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

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