Mike would you consider this combo: FA 24/2 FA 50/1.4 (no substitute for speed) and an 1.7 AF teleconvertor for portraits.
Evan Mike Johnston kindly wrote: > One possibility for the upcoming show is that there may be a new FILM body > from Pentax. Pal keeps hoping for an "AF LX," and it's also possible that > there may be a new "budget/serious" camera one tier below the MZ-S (which I > can't afford). > > So I've been trying to think about FA lens outfits recently. I don't > currently own any FA lenses, but there are a number I'm attracted to. > > What I do is general snapshooting in black-and-white. I'm a great fan of > 35mm normal lenses, but also of the 50/1.4 Pentax lens. Generally, what I > need is an all-purpose lens, and also a portrait lens. But a 50mm is too > long to be my widest lens. Here's what I've shot with over the past few > years: > > --Just a 50mm. > > --a 35mm and an 85mm. > > --a 50mm, an 85mm for portraits, and a wider lens--since the wider lens is > mostly for indoors, it needs to be pretty fast. > > Personally, since my long(er)-lens use is _exclusively_ for portraits, I'm > leaning towards the 85mm f/1.4. The 77mm also has a great reputation and has > a better form-factor. So one obvious kit would be the 85/1.4 and the 35/2. A > kit comprising the 35/2 and the 77mm would also be very nice. > > But that leaves me without my stone favorite 50/1.4. If I were to add that, > I'd want to use it as my "most of the time normal lens." At that point, the > 35/2 becomes rather superfluous, and I'd rather move a bit further away on > the wide and tele ends...which would mean a three-lens kit with the 24/2 or > 31mm, 50/1.4, and 77 or 85mm. Since 77mm is rather closer to 50mm than to > 35mm, this thought pushes me more towards the 85mm again. > > The trouble with this is that, in the real world, I don't have very much > cash. So to think of buying both the very expensive 31mm and the very > expensive 85mm is rather daunting...especially when the inexpensive 50mm > would be my "most of the time" lens. > > I'd like to begin investing in a kit of FA lenses, but I'm unsure of which > way to go. I could do any of the following... > > --50/1.4 only (not really a very flexible option). > --35/2 and 85/1.4. > --35/2 and 77mm. > --31mm, 50/1.4, and 85mm. > --24/2, 50/1.4, and 85mm. > > --something else--? > > My little brother Scott has insisted for years that I am very good at giving > advice to others, but not very good at choosing things for myself. His > reasoning is that I remain objective and clear-headed when I give advice to > others, but when I'm shopping for myself, I succumb to emotion and > fetishizing and hair-splittng, and make dumb decisions. > > What would you recommend? Keep in mind I want an _optimum_ 2- or 3-lens FA > kit for my uses, not something that will just "get me by." > > --Mike > > P.S. This is not a troll. I'm serious. <s> > >
