I used to have the M and A versions, and they were both excellent lenses.
There is not really a lot of difference among any of the 50 1.4s. They are
all great lenses, and I don't think you can go wrong with any of them. The
M is that it is the most common and least expensive. The K was only
Today at a camera fair I passed up what might have been a good deal on a
SuperTakumar 35mm f/3.5 lens. I'm hoping to find the multi-coated version
instead. Does anybody have experience in using both kinds? Is there a
noticeable difference, e.g., in contrast, under ordinary shooting
conditio
If anybody needs one of these, I just posted it on eBay:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3860580641
It is a very nice lens, and one of the best optically. However, I recently
acquired an 80-320mm, which is not quite as good optically, but I mostly use
this focal length range
Collin, I have an article on MX shutter lever adjustments at:
http://ca.geocities.com/spirope/mxmlu.htm
Tiny alterations in the angle at which the actuating rod is set can greatly
alter the behaviour of the camera. You can get mirror lockup by having the
mirror lock-up by pressing slowly and gen
Thanks for the suggestions. I think Colin's hypothesis that it must have
been bumped was correct, even though there was no physical damage on the
outside. I used a screwdriver to wedge the plastic helicoid apart from the
aluminum one. The threads had been knocked out of place, which I guess i
I was rummaging in my local camera store, and found a Pentax A 50mm f/2 at a
bargain price. The "only" thing wrong with it was that the focussing ring
wouldn't turn. I thought it should be an interesting challenge to try to
fix it. (From previous experience with A and F lenses, I knew I shou
This was a very nice set with a black K2 and six lenses, including an 85mm
f/1.8.
http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3856266592
I was the high bidder until one minute before the end of the auction. The
winner was a dealer, so watch for the individual items to re-appear on eBay.
Jeremy,
I have some of the same concerns that you have. For the time being, Pentax
is offering one DSLR model which I consider seriously overpriced. Here in
Toronto, the *istD is $2200 (that includes the 18-35mm FAJ lens, but most
people say it's not worth much). The Canon 20D body can be pr
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=15240&item=3815944080
It was one of my favorite lenses, but the MZ-5n I used it with has died, and
I won't be replacing it.
Also, a Pentax mount AF Phoenix 19-35mm:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3816120838
___
I was at Henry's outlet store on Queen (just west of the main store) this
morning. They have a bunch of Pentax equipment on sale, including a demo
MZ-S for CDN$700. They had only one of those, but several brand new MZ-7
bodies for $140. I'm not very much into film nowadays, so I didn't want t
A blanket prohibition on digital pictures seems ignorant -- they should
judge based on the quality of the individual pictures.
A 6mp digital camera may not be able to do good enough pictuere for a 9x18
inch coffee table book, but most 35mm shots are also too grainy for that
size of enlargement.
I think it may be more complicated than that. When you set an A lens to A,
the little pin rises outward. However, when you set an F or FA lens to A,
this does not happen. It may need a circuit to be completed inside the
lens.
I have one A lens that was defective, in that the little pin did
If Pentax drops the aperture coupling mechanism, presumably it's not as a
cost saving measure on a $1000 plus camera. It was a standard feature up
until now on very inexpensive cameras such as the MZ-M and MZ-10.
If they do so, they are being doubly foolish.It's not just because I
couldn'
I had my 35mm f/2 cleaned at Kominek camera repair in Toronto. They did an
excellent job, for CDN$60. I've had other work done there also, and they
are very honest and reliable.
http://www.kominek.com/
M series lenses, unfortunately, seem to be very prone to oil on the blades.
I remember t
All the chatter here about the *istD has convinced me to sell two of my very
nice, very sharp older lenses which I don't use much nowadays: a 28mm M Type
2 (which means the A optical design in an M body) and a 35mm f/3.5 K, just
about as sharp as any Pentax lens ever in Yoshihiko's tests.
(If i
As far as I know, only two digicams go down to 28mm, the Nikon 5000 and
Minolta Dimage 7/7i/7hi. I have the Minolta, so I know you can shoot in
monochrome with it. I would assume the Nikon also has it since it is a full
function camera. Given that they are pretty close in price, I would say
I have a Phoenix 19-35mm zoom, which has nice centre sharpness and excellent
contrast and flare resistance. However, at 19mm, the corners aren't really
good until it's stopped down to f/11.
With the *ist D this will be equivalent to a 28 to 50 mm lens, and since the
smaller CCD won't use the c
It varies a lot depending on the compression you use. I have a Minolta
Dimage 7, which is 5 MP, and pictures can range all the way from 12
megabytes uncompressed to 1.5 megs at medium jpeg compression. You lose a
little bit of texture with the smaller files, but the difference in
appearance i
I previously carried out some autofocussing tests with my MZ-5n, and found
that for critical close-up work, manual focussing is noticeably more
accurate. From what I have read, this is typical of all or most autofocus
cameras. There is a considerable margin of error, because the sensors are
I have the Phoenix 19-35mm. It's very good at most apertures in the 24-35mm
range.
At 19mm you have to be more careful with it, and use fast film in bright
light. It is very sharp at the centre, but not completely sharp in the
corners until about f/11, and shows vignetting until about f/5.6.
I recently got a very good deal on the rare SMC-M type II 28mm lens (this is
the one in an M mount, but with the front the same as the A version of the
lens). It was in one of those very dark curio shops that we have on Church
Sreet in Toronto, and I didn't notice until I got home that the lens
Light sneaking into the viewfinder of the MX in bright light tends to bias
the meter reading, and cause slides to be underexposed. If you don't wear
glasses, you can help avoid this by using a rubber eyecup.
http://ca.geocities.com/spirope/PentaxSLR.htm
I second what Mark said about meter problems on the KX. A couple of years
ago I was interested in getting one, and looked at two in two different
stores. In both of them, the meter was totally inaccurate. So just because
you see the needle move, don't assume it's OK.
In my experience, F lenses are more solidly built than FA ones. The FA are lighter in weight and seem to have flimsy plastic barrels.
The FA are supposed to have MTF information embedded in them which is used in program mode, but I never noticed this. If it is in there, why do my FA lenses go t
A while back I mentioned that I had seen a lens at a store, on which the
diaphragm closed slowly even though there was no oil buildup visible on it
(a relatively common problem with older lenses that have been exposed to
excessive heat).
The diaphragm was distinctly sluggish, and I used that f
Anton Browne e-mailed me off list with what seems like a very good
suggestion:
I had that problem once on a Pentax lens - the lens was tatty but optically
fine and I'd got it cheap, it was a common lens so I wasn't too bothered. I
set the lens to close focus so it was extended and carefully lubr
I was offered a 50mm A f/1.4 lens in mint condition, but I noticed that the
diaphragm closes slowly. It does not have any oil visible on it, which is
the usual cause of slow diaphragms, so I'm concerned that a simple cleaning
won't fix it, and it may have a more costly mechanical problem. Doe
When I was there last year, there were a couple of second hand shops with
good selections across the street from the British Museum (there is sort of
an arcade with old coin and antique shops, and they are among those). One
of them had a 40mm pancake lens at quite a good price (but I already h
You are right. I just checked mine out at B, where you can separate out the
vibrations from the up and down movement into two steps. I did a test with
a small cup of water balanced on the flash shoe to get a quasi-objective
measurment of the vibrations (looking at the ripples in the water).
Somebody mentioned a while back that they were looking for this. It does
seem to be fairly rare. There have been none on eBay recently, and KEH
doesn't have one. I have put one up for sale at
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1362889643
and it really is a very good lens.
http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1362889272
Also 35mm K f/3.5 lens and MX body modified for mirror lock-up, plus LX
screen SA-23
_
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp.
-
This
One thing you should keep in mind is that the distortion caused by
viewing things at an angle through a regular lens can be fixed easily
through digital manipulation. For an example using very cheap software,
see my page at http://ca.geocities.com/spirope/perspective.htm
--
I have recently conducted an experiment to see if there is a noticeable
difference in sharpness from locking up the mirror -- and in fact, there
is, at slow shutter speeds such as 1/15th second. If you would like to
see a side by side comparison, go to http://ca.geocities.com/spirope/mxmlu.htm BT
I believe the ME may have been quieter than the ME Super, because it has
a 1/1000 shutter maximum speed vs. 1/2000 for the Super. Faster
shutters tend to operate with somewhat more force, and hence generally
more noise. Similarly, the MZ-3 is a bit louder than the MZ-5. Popular
Photography use
I have put this screen up for sale on eBay
athttp://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1527456077&r=0&t=0&showTutorial=0&ed=1018218504&indexURL=0&rd=1 (It's
mistakenly classified as a DVD, so some people may have trouble finding
it.) This is an all microprism center, designed to optimize
Two very nice bodies: an MX in superb condition, an MZ-M; and three
lenses, a 28-70 f/4 AL, 50mm F f/1.7 autofocus, and a 28mm f/2.8 A. The
latter is truly in mint condition.
URL: http://cgi6.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewListedItems&userid=spirop&include=0&since=-1&sort=2&rows=25
-
There is a new Sigma SLR that uses this chip. It got rave reviews
atdpreview.com http://www.dpreview.com/news/0202/02022503sigmasd9shots.asp Too
bad this Sigma doesn't take K-mount lenses like the first couple of Sigma
SLRs did.
-
I agree with Carlos that both of these are excellent lenses, and I
generally consider the 35mm focal length the most useful prime lens for
general outdoor photography. I have some comparative test results
athttp://ca.geocities.com/spirope/photopage.htm Yoshihiko
has also posted test results at
ht
The shutter timing is often wrong on the high speeds on old mechanical
cameras. You can tell easily if it is working reasonably. Open the
back, hold the camera up to a bright light, and set it to 1/500. When
the shutter goes off, what you should see is a full circle (or a full
rectangle, i
. There may be something wrong with the winding
mechanism in his camera. I used to have an ME-Super that had this
problem, where sometimes when you wound the lever it didn't move the film
winding sprockets.
>From: "J. C. O'Connell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >To:
<[EMAIL
Popular Photography used to print measurements of the shutter vibrations
in their camera tests. I have some of these recorded at
http://ca.geocities.com/spirope/PentaxSLR.htm The LX was a fairly
powerful 0.58 volts, compared to the Olympus OM-2S at 0.22. The Olympi,
as well as the Pentax MX, a
Maybe everybody else already knows this, but I just recently discovered a
very useful feature in the cheap software that comes bundled with most
scanners and digital cameras. I've written up how to do it, along with
"before" and "after" pictures. (Of course, after I proudly showed my
wife what I
A few years later (May 1979), when Pop Photography declared that "the
all-time low for flare now belongs to the Pentax 40mm f/2.8 lens." I used
to use Olympus Zuiko lenses, and I can attest from personal experience
that Pentax lenses have much less flair and more contrast.
---
Various tests have found that small differences in camera vibration can make
big differences in resolution at moderately slow shutter speeds. People on
the Olympus list have tested their cameras with or without diaphragm
pre-fire, and it turns out that even the vibrations from the diaphragm
Not so long ago we were all going on about how ridiculously high prices were
on eBay. Well, now they look like they're getting ridiculously low. A
Pentax FA 50mm f/2.8 macro lens ($300 at B&H) just sold for $107,
http://cgi.ca.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1285586479
I made
Reviews of more advanced digital cameras (e.g., Fuji 6900 and Minolta
Dimage 7 in the current Popular Photography) show that digital cameras
are capable of excellent low-noise performance. Both of these cameras
have electronic through the lens viewfinders. I doubt that this creates
any noise prob
You should be careful in mixing focussing screens from different
cameras. Just because it fits in the space does not mean it is good for
that camera. At one time, I had both an Olympus OM-1 and a Pentax MX.
Believe it or not, the screen in the Olympus is the same size as the
Pentax, and fits i
The price of CR2 batteries varies all over the place. The grey market
dealers in Toronto sell them for as little as CDN$6 a piece (there's one
on Yonge just below Bloor) while big name camera stores charge as much as
$15. They're always offered on eBay by various dealers, and I've bought
a bunc
I have recently acquired a second MZ-M, and so I have put one of them up for sale on eBay.
http://cgi.ca.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1264226247
The MZ-M is the MZ-5n's little brother, with many of the same features and controls. It makes a great ultra-lightweight backup body
For those interested in the performance of this lens, I have added a couple
of pictures taken with it to my website. These are the last two under the
category "People and Places, at
http://ca.geocities.com/spirope/photopage.htm
The first of these, showing the Divinity School at Oxford Univer
I have the Phoenix branded autofocus version of the 19-35mm, and I find that it is a very useful lens for travel photography in tight spaces like old city streets. On a recent trip to Europe, I took the Phoenix, my Pentax-FA 35mm f/2 and 28-70. I found myself using the Phoenix more than the other
Keppler's SLR column is all about the new trend to zooms starting at 24mm.
He provides a handy comparison table of the various brands, including
prices. Keppler is too gentlemanly to emphasize this, but the Pentax at
$600 stands out like a sore thumb. It is the most expensive of the bunch,
The May 14 issue of Fortune magazine, of all things, has a news brief on
"New" MAX 400 film. It's claimed to have a significantly improved grain
structure. Apparently, it isn't new unless it says so in red and white on
the box. I haven't seen it yet around here. Has anybody tried it, and
n
The April issue has just hit the newsstands here, and it contains a brief
item on the Pentax 6 megapixel digital SLR. A working prototype was
displayed at a trade show in Orlando, and they say it will go on sale in the
fall. In an accompanying picture,the camera looks a lot like the MZ-S, but
You've given me a bit too much glory in the title. I didn't test this lens.
In the instance where you are quoting, I am just reporting on the test
that was done of the SMC-F 70-210mm in Modern Photography. This same lens
gets a much better rating on Photodo, of 3.4. I guess that just means
A while back I e-mailed the list mentioning that I had an MX that would
completely drain the batteries after a few of days, even though the LEDs in
the viewfinder were off.
I was able to fix it with the help of the MX repair manual that a PDML
member very kindly posted at http://www.robertstec
I just got a chance to find out just how elastic expiry dates are. I bought a package of old photographic stuff at a flea market, and included in it was a box of Kodachrome 64, with an expiry date of October 1987 (1987, that is not a typo). Ordinarily, I would just have thrown it out, but it came
I too love the big viewfinder in my old ME and MX. Unfortunately, I think that getting a viewfinder is not as easy as getting rid of the built-in flash. Consider the MZ-M, which has no flash, and has the lowest magnification of any Pentax viewfinder.
As I understand it, the reason why viewfinde
The Stylus Epic has a great lens for the price, and generally gives very
nice results. I have actually done comparison shots between it and my
Pentax 40mm f/2.8, both at about f/5.6, and the Pentax was noticeably
sharper in the details (e.g., small letters on a sign).
Probably the most signif
I may have missed it, but I have not actually seen the specifications of
this new camera. I am especially interested in things like its dimensions
and weight, the batteries it uses, EV range, etc.
_
Get Your Private, Free E
I own the Phoenix 19-35mm lens, and I am quite pleased with it. I find I
use it quite a lot, and it represented excellent value. Build quality is
probably not quite as solid as Tokina, but it is quite a bit lighter, which
suits me; and build quality seems quite a bit more solid than Sigma or
I have an MX that drains batteries even when it's not in use. After about
two weeks in the camera, the batteries are down to half a volt from their
original 1.5. The meter works fine, otherwise. I have checked it, and the
problem is not that the LEDs stay on. They turn off as they are sup
Here's another risk to watch out for in lenses that I never knew was
possible before. I was thinking of buying a used MZ-M as a spare body,
which had an autofocus Sigma lens that came with it. I didn't need the
lens, and so I would have been putting it up for sale on eBay. I know that
autof
I have recently conducted some "autofocus error" tests with my MZ-5n, in the
spirit of Herbert Keppler's piece on this subject. Perhaps not
surprisingly, the errors can be appreciable. It is clear that for maximum
sharpness, especially at close distances and wide apertures, manual
focussing
Lenses often perform differently at infinity than at the close focussing
distances that are featured in most resolution tests. I have put enlarged
details of the same scene taken with six different lenses. The lenses
tested were the SMC Pentax 50mm f/1.7 A, 40mm f/2.8 M (the pancake lens),
3
There are some differences apparent, especially at the edges, even with the
Pentax 28-70 f/4 AL, which is one of the best zooms around.
An example of this can be seen at
http://ca.geocities.com/spirope/infinitytest.htm
Other zooms perform considerably worse than this. I used to have a 35-80,
A while back it was noted that there were problems with reflections off the
inside of the lens shade.
With the lens shade off, it produces very nice results. I have posted an
example at
http://ca.geocities.com/spirope/snowreeds.jpg
__
>From: "Rodger Whitlock" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Subject: Re: Pancake Lens
>Date: Sat, 13 Jan 2001 19:25:31 +
>I've been tracking all ebay auctions of Pentax K-mount lenses for a
>month or two, and the pancake lens is actually one of the more c
>From: Mark Roberts <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Subject: Re: Sigma 28-135 f/3.8-5.6
>Date: Wed, 03 Jan 2001 21:10:05 -0500
>
>In general I don't like zooms and avoid using them whenever possible but I
>must
>admit that this is one of the two that I
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