One of the reasons that Pentax originally appealed to me when I was shopping for my first DSLR (which turned out to be the K200D... now shooting with a K-x) was the combination of their in-camera Image Stabilization and the fact that legacy K-mount and m42 lenses could be used on them. I knew that it would be a long time (if ever) that I could afford to pay new prices for Pentax AF lenses, but that I could have a lot of fun with new-to-me legacy glass.
This past week, I offered to sell an AF lens for a former colleague (an AF afficianado) who shoots a K-5. He gave me two manual focus lenses as a "thank you" (not necessary, but sure nice of him). One was an Optomax 400mm f6.3 m42 lens that came with a genuine Pentax m42-K adapter. Research tends to make me believe that this is a Tamron-made lens from the 70s, which was sold under a wide variety of labels. After seeing this image on Flickr, my hopes for this lens have jumped: http://www.flickr.com/photos/spiralcity/3978624098/in/photostream/lightbox/ The other was a lens which I had previously been completely unaware of... a Spiratone 70-200mm lens. When he told me about it, I pictured an early zoom similar to the ubiquitous Vivitar 85-205mm f3.8, which at least one person calls "the worst Vivitar lens I own". However, what came out of the case was a surprise to my eyes... a constant f3.5 for the entire zoom range, 72mm filter sized, nearly 3lb., 2/3-lifesize-macro MONSTER of a lens. Research indicates that it was made by Tokina (Asunama) and sold for $450 in 1978. Thankfully, it has a tripod socket and initial (indoor) shots with it are impressive. Here is what it looks like (a Bushnell labelled version): http://www.pbase.com/gummiebear/bushnell_70220mm_f35 People seem to agree that it is a "good image quality" lens and was developed to compete with the Vivitar Series 1 lenses that came out around that same time. Since it seems that few people know anything about this lens, it has little retail value so I will have fun with it when I need to work out my arms. Hopefully will be posting some PESOs with one (or both) in the future... So many lenses, so little time. :) Darren Addy Kearney, Nebraska -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
