5 (+2) Frames with a Pentax Q7 & Nikon 85mm 1.8 AFD (~400mm equivalent)

By Hamish Gill

In the run up to a recent holiday I had a sudden unshakeable desire to shoot my Nikon 85mm lens on my Pentax Q7. If you aren’t already aware, the Pentax Q7 has a fairly tiny sensor with a crop factor of 4.6x. This means that mounting an 85mm lens gives an equivalent focal length of around 400mm.

This isn’t the first time I’ve been down this road. I already have an Olympus OM adapter and have tried a 100mm Olympus lens. I didn’t get great results when I tried last time, and honestly I wasn’t expecting much success this time either. I love my Pentax Q7 (so much so that I now have two of them), but I’m acutely aware of its limitations. One of those limitations is trying to judge an accurate focus when manual focusing using the relatively small, lower resolution rear screen. This series of camera actually has a few manual focus native lenses, but despite this, it’s just not that good for manual focusing – especially not by the standards of more modern cameras. The issue is obviously exacerbated when shooting longer lenses that are more critical for focusing.

So what might you wonder made me want to shoot an 85mm 1.8 on it? Surely this would be a challenge for anything other than totally static subjects? Well, in short, I’m not entirely sure. I was inspired by little more than the vaguest ideas of shooting some long lens landscape shots. I just had the feeling that if I could set the lens at infinity (or there about) and shoot something far away I might get a half decent shot.

I packed light for this holiday. I just bought one of my Pentax Q7s, the small selection of dedicated lenses I have accrued for it, and the 85mm and adapter, of course. Funnily enough, once on holiday even this seemed like way more kit than I needed. Rather than switch between the lenses, I shot entirely with the 8.5mm (40mm equivalent). I did want to find a chance to use the 85mm though. The lens and adapter take up more room than the camera and all the rest of the lenses, so it felt daft not to use it now I’d brought it with me. I just couldn’t find a use for it on the first couple of days at the campsite we stayed at.

When we moved from the campsite to the “glamping” pod on day 3 of the holiday, I finally found myself with the time and inclination to shoot it. The pod we were staying in had a balcony that looked out over a lake this was the view:

Looking over the edge of it on the first evening I spotted a water bird pecking around in the reeds. It was then I decided to get the lens. I got the shot I wanted to too – albeit after a fair amount of faffing trying to obtain something close to passable focus.

Wales Easter 24

Great, one shot with this long lens combo – I was happy with the shot, but this didn’t feel like a complete success, or enough to justify the purchase of the adapter. It was then I decided to challenge myself to find 5 shots from the vantage point on the balcony, all pointing toward the lake, without moving from my spot. Here are the shots I captured:

Wales Easter 24 Wales Easter 24 Wales Easter 24 Wales Easter 24

To be fair, there were a few other attempts at shots, but I was happy when I’d got the last one in the set above that I had 5 I was comfortable sharing as a 5 frames post. I knew they weren’t going to all be perfectly focused/sharp, but I could also see on the little screen that they shared an aesthetic that held them together as a set. I got a certain satisfaction out of this too. I’ve read so many 5 frames posts on this website now, that photos feel like they need to come in 5s for me now. At very least I feel like I can make a mini-project out of 5 photos.

Of course, the factor I didn’t take into account was that something else interesting might happen on the lake whilst we were there. On the second evening, this guy turned up with his fishing rod. For some reason the angle of the sun here gave me a massive load of flare.

Wales Easter 24

Then, the following morning, we were visited by a pair of Geese. I just managed to get these couple of shot before they took flight making a hell of a Goosey racket in the process! I guess they didn’t like the idea of shooting a Nikon lens on a Pentax camera…?

Wales Easter 24

Wales Easter 24Having had this level of success, I am now mulling over ways I might be able to increase my hit rate, maybe with some sort of viewfinder magnifier… I’m also definitely going to buy myself the 15-45mm 2.8 ’06’ lens Pentax maybe for this system…

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About The Author

By Hamish Gill
I started taking photos at the age of 9. Since then I've taken photos for a hobby, sold cameras for a living, and for a little more than decade I've been a professional photographer and, of course, weekly contributor to 35mmc.
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Comments

Ibraar Hussain on 5 (+2) Frames with a Pentax Q7 & Nikon 85mm 1.8 AFD (~400mm equivalent)

Comment posted: 16/04/2024

Nice series Hamish!
Especially like the graphic almost abstract look!
You’re brave trying to manual focus using the screen - I tried putting an M42 lens on my Olympus E-PM1 and couldn’t focus properly. I think an evf would’ve helped
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Thomas Wolstenholme on 5 (+2) Frames with a Pentax Q7 & Nikon 85mm 1.8 AFD (~400mm equivalent)

Comment posted: 16/04/2024

I really liked the photos of the geese as well as the 4 photos made from the balcony. At the size shown on my 15-inch laptop, they present very well, possibly even enlarged to 11 x 14 on paper. This is quite an unlikely camera-lens setup, but how can one quibble with these results? I'd be interested to the outcome with a slightly longer fast lens such as a Nikkor 135 f2, either the AI-s or the AF-D versions, knowing that I've some successful results with my 135 f2 AI-s on my Fuji X-E2, (admittedly with a much larger sensor than the Pentax Q7).
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Hamish Gill replied:

Comment posted: 16/04/2024

I can’t help but want to try something really long, like 500mm. I have an original Q now on which that would equate to 2750mm equivalent. I’m not sure for what purpose… but it seems like it might be fun!

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Edward Stitt on 5 (+2) Frames with a Pentax Q7 & Nikon 85mm 1.8 AFD (~400mm equivalent)

Comment posted: 16/04/2024

And now I want a Q7... or do I want to snag that Oly E-P7 with the double zoom kit I was looking at last night. Or should I remember to bring my 70-300mm lens with me. Maybe I could find a 400mm k-mount lens to add to all the glass on my shelf. Or a tele-extender...

Oh dear, this site does not help my GAS problems...
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Hamish Gill replied:

Comment posted: 16/04/2024

I have a yellow one I could be convinced to part with

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Dave Powell on 5 (+2) Frames with a Pentax Q7 & Nikon 85mm 1.8 AFD (~400mm equivalent)

Comment posted: 16/04/2024

Hi Hamish,

I mean REALLY-- Some geese have NO sense of humor. But they did look great! A super project, too. I wonder if this would work for your focusing-- Put the camera on a tripod (or deck rail), pre-focus INTO the wide-open lens's minuscule depth of field, return to the appropriate shooting aperture, and fire away. That's worked wonderfully for me in somewhat similar situations.
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Steve Boykin on 5 (+2) Frames with a Pentax Q7 & Nikon 85mm 1.8 AFD (~400mm equivalent)

Comment posted: 16/04/2024

Hamish,

Just get the 06 zoom. It's a great lens. It autofocuses fast and accurately. It's very sharp. It has a built in ND filter also. You can probably pick one up on Ebay for what Leica charges for a soft release....... No, I am not selling mine. I have all the lenses including the very rare wide angle zoom. I was pleased to see you have joined the Two Q club though. :-)

SB
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Hamish Gill replied:

Comment posted: 16/04/2024

Yeah, I should’ve listened to you sooner - this is definitely your doing. I have bought the 06 since writing this

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Paul Quellin on 5 (+2) Frames with a Pentax Q7 & Nikon 85mm 1.8 AFD (~400mm equivalent)

Comment posted: 18/04/2024

I enjoyed this Hamish. Pushing boundaries generally and trying unlikely combinations has to be helpful for the photographer and very important for the advancement of photography in general.
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J-Dog on 5 (+2) Frames with a Pentax Q7 & Nikon 85mm 1.8 AFD (~400mm equivalent)

Comment posted: 19/04/2024

Hi, I sold you the adapter…glad it arrived in time for your trip. I tried the Q (OG-model) with this adapter and a Nikon 50/1.8, so about 280mm equiv. I put a bartinov mask on the lens and focused it to infinity, then taped the focus ring in place with capton tape. Worked very well for anything beyond ~12m distance…
Sold the Q & 02 and 06 lenses since but may pick up a Q S-1 at some point.
Please share your experience with a 500mm etc, happy snappin’!
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Hamish Gill replied:

Comment posted: 19/04/2024

Cheers, I will do! What's a bartinov mask? That's a new one on me...

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