Analogue Lenses on Digital Body

Jessops (Strand Branch, London) tells me that all of the Pentax SLR
analogue (aka traditional 35mm film) lenses that I have - zoom,
fisheye, macro, etc. - are unsuitable for digital use. Is this a
cynical con. to force photographers to junk their expensive lenses and
buy new 'digital' versions? If so I feel a sudden need to travel
overseas and get some duty free equipment 'cos I aint paying the
grossly inflated prices in rip-off Britain!! But I would really just
prefer to buy a Pentax digital SLR body replacement and keep all the
lenses I already have. Please can anyone advise me on this issue. Sorry
for cross-posting. Many thanks - CJB.

"CJB" writes:

Jessops (Strand Branch, London) tells me that all of the Pentax SLR
analogue (aka traditional 35mm film) lenses that I have - zoom,
fisheye, macro, etc. - are unsuitable for digital use. Is this a
cynical con. to force photographers to junk their expensive lenses and
buy new 'digital' versions? If so I feel a sudden need to travel
overseas and get some duty free equipment 'cos I aint paying the
grossly inflated prices in rip-off Britain!! But I would really just
prefer to buy a Pentax digital SLR body replacement and keep all the
lenses I already have. Please can anyone advise me on this issue. Sorry
for cross-posting. Many thanks - CJB.

Cynical con, or typical camera salesman ignorance. Lots of people are
perfectly happy using mostly old lenses on their digital cameras (I've
got one "DX" lens to get me back into the wideangle game).

As with any lens -- test it. Never easy, but at least it's *cheap*
with digital. You will then have a basis for an opinion, either being
happy or not happy with that particular lens. If you're not happy,
trade it off. It's possible that certain lenses might really have
performance issues on digital, I guess, especially extreme
wideangles. I didn't notice any problems with my Tokina 17mm f3.5 or
my Nikor 20mm f2.8, though.
--
David Dyer-Bennet, , http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/
RKBA: http://noguns-nomoney.com/ http://www.dd-b.net/carry/
Pics: http://dd-b.lighthunters.net/ http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/
Dragaera/Steven Brust: http://dragaera.info/

On 20 Dec 2005 10:24:45 -0800, "CJB"
wrote:

Jessops (Strand Branch, London) tells me that all of the Pentax SLR
analogue (aka traditional 35mm film) lenses that I have - zoom,
fisheye, macro, etc. - are unsuitable for digital use. Is this a
cynical con. to force photographers to junk their expensive lenses and
buy new 'digital' versions? If so I feel a sudden need to travel
overseas and get some duty free equipment 'cos I aint paying the
grossly inflated prices in rip-off Britain!! But I would really just
prefer to buy a Pentax digital SLR body replacement and keep all the
lenses I already have. Please can anyone advise me on this issue. Sorry
for cross-posting. Many thanks - CJB.

I'm not familiar enough with the camera and lenses that Pentax uses;
maybe it's a mount difference thing?

Otherwise, there are no *digital* lenses for DSLRs. They are all
analog.
There are lenses that are designed and optimized for use on digital
cameras, but they are still analog.

Just like those "digital" speakers you see advertised; they aren't
digital, they are analog. They just work with digital sound equipment.
Like normal, non-"digital" speakers do.

--
Bill Funk
Replace "g" with "a"
funktionality.blogspot.com

I don't know about Pentax not accepting older lenses, however, there is no
need to travel abroad to buy new lenses as you can get them from ebay.co.uk
(DigitalRev) and www.bhphotovideo.com.

Depending on what you want, it varies as to who is the cheapest to buy from.
Make sure that you take into consideration the p&p, VAT and import duty if
buying from America. Import duty is approx. 5%, but can't remember the
exact figure. DigitalRev often offer to refund you the VAT if Customs and
Excise charge you. Sometimes one is better, sometimes the other. For
example Canon 'L' lenses are generally cheaper from DigitalRev, but DSLR
kits are generally cheaper from B&H.

Check out http://www.xe.net/ucc/ for a currency converter.



"CJB" wrote in message
oups.com...
Jessops (Strand Branch, London) tells me that all of the Pentax SLR
analogue (aka traditional 35mm film) lenses that I have - zoom,
fisheye, macro, etc. - are unsuitable for digital use. Is this a
cynical con. to force photographers to junk their expensive lenses and
buy new 'digital' versions? If so I feel a sudden need to travel
overseas and get some duty free equipment 'cos I aint paying the
grossly inflated prices in rip-off Britain!! But I would really just
prefer to buy a Pentax digital SLR body replacement and keep all the
lenses I already have. Please can anyone advise me on this issue. Sorry
for cross-posting. Many thanks - CJB.

CJB wrote:

Jessops (Strand Branch, London) tells me that all of the Pentax SLR
analogue (aka traditional 35mm film) lenses that I have - zoom,
fisheye, macro, etc. - are unsuitable for digital use. Is this a
cynical con. to force photographers to junk their expensive lenses and
buy new 'digital' versions? If so I feel a sudden need to travel
overseas and get some duty free equipment 'cos I aint paying the
grossly inflated prices in rip-off Britain!! But I would really just
prefer to buy a Pentax digital SLR body replacement and keep all the
lenses I already have. Please can anyone advise me on this issue. Sorry
for cross-posting. Many thanks - CJB.

There is supposed to be some anti-reflection coatings on the digital
lenses as I recall but it doesn't seem to be a huge problem.

Paul Furman wrote:
CJB wrote:

Jessops (Strand Branch, London) tells me that all of the Pentax SLR
analogue (aka traditional 35mm film) lenses that I have - zoom,
fisheye, macro, etc. - are unsuitable for digital use. Is this a
cynical con. to force photographers to junk their expensive lenses and
buy new 'digital' versions? If so I feel a sudden need to travel
overseas and get some duty free equipment 'cos I aint paying the
grossly inflated prices in rip-off Britain!! But I would really just
prefer to buy a Pentax digital SLR body replacement and keep all the
lenses I already have. Please can anyone advise me on this issue. Sorry
for cross-posting. Many thanks - CJB.


There is supposed to be some anti-reflection coatings on the digital
lenses as I recall but it doesn't seem to be a huge problem.

Maybe one could apply several layers of that coating to a lens?

I think I'll patent the idea and call it "Multi-..AntiReflection"!
: )

CJB wrote:
Jessops (Strand Branch, London) tells me that all of the Pentax SLR
analogue (aka traditional 35mm film) lenses that I have - zoom,
fisheye, macro, etc. - are unsuitable for digital use. Is this a
cynical con. to force photographers to junk their expensive lenses and
buy new 'digital' versions? If so I feel a sudden need to travel
overseas and get some duty free equipment 'cos I aint paying the
grossly inflated prices in rip-off Britain!! But I would really just
prefer to buy a Pentax digital SLR body replacement and keep all the
lenses I already have. Please can anyone advise me on this issue. Sorry
for cross-posting. Many thanks - CJB.

I use my old Pentax lenses (including an f1.4 50mm Takumar - screw
mount - lens) on my Pentax *ist D with no problems. Any color
differences due to coatings can be easily corrected with software. I
shoot raw files and edit first with Camera Raw and then Photoshop
(Camera Raw is a Photoshop plug-in). It's a breeze. I don't do much
wide-angle stuff however. But then, an effective 75mm f1.4 lens is
great for available light protraits.

While metering might appear to be a problem (you have to use total
manual settings on non-AE lenses) in fact pressing the green button
after setting aperture usually finds the correct shutter speed.

christina

In article .com,
CJB wrote:
Jessops (Strand Branch, London) tells me that all of the Pentax SLR
analogue (aka traditional 35mm film) lenses that I have - zoom,
fisheye, macro, etc. - are unsuitable for digital use. Is this a
cynical con. to force photographers to junk their expensive lenses and
buy new 'digital' versions?

Yes, that's exactly what it is.

Another option. Ditch Pentax and go for a new Canon setup.

I chose to go to Canon when I changed from 35mm to digital and have no
regrets.




"CJB" wrote in message
oups.com...
Jessops (Strand Branch, London) tells me that all of the Pentax SLR
analogue (aka traditional 35mm film) lenses that I have - zoom,
fisheye, macro, etc. - are unsuitable for digital use. Is this a
cynical con. to force photographers to junk their expensive lenses and
buy new 'digital' versions? If so I feel a sudden need to travel
overseas and get some duty free equipment 'cos I aint paying the
grossly inflated prices in rip-off Britain!! But I would really just
prefer to buy a Pentax digital SLR body replacement and keep all the
lenses I already have. Please can anyone advise me on this issue. Sorry
for cross-posting. Many thanks - CJB.

CJB wrote:
Jessops (Strand Branch, London) tells me that all of the Pentax SLR
analogue (aka traditional 35mm film) lenses that I have - zoom,
fisheye, macro, etc. - are unsuitable for digital use. Is this a
cynical con. to force photographers to junk their expensive lenses and
buy new 'digital' versions? If so I feel a sudden need to travel
overseas and get some duty free equipment 'cos I aint paying the
grossly inflated prices in rip-off Britain!! But I would really just
prefer to buy a Pentax digital SLR body replacement and keep all the
lenses I already have. Please can anyone advise me on this issue. Sorry
for cross-posting. Many thanks - CJB.

Film doesn't care what angle the light's hitting it from (provided it's
striking the emulsion side, of course), whereas digital sensors want
the light more or less straight on/perpindicular to the sensor
surface. With DX sized sensors such as that used by Pentax and Nikon,
this is much less of a problem than with full frame sensor, so much so
I wouldn't worry about it. Your fisheye will be just about useless on
a DX sized sensor, though, 'cause it'll just crop out the edges where
the extreme distortion occurs and leave you with a slightly distorted
middle section.

--
Regards,
Matt Clara
www.mattclara.com