Re: Good-bye Pentax (2)

[Arnold Stark]

Hi Boz,

I am very unhappy that it were my K400/f5.6 and my M42/K500/f4.5 that 
made you turn away from Pentax. It is true that these wonderful all 
manual lenses need a lot of practice to get good results, however it is 
not only possible to get good results, you also would have gotten such 
results with just that: practice.

Still I agree that especially with long telephotos auto-focus is very 
very helpful. I much prefer the F*300/f4.5 over the A/M*300/f4 for this 
reason (and for its better minimum focusing distance). However, it is 
not fair to compare an all automatic Canon EF400/f5.6 with an all manual 
K400/5.6. The answers that you get depend on the questions that you ask. 
I guess the FA*400/f5.6 would be a similar joy to use as is the 
EF400/f5.6, and the results would be more or less indistinguishable.

OK, so now the FA*400/f5.6 is too expensive new (1600 Euros), and it is 
very hard to find used. I guess Pentax need not care much for customers 
that rarely buy their gear new, however, you could have gotten a used 
Sigma AF 400/f5.6 or a Tokina AF400/f5.6 in k-mount for about one third 
of what you paid for the used Canon, and you could have gotten a NEW 
Sigma 5,6/400 APO MACRO for less than what you paid for the used Canon 
EF400/f5.6, and I think the quality of this particular Sigma lens is 
quite good, too. You would still have switched away from Pentax but you 
would have stayed with the k-mount, and you would have been able to put 
that lens on your LX as well as on your Super A as well as on your 
MZ5-N. After all, two SLR systems (one AF and one manual focus) togehter 
are very hard to carry at one time.

About the Pentax future I am much more optimistic than you are, and 
lately Pentax has given us reason for such optimism. Of course Pentax 
will never be good as Canon in being like Canon, and if you are 
fascinated by Canon's very own strengths then go for them. However, 
Canon will never be as good as Pentax in being like Pentax, either. See 
my email of yesterday for why I stick with Pentax......

Arnold