Pentax lens question

[oxfordcircus]

Well, I leapt before I looked when I bought my K110 body. I'm regretting not getting the kit lens. Are these readily available? What should I expect to pay?

 

[jcran]

Pentax lenses are harder to find than Canon and Nikon, but you can usually search hard and find them.

Pentax is a good camera, I have the istDL, but I am upgrading to a professional Nikon camera and Pentax doesnt make a camera with the capabilities of the Nikon or Canon.

I am looking to sell my lenses and camera, if you are interested.

I have serveral lenses.
1. 50mm manual with 1.4 F-stop
2. 70 - 200mm manual with a 4 F-Stop
3. 80 - 300 automatic with a 4.5 F-Stop
4. 18 - 55mm automatic with 3.5 F-Stop (lense that comes with the kit)
5. Sigma 8mm Automatic 180 Degree Fisheye
6. 600 - 1000mm Manual Zoom Lense
7. 2x Tele-converter

 

[ndelaware]

Amazon has it for $90 plus shipping.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00061J2BQ/pricegrabbercpc60-20/ref=nosim

 

[Jeanne B]

Are you planning on buying another lens in addition to the kit lens to give you more range? If not, think about whether or not you'll be happy with just the 18-55 range before you buy it. I bought it with my K100 because at the time it was only a $17 difference and a few weeks later I bought the 50-200 to give me a nice range between the two. I just got back from vacation and I found having to change lenses was a bit of pain and wished I had the Sigma 18-125 which is a lens I've been considering right along. The kit lens is a nice lens but I've been thinking about replacing it with the 18-125 and keeping my 50-200 for those times when I need reach beyond 125mm. That way I always have a good walkaround lens and I would be changing lenses less often. There's been numerous times since I bought my camera that I've had the wrong lens on at the wrong time and even though it's a quick process to switch lenses there are shots being missed while I'm doing it, especially when I'm traveling. It helps to put some thought into what setup would most likely fit you best before buying lenses otherwise you could find yourself spending more money than originally planned.

 

[Golf4food]

Are you planning on buying another lens in addition to the kit lens to give you more range? If not, think about whether or not you'll be happy with just the 18-55 range before you buy it. I bought it with my K100 because at the time it was only a $17 difference and a few weeks later I bought the 50-200 to give me a nice range between the two. I just got back from vacation and I found having to change lenses was a bit of pain and wished I had the Sigma 18-125 which is a lens I've been considering right along. The kit lens is a nice lens but I've been thinking about replacing it with the 18-125 and keeping my 50-200 for those times when I need reach beyond 125mm. That way I always have a good walkaround lens and I would be changing lenses less often. There's been numerous times since I bought my camera that I've had the wrong lens on at the wrong time and even though it's a quick process to switch lenses there are shots being missed while I'm doing it, especially when I'm traveling. It helps to put some thought into what setup would most likely fit you best before buying lenses otherwise you could find yourself spending more money than originally planned.

We have the Pentax istDL and the Sigma 18-125mm lense and love that lense for an all-occassions walk around lense. I'm looking into getting a 300mm for places like the zoo, but for every day stuff, the 18-125mm is perfect. Wide enough for most everything, enough zoom to get closeups of things that aren't too far away. All around good range.

 

[Groucho]

Pentax is a good camera, I have the istDL, but I am upgrading to a professional Nikon camera and Pentax doesnt make a camera with the capabilities of the Nikon or Canon.

Have you looked at the K10D? It is fully competitive with the C/Ns that cost a good bit more.

What are the specs on your teleconverter BTW?

oxfordcircus: I would check eBay. Make sure to look at completed auctions to see what the usual going price is.

 

[Anewman]

Have you looked at the K10D? It is fully competitive with the C/Ns that cost a good bit more.

Does it shoot 5 fps??

 

[Groucho]

~3 fps. Surely you're not claiming that an extra 2fps is enough to mean that a camera isn't comparable? If so, it can go the other way, with the K10D's 22-bit resolving power, dust and water sealing, DNG support, and a wide range of primes available meaning that it can't be compared.

C'mon, I don't want to get into a silly debate over this. Someone considering the D80 would be wise to also look at the competition, including the K10D, just as a K10D buyer should look at the offers from the others. Once you get into that much money, you have to at least look at the Fuji, the Panasonic, and the Sigma as well.

 

[oxfordcircus]

I'm going to consider getting some of the lenses mentioned above, but I have a more immediate follow-up question: I have an auto focus lens from my Pentax film SLR. The lens works fine on the dSLR, but I don't seem to be able to get the auto focus to work. Of course, I can focus manually, but if I can figure out how to make the auto focus work, I would like to. Do any of you Pentax zealots know if/how this can be done? The lens I'm trying to use is an SMC Pentax-A 1:4-5.6 35-80 mm. Again, I'm trying to use it on the K110 body.

 

[Anewman]

~3 fps. Surely you're not claiming that an extra 2fps is enough to mean that a camera isn't comparable? If so, it can go the other way, with the K10D's 22-bit resolving power, dust and water sealing, DNG support, and a wide range of primes available meaning that it can't be compared.

C'mon, I don't want to get into a silly debate over this. Someone considering the D80 would be wise to also look at the competition, including the K10D, just as a K10D buyer should look at the offers from the others. Once you get into that much money, you have to at least look at the Fuji, the Panasonic, and the Sigma as well.

I asked if it was capable of 5 FPS, I guess you took that as a put down(tis not). But since you asked, NO it can not compete(in the speed catagory) with cameras that have 65% faster burst rate.

jcran stated that Pentax does not make cameras with the same "capabilities" as Nikon or Canon, And no Pentax does not make one capable of 5fps. He stated he is going to a PRO NIKON, you suggested that the K10D is competitive with models costing "a good bit more". I gave one example(of many) where it could not, no silly debate(about value or anything else).

The D80 is hardly Nikons PRO model, it is actually the same price as the k10d and not "a good bit more". I assumed you were talking about higher end models, IMO it does compare with the D80 in most areas.

Pentax is a good camera, I have the istDL, but I am upgrading to a professional Nikon camera and Pentax doesnt make a camera with the capabilities of the Nikon or Canon.

 

[Groucho]

I'm going to consider getting some of the lenses mentioned above, but I have a more immediate follow-up question: I have an auto focus lens from my Pentax film SLR. The lens works fine on the dSLR, but I don't seem to be able to get the auto focus to work. Of course, I can focus manually, but if I can figure out how to make the auto focus work, I would like to. Do any of you Pentax zealots know if/how this can be done? The lens I'm trying to use is an SMC Pentax-A 1:4-5.6 35-80 mm. Again, I'm trying to use it on the K110 body.

As long as the your DSLR is set to autofocus (via the switch in the front), it should autofocus your existing lens just fine. If it's not working, you may want to check the contacts on the back of the lens to see if they're dirty?

Anewman: Last time I checked, there's no such thing as a "pro camera" versus an "amateur camera" - and without a specific model listed, there's no way to tell what level he's looking at. Factually speaking, the instant you make any money from a photograph, the camera you used technically is a professional camera, as that is the only difference between professional vs amateur. As for "capabilities", again, without any specifics, there's no way to know what is being referred to. The K10D is a brand new model and is much higher-end than the earlier Pentax DSLRs so it's possible that he's not aware of it, and if he already has an investment in Pentax lenses, then it's something that he may want to consider.

Anyway, that's neither here nor there. Yes, I did take your message as a swipe at Pentax, as I'm pretty sure that you knew the answer before posting the question. I would think it would be like someone posting "Does it have depth of field preview?" every time someone recommended a D50 as a competitor to an XT or an XTi. That is just as important a feature to some photographers.

 

[Anewman]

Anewman: Last time I checked, there's no such thing as a "pro camera" versus an "amateur camera" - and without a specific model listed, there's no way to tell what level he's looking at. Factually speaking, the instant you make any money from a photograph, the camera you used technically is a professional camera, as that is the only difference between professional vs amateur. As for "capabilities", again, without any specifics, there's no way to know what is being referred to. The K10D is a brand new model and is much higher-end than the earlier Pentax DSLRs so it's possible that he's not aware of it, and if he already has an investment in Pentax lenses, then it's something that he may want to consider.

Anyway, that's neither here nor there. Yes, I did take your message as a swipe at Pentax, as I'm pretty sure that you knew the answer before posting the question. I would think it would be like someone posting "Does it have depth of field preview?" every time someone recommended a D50 as a competitor to an XT or an XTi. That is just as important a feature to some photographers.

I agree with you 100%, without specifics it is hard to know. That is why I mentioned one specific example, and I feel it is a valid one. But I am sure you can tell which models from Canon and Nikon are aimed at consumers, and which are aimed at pros.

The words "FULLY competitive", "comparable", and "good bit more", are also hard to define without specifics.

It is a great camera but when you post that it "FULLY competes" with PRO MODELS or cameras that cost "a bit more", it is not a swipe when somebody points out examples where it does not FULLY compete.

 

[jcran]

Hey guys, can't we all get along?

I am going to the Nikon D200, not the D80. I am a Pentax fan and I wish Pentax would make a camera to compete with the D200, but it doesnt.

If I were to choose between the D80 and K10, I would look hard to favor the Pentax, but I am going up a step and diving into a camera with D200 quality.

 

[ukcatfan]

You might want to re-think selling all your Pentax gear for a while in case you want to switch back in a year or so. The K10D is not likely to be the end of the line.

Kevin

 

[Groucho]

True, Pentax is working on releasing the medium-format 645 DSLR, shown recently at Photokina, with an initial configuration of 18 megapixels. (Using medium-format lenses, of course.) No word on release date but they've been very successful business-wise with their DSLR line recently and in less than a year, have gone from an also-ran to being extremely competitive in the lower two tiers (the ~$600 and the ~$1,000 level) and not just on a price level... I would suspect that they're hoping to continue their resurgence and will go after higher tiers before too long. Time will tell.

Granted, that doesn't change things today, but the marketplace may look different a year or two years from now than it does now.

(I'm not suggesting that they'll ever move the sheer # of cameras of the competition, their focus on camera stores rather than selling in every Office Max, Wal-Mart, and Best Buy will keep that from happening.)