On Sat, 04 Sep 2004 21:12:37 -0400, graywolf <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > The thing here is there are technical advantages to screw mounts. The are far > more accurate and stable. The seal the body better. The only real advantage to > bayonette mounts is convenience. As usual convenience wins out in the market place. >
Right you are, Tom. A screwmount will seal to the body much better, and is a much better mechanical connection than any bayonet. However, ever notice how a screwmount lens is almost never exactly at 12 o'clock? It's almost impossible to get exactly right. That's not a good thing with electronic contacts. It would be very difficult, nigh impossible to make a modern lens with a screwmount system. Paul's right, early bayonets did sometimes have too much play, and they did sometimes come loose. That may have been a good reason for Pentax to stick with m42 back in the 60's. OTOH, with the close tolerances that mechanical cameras had to be made to back then, I think Pentax could have made a bayonet mount that was sufficiently durable. But, what the hell. We're just dealing with 20/20 hindsight; it is fun to speculate what "might have been, if" certain things had been done differently. cheers, frank
