Welcome to the List, Pedro. The MX is a nice little camera, but it is running out of parts in Europe. Some of the parts are still obtainable, others are not.
Re: macro lenses; there are 50mm, 100mm and 200mm macro lenses. If you are on a low budget, forget about the 200mm, they are expensive. In my opinion, a 100mm is a good option. Better working distance than the 50mm, and could double as a portrait lens too. There is an SMC-M 100mm f/4 which is quite nice for a budget option. Re: wide-angles; The SMC-M 28mm f/2.8 is an easily obtainable lens. Over the last two weeks I think 15-20 of them have passed through eBay, often at a very pleasant price (for the buyer). Watch out for sticky aperture blades on this model. If it has been stored at high temperatures, the grease in the focusing mechanism tend to creep onto the aperture blades. In the M series there is also a 24-35 zoom that some people on this list are very fond of. Another zoom with high verdict is the FA 20-35 f/4, which is actually a pretty modern lens. Could be a bit pricey for your budget, though... In general, though, all the lenses you can buy for your MX will fit today's digital wondercameras too, so your investment in good lenses will not be wasted if you wish to go digital later. The lenses you can't use with MX are labelled FAJ or DA. Those lens series do not have an aperture ring. They require a modern camera that can control aperture electronically. hope this helps, Jostein ----- Original Message ----- From: "Pedro" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <PDML@pdml.net> Sent: Thursday, June 29, 2006 11:15 PM Subject: bought an MX - need some advice > Hi, > > I'm glad to have stumbled across such an active mailing list... I've > always had a big interest in photography - though I never went > further > than taking snapshots with point and shoot cameras. So, when I > recently > was offered an old Pentax MX for next to nothing, I bought the thing > on > an impulse. Now, I never owned an SRL before, let alone an all > manual > camera, and I'm really enjoying learning to use it. I do, however, > have > a few questions and concerns with which I hope you can help me. > > With digital photography taking over the market, is the MX a > complete > dead end? If anything goes wrong, will it still possible to get > service > and replacement parts in Europe? If I buy extra lenses, will they > have > any market value in the near future? I'm not complaining for the > time > being, since I bought the thing really cheap from a friend, but I'm > a > bit reluctant to put any more money on it if will be of no use in an > year or two. > > Anyway, I am mostly interested in trying street photography and > macro. > Currently I have a basic 50mm lens (f1.7), which is not especially > suited for neither... > > As for macro, I must say I'm somewhat confused. I want to take close > up > pictures of bugs and flowers and that sort of stuff, and I know I > need a > macro lens to be able to focus real close, but what kind of focal > distance do I need? I really have a difficult time picturing the > field > of view at such close distances. > > Regardless of the macro issue, I'll need a wide angle for street > photos. > 28mm, 35mm, wide angle zoom... I'm leaning towards a 28 prime, but > feel > free to convince me otherwise. Budget is limited, so I'll buy second > hand. Can you recommend me any particular model featuring a good > price/quality relation, and not too hard to find? > > Thank you for your time, > pedro > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > PDML@pdml.net > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
