>From Tom Rittenhouse: > You are aware that at f16you could have set the camera for 7 feet > and everything from about 5' to 12' would have been acceptably in > focus at 50mm? Set for 10 feet everything from about 7' to about > 25' would have been ok. Set to 28mm and 10' there is problably > nothing indoors that would need refocusing. Close up at 70mm > you would need to focus, but then how many grab shots did you > make at 70mm?
Yep, that's what I meant about f/16 and a flash. I managed to get several fine snapshots that way with a 50mm f/2 prime lens. But if for any reason I don't want to use a small aperture and flash it really slows me down to have to focus at all critically on moving subjects (children). So the idea of auto-focus and a zoom lens has some appeal. >From Ed: > OK, here's my 2 cents. Please don't take this as judgment or > criticism, it's based on my personal experience only, and your > mileage may vary. I've found that when you buy any SLR and > some lens combination and treat it like a point-n-shoot - you > inevitably get point-n-shoot results. In other words, when used > that way, even an F5 or a EOS-1N or an MZ-S is perfectly > capable of results indistinguishable from a IQ-Zoom. So, I > would ask, might you actually be better off with a nice P&S for this > application? You know, this is kind of stupid-sounding, but Ed's comment made me realize that I already have a decent point-and-shoot camera (actually belongs to my wife). It hasn't been touched since I got my ZX-M three years ago. Totally slipped my mind but I used to take fine snapshots with it. So last night I went and pulled it off the shelf and it seems to still work fine. I think I'll start taking it with me (fits in a coat pocket) for whenever the more elaborate picture-taking ritual isn't appropriate. It's a Minolta with a 35mm f/3.5 and 50mm f/5.6 two-position zoom lens and a surprisingly powerful flash (and yes, it will often red-eye). Thanks, Ed, that was at least a nickel's worth! P.S. Upon further perusing of the Pentax literature, if I ever decide I "need" an auto-focus SLR maybe I should hold out for a ZX-5n with nice spot metering built in. In a couple years I'll probably be able to find them used for 200 bucks or so... - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
