M42

The M42 system

The M42 mount is the most universal and most used lensmount on vintage film gear. Originally designed by no other than Carl Zeiss. The name comes from the 42mm diameter the threaded lensmount has. This mount was shared by many manufacturers located from Germany, the USSR to Japan. Brands like Pentax, Zenit, Praktika, Fujica and more used this universal mount.

The earlier versions of the M42 mount camera’s and lenses were very simple. Just a threaded lens mount that screws in the camera. Because of this many brands could be interchanged and that also why so many M42 stuff is around. At first there were no specific brand related aperture control methods so any lens would fit on any camera. Later versions of the M42 mount featured aperture control methods, to let the camera and lens communicate for exposure settings. Something to look out for if you are planning to buy a M42 camera with compatible lens.

Adapting M42 lenses

Nowadays probably the most common application for M42 lenses is adapting it to modern digital camera’s. For this you will need an adapter that converts the lens to your camera’s mount. These adapters are very affordable and can be found for as low as 20 euro. The M42 system in general is still very affordable, again because of so many have been produced. These lenses are very popular for their perfect image quality whislt still having that old skool vintage characters and imperfections to them. The lenses are not clinical sharp and often produce unique flares and crazy bokeh (blurry backgrounds) you will never find on modern digital lenses.