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Photo Forum / Digital Photography / DSLR Cameras / August 2006Moving to Digital -- Pentax??
I would like to move toward digital for a number of reasons, mostly the ability to take lots of shots and losing the baddies without "wasting" film. But, I've got a ton of old Pentax glass, mostly old screwmount Takumars, but also some more recent AF zooms for my ZX-5N. So I went out today to look at am IST DS (or maybe a DL??) at the local camera shop just to see and feel the camera. I liked the feel, and might adapt to all the controls, but the whole lens thing has me stumped. I believe (but the salesman was not sure) that I can use all my old glass (screwmount with my adapter). But am not sure if a) there will be any metering at all, or b) whether I could use an aperture priority setting and set the aperture manually while the camera sets the exposure. Can y'all explain what would happen? I'm also put off by the focal length conversion. My 28-105 and 28-300 would become almost a normal to tele lens with no wide angle at all. But the kit lens (18-55 I think) looks like junk and is not much in the tele department either. So then I'm back to carrying several lenses which can be a royal pain under some circs. How do y'all handle this? I'm guessing the answer is to buy a body and then find a more versatile lens? thanks nick >I would like to move toward digital for a number of >reasons, mostly the ability to take lots of shots [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] >manually while the camera sets the exposure. Can y'all >explain what would happen? Simple enough. Your AF lenses will work just fine - no problems - in P, Tv, Av & M modes, with full aperture metering. Your screw-mount lenses will work with an adapter just as they did on your ZX-5n - you will be limited to Av & M modes, and (because the lens will stop down immediately when you turn the aperture ring) metering will be done in stop-down metering mode. The camera wil happily select an appropriate exposure in Av mode. If you have any other manual focus K-mount lenses, the big question is whether the lens has an "A" setting on the aperture ring. If it does, everything will be fine (although, of course, you'll have to focus manually). Older lenses will have to be used in metered manual mode (not in Av mode) where you set the aperture by hand, and you have to tell the camera to set an exposure (which you do by pushing the AE-L button, whereupon the camera stops down the lens, takes a meter reading, selects an appropriate shutter speed, and opens the iris up again). >I'm also put off by the focal length conversion. My 28-105 >and 28-300 would become almost a normal to tele lens with [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >under some circs. How do y'all handle this? I'm guessing the >answer is to buy a body and then find a more versatile lens? The 18-55 lens is by no means junk. There are several other lenses you might consider (14, 16-45, 12-24, 10-17 fisheye) at various price points, with a new f2.8 zoom due shortly. Personally I find a 28-105 a wonderful everyday lens on a small-sensor camera, but no two users are alike. And again, personally, I'd rather carry a bagfull of lenses than rely on a 10x superzoom to cover all eventualities. If I want to go light I'll take the 28-105, an 80-320, and a 50mm. >I would like to move toward digital for a number of > reasons, mostly the ability to take lots of shots [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > manually while the camera sets the exposure. Can y'all > explain what would happen? buy a kit lens withh your pentax and you will have your wide angle back. Get at least 18mm or shorter. Your af lenses will fit fine. If the adapter works at all i doubt very much if you have any functionality. you may also lose metering. I would consider finding out the resale value of your screw mount stuff first rather than limit your choice of cameras. Besides if you want dslr and you want pentax then get it. You might want to find out what samsung are up to i beleive they are using the pentax mount too. >>I would like to move toward digital for a number of >> reasons, mostly the ability to take lots of shots [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > to find out what samsung are up to i beleive they are using the pentax > mount too. The S mount lenses will meter, if it can mount it will meter but seriously why would you bother. > I would like to move toward digital for a number of reasons, mostly the > ability to take lots of shots and losing the baddies without "wasting" [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > and set the aperture manually while the camera sets the exposure. Can > y'all explain what would happen? A screwmount adaptor means you'll use stop-down metering with the screwmount glass. If those lenses don't have a 'manual' setting on them (to bypass the little button on the mount), then the aperture won't ever close. I'm pretty sure you're safe with Takumars. As far as AF lenses go, they'll work just fine if they have an 'A' setting on the aperture ring, or no aperture ring. > I'm also put off by the focal length conversion. My 28-105 and 28-300 > would become almost a normal to tele lens with no wide angle at all. But > the kit lens (18-55 I think) looks like junk and is not much in the tele > department either. So then I'm back to carrying several lenses which can > be a royal pain under some circs. How do y'all handle this? I'm guessing > the answer is to buy a body and then find a more versatile lens? The 16-45 that Pentax makes is a good alternative to the 18-55. The 18-55 has some vignetting at the wide end and isn't as sharp as it could be (at least the one I ended up with). But yeah, basically you end up with a number of lenses. If you wanted only one lens to handle everything, then you don't want a DSLR; the assumed tradeoff is bewteen the convenience of one lens for everything and the presumed quality of a more specialized lens. Personally, I'm saving my nickles and dimes for the DA 20mm Limited, or maybe the 12-24. <http://www.pentaxslr.com/lenses> > I'm also put off by the focal length conversion. My 28-105 > and 28-300 would become almost a normal to tele lens with > no wide angle at all. But the kit lens (18-55 I think) looks > like junk and is not much in the tele department either. It's not as junky as you might think - certainly better than most kit lenses. Almost certainly higher quality overall than your 28-300, although no match for the 28-105. The kit lens is a nice cheap way to get decent wide angle coverage, and this plus a telephoto zoom and a prime or two from your current collection should work fine. But if you want better wide angle options, there is the very well-regarded 16-45, and some other more specialized wide angle options too. > So then > I'm back to carrying several lenses which can be a royal pain > under some circs. True enough. Going form a film SLR to a digital SLR isn't normally something one would do in order to reduce the number of lenses one would have to carry. On the other hand, Sigma and Tamron both make "digital only" 18-200 zooms for about $400 that are probably at least as good as your 28-300. So as I see it, your options are: body + 18-200 for a decent single lens solution kit + your 28-300, optionally plus a couple of primes, for an inexpensive but flexible solution body + 16-45 + your existing 28-105 + a new telephoto zoom like the 50-200, plus a couple of primes, for the best quality solution (you could of course skip the 28-105 or the more telephoto zoom if you like) --------------- Marc Sabatella marc@outsideshore.com Music, art, & educational materials Featuring "A Jazz Improvisation Primer" http://www.outsideshore.com/ > So as I see it, your options are: > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > could of course skip the 28-105 or the more telephoto zoom if you > like) Of course, there are plenty of other possibilities, too, and one I should have mentioned is the system I use, which is something of a comprosimise between the "inexpensive but flexible" and "high quality" solutions: kit + decent telephoto zoom (like DA50-200) + a couple of primes The DA50-200 is considered much better than the 28-300 you have, is pretty cheap, and it makes a good companion to the kit lens. No matter which Pentax body you end up with - DS/DS2, DL/DL2, K100D, or K110D - the kit plus the DA50-200 is still going to be well under $1000, and you've already got the primes. Stepping up to the 16-45 over the kit, or using the 18-200 instead of kit + 50-200 telephoto zoom, adds a couple hundred more. --------------- Marc Sabatella marc@outsideshore.com Music, art, & educational materials Featuring "A Jazz Improvisation Primer" http://www.outsideshore.com/ |
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