Phoenix Gold Phorum

I figured for $50 I couldn't really go wrong for a BNIB lens, even if it is just the kit lens that usually comes with the Pentax DSLR's. I don't have a true "digital" lens, plus this has a wider range than anything I have plus a bigger aperture than I have on any of my lenses. Here are the reviews on it:

SMC Pentax-DA 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL


Next I want a 50 mm Prime to play around with.

keep an eye on the 50 /1.7s on the pentax forum marketplace.... they're manual but also pretty good. Should be cheap, too. I'd strongly recommend a 135 / 3.5 - also cheap and good (like €35 cheap).
the 50-200 is good, the only reason I'm selling mine soon is because I need something longer for the summer bird stuff.

Bret

bretti_kivi wrote:keep an eye on the 50 /1.7s on the pentax forum marketplace.... they're manual but also pretty good. Should be cheap, too.
I will probably be offloading my 50-200 soon, not sure if it's worth trying to ship over to you... maybe via Jörg or someone?
I need something longer, the only question is what I can justify in terms of cost.

Bret

Is it the DA? I have been eyeballing this: SMC Pentax-DA 55-300mm F4-5.8 ED, but it's pretty pricey!

that's the one I want, and yes, it's teh DA.

the 50-200 is £130 in the UK and the 55-300 £180. I was looking for around $120 for the 50-200 (that's a standard pentaxforums price by the looks of things) and then pick up either a 200 or 300, probably with a Teleconverter. Maybe the 55-300, depends what I can find.

A TC means less light, but life's hard. A 70-200/2.8 would be ideal, but that's way too expensive.

Bret

It looks like B&H Photo has the 55-300 DA for $320us with free shipping! I thought it went for a hell of a lot more. For that price I might try to sell my old 35mm SLR with two lenses and pick that up. I know I can't get near $320 for my 35mm, but it will get me closer.

You know about this, right? http://www.bdimitrov.de/kmp/lenses/#data

so, what lenses have you got?

Bret

Here are the lenses I have now:

SMC Pentax-FA 35-80mm F4-5.6

SMC Pentax-FA 80-200mm F4.7-5.6

If I could pick up that 55-300mm plus a 50mm prime I think I would be pretty damn happy!

jep. Only thing missing is wide-angle, but you'll have that with the 18-55.

Bret

bretti_kivi wrote:jep. Only thing missing is wide-angle, but you'll have that with the 18-55.

Bret

Am I making that much of an upgrade by going to the DA lenses over the FA's? Also, you should get in on this. It looks like fun and something that is right up your alley!

On a side note, while looking for a 50mm prime I think I'm wanting a F or FA lens, but is there something else I should be looking for?

from FA - DA - no real upgrade. The DAs are simply made for the smaller digi sensor, the FAs for real film. Theoreticaly you might get benefit from this "sweet spot", but...

I really, really wouldn't worry too much about K, M, A, F, FA, D-FA; they all simply work. If you feel the need for autofocus, an F or FA is the way to go; Ks and Ms are FULLY manual (including aperture), As will allow you to select aperture on the cam or the lens and F, FA, DA and D-FA are autofocus, too, if I've got it right.

Have to see if I can find a system description...

My fifty was generally off the cam at the weekend, surprisingly enough

After realising last night that I'm not going to get the 300 I want at a price I'm prepared to pay, I may well actually upgrade to a 16-45 and leave it at that for the moment. They're a couple of hundred bucks. A 120-400 or 300 DA* are both around €500-600 and I think my wife would notice. Meh

Bret

... which is where the money ends up

denim wrote:Nice find. I have 2 identical Ricoh bodies, and I believe they match up to Pentax SLR lenses. At the moment, I have 4, which is plenty, the largest being a 58mm I think. Would love to go a little larger, with maybe a zoom past 420.

IIRC the Ricoh lenses do fit the Pentax, but from what I am reading there is a pin on the Ricoh lenses that actually locks the lens into place on a Pentax camera. I'm not sure if this is all of them, but I would sure hate to have that happen. I wonder how you get it off?? Do you have to take the lens apart??!

.... no, you take the pin off the lens before applying it to your body

Bret

I think I'm going to go try and get this today so I can pillage the lens off of it and try out a 50mm. Sure it's fully manual, but for $25 I can get the feel of a 50mm and see if I want to spend $150 on an auto focus one.

that is the correct way to do it!

Don't forget there is a setting buried in the custom menu to allow taking pics with a setting other than A; you will need this or it won't work.

Bret

Well, the guy with the 50mm never called me back, so I had to go pick this up. Basically I bought a 1.7 teleconverter with an old 35mm SLR and a few lenses. The teleconverter itself sells for about $170 right now, so I feel I scored big! Now I just need to figure out what these lenses are and see if they are a deal or not!

Actually, now that I look around the price on the teleconverter has gone through the roof. They are selling for $300+!! Now I'm even happier!!!

mr tibbs wrote:

denim wrote:Nice find. I have 2 identical Ricoh bodies, and I believe they match up to Pentax SLR lenses. At the moment, I have 4, which is plenty, the largest being a 58mm I think. Would love to go a little larger, with maybe a zoom past 420.

IIRC the Ricoh lenses do fit the Pentax, but from what I am reading there is a pin on the Ricoh lenses that actually locks the lens into place on a Pentax camera. I'm not sure if this is all of them, but I would sure hate to have that happen. I wonder how you get it off?? Do you have to take the lens apart??!

There is a small lock release button on both of mine.

tibbs - you lucky b******!

nice score!

Bret

bretti_kivi wrote:tibbs - you lucky b******!

nice score!

Bret