Re: 50mm/1.2 Variations

[James Kiker]

Doug wrote:

 So keep this in mind, you young photographers out 
 there: unless you have five versions of every lens and 
 can recite MTF data for every one of them, you suck as 
 a photographer and should explore other hobbies. 

 And don't even =think= photography is about photographs.
 
To me it's not so black-and-white as this.  On one hand I agree with Doug
that the final image one produces should be the determining factor as to
whether or not your equipment is satisfactory, but on the other hand, I too
am a gear head, and can't help but be interested in and noticing the subtle
differences produced by variations of similar lenses.  I love owning finest
fastest lenses available; however, being recently converted from Olympus,
most of what I consider to be my best images were produced on slower
single-coated older prime zuiko lenses, such as the 35mm f/2.8.  Although I
owned faster, newer, more expensive glass, I almost always made my best
shots with this or similar lenses.  Surely there is middle ground, or some
gray area in this issue.  Can't I enjoy the equipment, and also separate
myself from a direct correlation of knowledge and ownership of equipment and
good photography?  Almost all my best medium format images have been made
with a finicky unimproved Kiev 60, but I'm dying to own the Rollei 6008i.
Would it improve my images?  Maybe.  Do I need it to get the job I'm doing
(fine family portraiture) done?  Definitely not.  My non-photographic family
are stunned with the quality of my shots, since they're used to
point-and-shoot snapshots, or unimaginative department store portraits.
Switching to the Rollei system would tickle my gearhead inner self, but
would most likely have little effect on the final product as relates to my
market.  This is different from person to person.  One side or the other
isn't the right answer.  It's an individual choice based on wants and needs.
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Intro and Question

[James Kiker]

I'm new to this list as of this week and have a question for the members.  I
just decided to convert to Pentax after using Olympus for the last 12 years.
This decision was brought about by the fact that Olympus is no longer
catering to the advanced amateur/professional SLR users, and is heading
toward point and shoot/digital almost exclusively (nothing against them,
just not what I use).  I considered Canon/Nikon, but didn't like their
prices, plus my dad gave me his old K1000 and a couple of lenses (50mm f2.0,
135mm f3.5), so I had a start.  Also, my new ZX-M should arrive today.  

My question is, what is the opinion of the FA 50mm f1.4?  I was thinking of
getting this lens new, and was wondering how friendly it is for manual
focus.  I'd thought about getting an older manual 50mm, but I'd like the
auto-focus because I'm planning to get an AF body sometime in the future.
Also, should I save some money by opting for the 50mm f1.7 instead?  Another
question:  can I use a flash off-camera with the ZX-M?  Does it have a pc
sync socket?

Also, a comment to get me started off:  I am not surprised that there is a
big thread running about guns, that happened all the time on the Olympus
list I formerly subscribed to.  It's obvious there are firm convictions
about the matter on both sides.  What bothers me was comments like this:

 It baffles me why a light hearted thread about the 
 Croc Hunter and his endorsement of the Pentax brand came to be used as a 
 soapbox by gun enthusiasts, who believe that our (Australia's) 
 government oppresses us by prohibiting the unjustified ownership of 
 killing implements. 

Definition of a biggot: someone winning an argument with a liberal.  (That's
a joke designed to point out that both sides of the argument are using the
list for a soapbox, not just gun enthusiasts.)  I'd love to see less of this
and more talk about Pentax and Photography, since it's obvious that I'm not
going to convince you that gun ownership is right, and you'll never convince
me otherwise.  It turns into a petty shouting match almost every time, with
both sides irrevocably convinced of their view.  Now I'll get off my
soapbox.

James (new Pentax convert) 
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