On Oct 9, 2006, at 8:39 PM, Inet Shopper wrote: > I shoot mostly landscapes and architecture, and prefer a wide-angle > lens. With > the compact I usually use the wide end (38mm) and with the Canon > A1, the lens > is usually 50/1.4 or 28/2. I also shoot at evening gatherings, and > like the low > light capability of both lenses.
-> equivalents are 35mm and 18mm. > To be clear, the Canon A1 uses FD lenses, and I'm not willing to > use adapters > to get limited functionality on a DSLR body. There are only a few adapters for Canon FD series lenses and none give full functionality. I seem to recall the Canon adapter had optics in them that effected a 1.2x multiplication of focal length and bit of a reduction in speed. > 1. Cost of 28/2 and 35/2: The A-series 28/2 and 35/2 actually seem > uncommon and > somewhat expensive, about US$150+/- on eBay. One A35/2 recently > sold for > US$375! I've also searched the German and Dutch eBay sites, plus > KEH. I'm > clearly not alone in wanting to use them on a Pentax DSLR. Are > there any other > useful sources? I live in Singapore, and the local used market is > mostly > Canon/Nikon. Go for the FA35/2 AL or FA28/2.8 AL. Both are very good lenses and not too terribly expensive. They're not f/1.4, but the Pentax DSLRs are quite clean in rendering up to ISO 800 and even 1600 in a pinch ... much better than film. > 2. K/M Lenses: If I was to use a K/M lens, but only used it wide > open in > aperture priority mode, do I get fully automatic operation i.e. no > need for the > 2-step meter-shoot kludge? If so, then as a "night lens" there's no > difference > between the A and K/M lenses, right? Yes. > 3. Focus Trap: Some posters mentioned that the shutter locks until > the camera > confirms focus. This is great for macrophotography, but can it be > turned off? > Sometimes, an out-of-focus picture beats no picture at all. I've > used a Nikon > D70 to cover an event before - when it couldn't focus, I had to > switch to > manual focus to get the shutter to trip. Switching to Manual Focus turns off the focus lockout. As does AF- Continuous mode. > 4. Other general-purpose lenses: Two alternatives to the > 18-55/3.5-5.6 kit lens > are the 17-28/2.8-4 lenses offered by Tamron and Sigma. ... I don't like using anything but Pentax lenses very much. For quality, I much prefer the DA16-45 or FA20-35 over the kit zoom. > 5. Flash compatibility: I understand the K100D uses a new type of > flash > control, P-TTL, and will not work with normal TTL flashes. I have > no idea what > P-TTL is. I use a Sunpak 30DX bounce/swivel automatic flash with a > Canon module > for my A1. I set the desired aperture on the flash, set the A1 to > shutter > priority at 1/60, and get satisfactory results. If I simply > purchase a Pentax > module (for the LX, ME, MG, MV, MV1), can I continue to shoot in > the same way > i.e. the flash sensor controls the cut-off? I'm not hung up on getting > TTL/P-TTL flash. Not familiar with the Sunpak 30DX flash unit. But if it's an external sensor auto-flash, it will work the same way it does on your A1. Not sure why it needs a custom module to work that way, but ... ??? > Finally, Pentax and Sony are currently the only way to get > antishake AND a f2 > or faster lens together, as the Canon and Nikon IS/VR lenses are > f2.8 at most, > not to mention heavy and expensive. But Canon and Nikon have the > clear edge in > availability of used lenses and accessories, so I'd also like to > hear from > members who use gear on the Canon and Nikon platforms. Please reply > off-list if > you feel it's not relevant to PDML. As a 30 year veteran user of Nikon SLR cameras and lenses, I know what you're saying. I prefer the Pentax lenses I've got now over what I used to have in Nikon system lenses. And even the Pentax DS body has been an excellent performer for me. Godfrey -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
