[Edwood]

If I can find a good old pentax lense that works with autofocus with the *ist DS, I may end up with a Pentax (if they drop their price when the Digital Rebel XT is out).

Of course it seems all the good old Pentax K mount lenses are manual only.

-Ed

 

[Snake]

Here's a more complete list of on-line reviewers I keep up with:

DCViews

Digital Camera HQ

Digital Camera Resource Page

Digital Photography Review

Megapixel.net

Steve's Digicams

 

[dffman2001]

Quote:

Originally Posted by null Anyway, I for one, shoot practically anything. I really think that new Rebel is the way to go for me. Lens systems I don't really care much about yet, because I won't have enough money to buy $800 canon lenses and instead, just stick to buying Sigma lenses.

Don't save on the lens. The lens is perhaps the most important part of the camera. You can get lots of old primes that give much better sharpness and microcontrast at much much faster speeds than the zooms. The classics are all made out of metal and have a really good solid feel and silky smooth focusing. Stay away from the ones with plastic mounts and cheap lightweight build. Take a look at some old lenses at the store and you'll know what real quality is. The kit lens with the canon is the perfect example of what to avoid.

 

[null]

Could you perhaps give me some examples of what I should be looking for? Thanks.

 

[dffman2001]

Well, if you are at a photostore, go to the used section and ask to look for a Carl Zeiss lens for the Contax/Yashica mount. Turn the focus, adjust the aperature. The focus should be silky smooth, as if there was a thin layer of oil underneath, and should not feel grainy or make any noise whatsoever. It should not be still nor loose. The aperature should click confidently at every stop, but should still be smooth. It should require little effort to turn and should make a "snick" into the indents rather and "twack". The lens mount at the back should be metal, as with the rest of the body. The lens will be surprisingly hefty, it should not rattle when shaken nor feel "loose". Other good lenses to look at would be Leica.

Sigma tends to have really poor optical quality in its consumer line. The Sigma EX series is much better but much more expensive. The best bang for the buck would be old classic pentax lenses if you are looking for lenses for the *ist. SMCP-M lenses and older are what you are looking for. Pentax has multicoating that is superior to Canon and Nikon(IMO), it is very resistant to flare. If you are looking for modern AF lenses, the Pentax limited series is reputedly excellent, abeit expensive. The focus indicator should function normally with any lens you put on the camera to make manual focusing easier for manual focus lenses.

Old lenses were built and designed for photographer and professionals. Many lenses today cater to the uninformed consumer. The quality is very spotty and optical standards very low. There are cases where quality varies drastically from box to box and you have to be lucky to get a good one. Remember that the quality of optics depends on very small distances, a millimeter off for a lens can turn an excellent lens into something absolutely worthless.

 

[dffman2001]

Since you are from around toronto, Vistek might be a good place to visit. There is one is calgary as well and it usually has a lot of gear that you can try.

www.vistek.ca

 

[null]

Hey, thanks for all the info! I found numerous Pentax SMCP lenses at my local Henry's, and I'm wondering what mount I would need if I wanted to use them on a *ist DS if I get one. Do I use a K45 mount, or there is this "SP-K Pentax" mount that accepts thread mount lenses on to bayonet Pentax bodies. Which one? Thanks again.

 

[Stornn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edwood I shoot mostly portraits and macro. I have not bought into a lens system yet. Decisions decisions....... -Ed

I wouldn't go for Pentax/Minolta/Olympus simply due to them having crappy lens lineups. For Portrait and Macro, Nikon is superior (unless you are doing 5:1 w/o extension tubes or bellows). For Nikon a 60mm micro will both be a fantastic portrait lens, and a macro lens, for about $350 US. If you need more working distance, try the 200 f/4 micro, or if you want less DoF for portraits, try the 85 f/1.8 or even the 85 f/1.4. Defocus control? 105 f/2 DC or 135 f/2 DC. Lots of options

 

[dffman2001]

Pentax has made lenses in 2 different types of mounts: the "pentax screw mount" also known as the "M42", "Zeiss Screw mount" and "universal screw mount" and the "K" mount, which is a bayonet.

Anything that says K mount, including the original "K", the newer "Ka" and newer yet "Kaf" mounts will fit with your camera.

It is possible to use screwmount lenses on the camera with an adaptor. I'm thinking the SP-K is the adaptor and the K45 mount is the regular K mount, but I have never heard of either names.

Note that lenses that have an "A" on the aperature ring will work with virtually every function on the camera. If you are looking for a good deal on some really fine lenses, lenses without the "A" can be used only in manual mode which does stop-down metering; which is much more accurate than traditional metering. However, you lose functions such as multi-matrix metering and it will take a longer and more effort to take a picture. However, newer lenses will allow you to use all functions. A bonus over the canon is that pentax lenses usually go used for much less than Canon lenses, which seems to be the vogue these days.

Since the kit lens is so cheap (partially substidised by the camera body) it would be worthwhile to pick up the kit lens and invest in a few old primes. The kit lens will do fine for snapshots and the primes would come in when you are feeling creative. (I'm assuming the camera isn't only used for vacation snapshots etc) The primes will give you better corner to corner sharpness, will be faster for low light, and have much more pleasant bokeh.

My advice would be to try it first, and make sure that there is a refund policy. There is little possibility you can get comfortable with the camera in a couple of minutes in the store, so if you could, buy the combination, try it to make sure you get the hang of it and before long it should be second nature. There is no substitute for experience in this situation.

 

[dffman2001]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stornn I wouldn't go for Pentax/Minolta/Olympus simply due to them having crappy lens lineups. For Portrait and Macro, Nikon is superior (unless you are doing 5:1 w/o extension tubes or bellows). For Nikon a 60mm micro will both be a fantastic portrait lens, and a macro lens, for about $350 US. If you need more working distance, try the 200 f/4 micro, or if you want less DoF for portraits, try the 85 f/1.8 or even the 85 f/1.4. Defocus control? 105 f/2 DC or 135 f/2 DC. Lots of options

I wouldn't be so general about lens manufacturers. Each one have their good and bad lenses. Even canon and nikon have their rattly silver painted plastic lenses that are sloooow and have unsharp corners. Lens making and designing is not magic; whoever puts in the money into designing and building a high quality lens can produce the best lens in the world.

Since each have their good and their bad; it would be wise to pick out the good ones which would be a much better deal since lots of people will avoid these three brands for exactly the same reason as yours.

Look at the Olympus OM series of cameras and lenses. There is a strong cult following because they are fantastic quality cameras and excellent lenses too often overlooked. Minolta does some great lenses but also some really poor consumer ones. Pentax is a little odd, but lots of its offerings are in the same league as the big boys. The SMC coating is particularly famous, second only to the T* coating on Zeiss lenses.

If you want the best quality in SLR lenses, you will have to look to Leica and Zeiss. You can find a Contax/yashica - Canon adapter on the internet that allows you to fit zeiss glass on canon bodies. Why are these lens makers better? Because they are priced much higher, and that money goes to designing and making the lens. In fact each lens is individually tested to ensure quality.

At the price of modern Nikon and Canon lenses, you can buy several fantastic lenses that will equal or surpass the quality of the modern lens.

 

[thefinder]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edwood I shoot mostly portraits and macro. I have not bought into a lens system yet. Decisions decisions....... -Ed

For portraits and macro shooting, Pentax might indeed be a good choice in regarding to lenses.

According to these MTF comparisons, Pentax seems to have the best 85mm f1.4 prime, which is usually considered the standard portrait lens. For 50mm-55mm macros, Pentax also beats other brands including Leica.

Of course, MTF is only one of many lens qualities/characteristics to consider.

Personally I'm more interested in Pentax's 3 limited edition lenses, especially 77/1.8. To me, these three seem to have very close signatures to German lenses on certain aspects such like "bokeh". This year I think I'll go for Pentax as the DSLR system in addition to my current Contax film SLR and RF systems. Pity that I just lost my patience with Contax itself for my digital move.