, as well as giving excellent quality.
Jerry