Hi! I am one of the untold millions (!) of lurkers who read PDML via Mail Archive, who at last decided to step forward and say something.
I shoot with a Pentax *ist 35mm, and have been wanting to play around with super wide angle. I recently bought a FA J 18-35. The fact that it can zoom to 35 means that it can be a decent 'walking around' lens, while the 100 degree coverage at 18 means that I can photograph a whole room by standing in a corner. I love that! Larf! I know it is a much disparaged FA J, plastic mount and no aperture ring, blah blah blah, but the optical quality has been better than I expected. It is very compact and light, important considerations for me. I am sure you folks know about the lens, but what I thought was interesting is that the market for it seems to have collapsed. It was the first kit lens for the *ist D and still sells for $165 or more new. But new/minty/barely used versions are now selling on that auction site for $60-$100, which I think is a real bargain. If you have a newer film SLR compatible with a FA J lens, you may want to look at one of these. Now, about posting a photo: I did not want to come empty handed on my first official visit, but I must say that I am intimidated by all of you. I really love your photos! I might post more info/bio stuff later, but suffice to say for now that I am a mere snapper, I play at it, and every once in a while accidentally come up with a shot that at least makes it on the "awwww, cute!" level, with no pretense to anything loftier. With that in mind, here's a snap of a red-eyed tree frog sitting contentedly on my wife's wrist, taken last September in Tortugero, Costa Rica. At the time, I had the FA J 28-80 kit lens (recently replaced by a FA 28-105 3.2-4.5). <a href="http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=3334304";>http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=3334304</a> I look forward to any comments, either on the lens or my snap. *>UncaMikey P.S. It sure would be nice if PDML had the equivalent of listserv's "nomail" command -- is that a touchy subject around here? __________________________________ Yahoo! Mail Mobile Take Yahoo! Mail with you! Check email on your mobile phone. http://mobile.yahoo.com/learn/mail
