My New APS-C K-mount ILDC! ;-D

Against what has once been rumoured, there is no Pentax EVIL/ILDC nor any plan of it disclosed at the Photokina.

Why waiting and urging? Indeed, many of the old Pentaxians just want to have an ILDC in K-mount, with a Sony sensor in APS-C size! So, just make one yourself! Right Now! It's So Easy! :->



End of endless hoping and waiting, right? ;-) And, below are some quick test samples taken with the above combo, i.e., FA28 on NEX-3 w/ an effective AoV of 43mm 135 film-wise - the most ideal perspective to human eye! Well, 35mm x 1.535 is NOT!

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v313/RiceHigh/NEX/My_NEX/K_Samples/
(Full Size Original Images Available)

Indeed, this lens is really Sharp, even near wide opened! The interesting thing is that it is obviously sharper than when it is used on my K-x. So, it must be the sensor behind that really counts, which is just of prime importance afterall!

And, to do the MF, first we need to enable the "Shoot w/o Lens" option under the Settings Menu. Then, when a non-E-mount lens is mounted, the "MF Assist" will be shown:-



Then the user has the option of zoom-in at 7X or 14X to do the MF by naked eyes:-



In fact, the NEX' LCD monitor is of very fine resolution. As such, it is possible for some particular scenes to do MF reasonably accurately even without zooming in and just view at 1X, e.g., for night scenes. In addition, the MF damping of the FA lens is indeed quite good as an AF lens, smooth (although not silky smooth) and not too loose.

Last but not least, my this K-mount IDLC, although it is not an EVIL anyway, as it has no viewfinder of any, is really 100% WYSIWYG, for focus, exposure and DoF which all can be seen and observed at real-time and most importantly, accurately. Nice!~

Besides, there are a few remarks of that cheapo Chinese made adaptor, which I purchased at HK$270 (roughly equals to US$35). There are two issues with it. First, as you may have seen, the mounted lens is actually a bit rotated to the left. Second, the lens focus too much beyond infinity at lens' (marked) infinity after adapted (which originally should be accurate for the lens itself - as many of my Pentax lenses have been properly calibrated for the infinity focus collimation). Indeed, my first photo above just has shown where is the correct focus for infinity, just read the focus scale and position on the lens.

Anyway, I, being an optimistic person :-D, just think that the two flaws mentioned above in positive and different ways. Namely, the rotated lens to the right actually uplift the lens release lock/button upwards at the same time so that it is easier to push than when it is placed correctly but lower. This is particular useful for a small camera body like the NEX. Secondly, the room beyond the infinity focus now serves as better aids for the human eyes Contrast Detection Manual Focusing (or CDMF, a term that I now create here, to pair with the term CDAF! ;-)). Without that room, the difference in the absolute correct focus near the infinity is not so easily detectable and it is not as certain! ;-D Lol..

Actually, I originally wanted to buy the Kipon adaptor, which is also made in China, but by a more renowned factory and maker. I do believe that the Kipon adaptors should be better made. But then at HK$680 (or US$87) cheapest for what I could find, which is just more than 2.5 times dearer, I gave up. It is actually not much meaningful to get just an adaptor at his price, which is just only a piece of metal afterall and there is no exposure and focus control/aids of any built inside, or we could call it a dummy! (Ditto for the official Samsung adaptor for the NX anyway, which is even far more dearer. That's silly, isn't it?)

For that high price level of those original manufacturer adaptors, I would only buy the Sony LA-EA1 for NEX if I had those old Minolta A lenses, as it provides automatic aperture control function and now AF for those SSM Minolta/Sony ultrasonic lenses with the latest firmware upgrade.


Previous Related:-

DIY: Make Your Own "Mirrorless"! (Brand Regardless)

Is the Sony E-Mount a Modded K-Mount?(!)

I Like RED Cameras! :-D

My Old K-mount EVIL!

My K-mount 135 Full Frame DSLR!