From 1949 · Flange 45.46 mm
M42 screw mount lenses
M42 is a 42mm screw thread with a 1mm pitch. Carl Zeiss developed it at Jena in 1938, and it first appeared in 1949 on the Contax S and the Praktica, which is why some call it the Praktica thread. Pentax, Zeiss Jena, Zenit and many other makers used it, so it carries Takumars, Helios lenses and Pancolars alike. Pentax left it for the K bayonet in 1975, and Praktica moved to its B bayonet in 1979.
Adapting M42 lenses
Most M42 lenses close the aperture only when a pin at the back is pushed in, a job the camera body did at the moment of exposure. On a plain adapter nothing pushes it, so set the lens's A/M switch to M and the aperture follows the ring. A lens without a switch needs an adapter with a plate that holds the pin in, and some adapters are built that way. Older preset lenses have no pin at all.
21 lenses we cover.
Pentax · M42 screw mount
Super-Takumar 35mm f/3.5
$100–$160 typical ask
121 on eBay
Pentax · M42 screw mount
Super-Takumar 50mm f/1.4
1964–1971
Thoriated glass
$130–$300 typical ask
136 on eBay
Pentax · M42 screw mount
Super-Takumar 55mm f/1.8
Thoriated glass
$65–$110 typical ask
160 on eBay
Pentax · M42 screw mount
Super-Takumar 85mm f/1.9
$330–$525 typical ask
34 on eBay
Pentax · M42 screw mount
Super-Takumar 105mm f/2.8
$110–$190 typical ask
54 on eBay
Pentax · M42 screw mount
Super-Takumar 135mm f/3.5
$45–$85 typical ask
202 on eBay
Pentax · M42 screw mount
Super-Takumar 200mm f/4
$60–$95 typical ask
88 on eBay
Pentax · M42 screw mount
Super-Multi-Coated Takumar 28mm f/3.5
From 1971
$100–$150 typical ask
129 on eBay
Pentax · M42 screw mount
SMC Takumar 50mm f/1.4
From 1971 into the mid-1970s
Thoriated glass
$100–$160 typical ask
65 on eBay
- 50mm f/1.8
Pentax · M42 screw mount
SMC Takumar 50mm f/1.8
What to check →
Pentax · M42 screw mount
Super-Multi-Coated Takumar 105mm f/2.8
From 1971
$120–$180 typical ask
81 on eBay
Helios & Industar · M42 screw mount
Helios 44-2 58mm f/2
From 1966
$110–$180 typical ask
45 on eBay
Helios & Industar · M42 screw mount
Helios 44M-4 58mm f/2
1980s–1990s
$95–$130 typical ask
29 on eBay
Helios & Industar · M42 screw mount
Helios 44M-7 58mm f/2
From 1991
$120–$160 typical ask
10 on eBay
Helios & Industar · M42 screw mount
Helios 40-2 85mm f/1.5
About 1969–1990, reissued from 2012
$525–$675 typical ask
4 on eBay
Helios & Industar · M42 screw mount
Industar-61 L/Z 50mm f/2.8
$100–$150 typical ask
21 on eBay
Zeiss Jena · M42 screw mount
Carl Zeiss Jena Pancolar 50mm f/1.8
1965–1986
Thoriated glass
$210–$340 typical ask
46 on eBay
Zeiss Jena · M42 screw mount
Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 35mm f/2.4
1975–1988
$290–$440 typical ask
38 on eBay
Zeiss Jena · M42 screw mount
Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar 135mm f/3.5
About 1965–1990
$160–$230 typical ask
22 on eBay
Zeiss Jena · M42 screw mount
Carl Zeiss Jena Tessar 50mm f/2.8
1949–1988
$80–$160 typical ask
61 on eBay
Zeiss Jena · M42 screw mount
Carl Zeiss Jena Biotar 75mm f/1.5
1939–1969
$1,275–$2,200 typical ask
14 on eBay
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