> Unfortunately, the focusing ring turns "the wrong way" from > Pentax. Owning as I do several Vivitars and several Pentaxes, I've > come to understand why some list members have decided not to buy > such lenses; it does get confusing.
This indeed can be an annoyance, Paul, but it's not fatal - <g>. While I dearly love some of the really special lenses that Vivitar has put out in times past, the "focusing backwards" characteristic of all Vivitar lenses (at least, every Vivitar lens that I have ever used) is a drawback. Tokina lenses, on the other hand, focus the correct Pentax way. (Of course, "correct Pentax" is a somewhat redundant expression...) However, "focusing backwards" is only sometimes significant. For me, for a lot of wildlife shooting, where focusing is done almost entirely close to infinity, and for scenic and macro shooting, where there is plenty of time to focus anyway, "going the wrong way" once in a while just doesn't matter. Where "focusing backwards" becomes more of a problem for me is in situations where I have to quickly focus at a variety of distances from foreground to infinity - that's when an occasional second here or there spent focusing the wrong way can start to get in the way. Nowadays, however, going from a Pentax (or Tokina) lens to a Vivitar lens, I can usually manage to get myself "turned around" mentally, so that mistakes are now fairly infrequent. Still, I do wish that those beautiful VS1 lenses focused in the right direction... And then, just when I think I've got my brain attuned to the "right" or "wrong" focusing direction, I can pick up the follow-focus Novoflex rig, and get to remember to ~pull~ for infinity focus and to ~not pull~ for closer focus... Thank goodness that I don't use AF - I'd be having no fun at all - <g>. Fred - 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 .
