On Oct 13, 2006, at 8:26 AM, Inet Shopper wrote: >> Go for the FA35/2 AL or FA28/2.8 AL. Both are very good lenses and >> not too terribly expensive. They're not f/1.4, but the Pentax DSLRs >> are quite clean in rendering up to ISO 800 and even 1600 in a >> pinch ... much better than film. > > The thing is, when it's dark, AF might not work. I do not want to > focus > manually in the dark with a slow lens on the K100D's matte screen. > > My Canon A1's screen has both the split-image and microprism ring. > With the > 50/1.4 or 28/2, I have no issues at night. The K100D has a matte > screen, so I > would start at a disadvantage. A fast lens would be helpful.
Personally, and many differ with me, I find a matte screen easier to focus with particularly in low light. The FA35 is quite contrasty wide open ... f/2 is quite bright enough for good focusing in low light. Matter of fact, I usually turn off AF in low light as I find it quite a bit faster and more accurate to focus manually. Even the FA20-35/4 is contrasty and easy to focus manually. I haven't tested the FA28 in such circumstances but I expect it would be much the same. > Speaking of fast lenses, the original Sigma 28/1.8 is supposed to > be a good > performer, and quite compact (58mm filter, 284g). The updated > "Macro" version > is larger and heavier (77mm filter, 500g). Has anyone used the pre- > Macro Sigma > 28/1.8? "Macro" is not a big deal as I have some achromatic close- > up lenses > which work quite well. I don't buy Sigma lenses. I've never had any good experiences with them, and find their optical quality quite variable and usually unacceptable. I have no experience with the 28/1.8. >> For quality, I much prefer the DA16-45 or FA20-35 over the kit zoom. > > Got it. The FA20-35 is pricey and I don't need full-frame coverage. > How is the > DA16-45 with architecture? Will I need to fix barrel distortion in > post-processing? Is the 18-55 kit lens good enough in this respect, > too? The 18-55 has some W-shape distortions ... a good lens but not really at its best for architecture. The DA16-45 has a bit of simple barrel distortion, easy to correct. The 20-35 has less and has nicer rendering qualities. Rendering-wise, the DA16-45 is substantially nicer than the 18-55, and its constant f/4 is also a boon. >> Not familiar with the Sunpak 30DX flash unit. But if it's an external >> sensor auto-flash, it will work the same way it does on your A1. Not >> sure why it needs a custom module to work that way, but ... ??? > > When I set the flash for a particular distance, the custom Canon > module allows > the flash to change the camera aperture accordingly. This is > convenient. Interesting. Never seen that, don't know whether the same would apply to the Pentax. Godfrey -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
