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#1
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wide angle for Pentax K1000
Can anyone recommend a wide angle lens for my Pentax K1000? Speaking with a local camera shop, they suggested Promaster brand 19-35 for about $200. This is at the limit of my budget (yes I am cheap?but most critically I am a novice). Any help that you can offer would be greatly appreciated.
Best regards, Luci -- Message posted via http://www.photokb.com |
#2
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Can anyone recommend a wide angle lens for my Pentax K1000? Speaking with a
local camera shop, they suggested Promaster brand 19-35 for about $200. Luci- The least you can do is take your camera to the store and try out the lens. I'm not familiar with Promaster, so I assume it is a line of lenses made by one of the other manufacturers. $200 may seem like lot, but maybe not for the capability you are after. In other words, for that amount it may not be a very rugged lens. If you like to try things, I recall an article in one of the magazines many years ago. You take a screw-in lens cap, drill a hole in it and mount one of the one-way viewers used to see who is outside your door. You need to be sure the rear of the viewer can't scratch the front of your lens. I tried it. It sort-of works and it has a wide angle effect. Fred |
#3
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Can anyone recommend a wide angle lens for my Pentax K1000? Speaking with a
local camera shop, they suggested Promaster brand 19-35 for about $200. Luci- The least you can do is take your camera to the store and try out the lens. I'm not familiar with Promaster, so I assume it is a line of lenses made by one of the other manufacturers. $200 may seem like lot, but maybe not for the capability you are after. In other words, for that amount it may not be a very rugged lens. If you like to try things, I recall an article in one of the magazines many years ago. You take a screw-in lens cap, drill a hole in it and mount one of the one-way viewers used to see who is outside your door. You need to be sure the rear of the viewer can't scratch the front of your lens. I tried it. It sort-of works and it has a wide angle effect. Fred |
#4
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Check Adorama and B&H photo web sites or call them and see what they have
used. A K1000 (in good shape) brings in more today than what I paid for mine back in the 60's. As for the Promaster lens - my experience is you would be far better off buying a Pentax or other name brand (Takumar, Tamaron) used lens. Adorama shows a few used wide-angle lenses http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?o...nt&cat3=Lenses that should fill the need. Adorama and B&H Photo are two great outfits to deal with so don't be afraid of getting ripped off. http://www.adorama.com http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home/ Bob S. "Luci Lucida via PhotoKB.com" wrote in message . .. Can anyone recommend a wide angle lens for my Pentax K1000? Speaking with a local camera shop, they suggested Promaster brand 19-35 for about $200. This is at the limit of my budget (yes I am cheap?but most critically I am a novice). Any help that you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Best regards, Luci -- Message posted via http://www.photokb.com |
#5
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Check Adorama and B&H photo web sites or call them and see what they have
used. A K1000 (in good shape) brings in more today than what I paid for mine back in the 60's. As for the Promaster lens - my experience is you would be far better off buying a Pentax or other name brand (Takumar, Tamaron) used lens. Adorama shows a few used wide-angle lenses http://www.adorama.com/catalog.tpl?o...nt&cat3=Lenses that should fill the need. Adorama and B&H Photo are two great outfits to deal with so don't be afraid of getting ripped off. http://www.adorama.com http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home/ Bob S. "Luci Lucida via PhotoKB.com" wrote in message . .. Can anyone recommend a wide angle lens for my Pentax K1000? Speaking with a local camera shop, they suggested Promaster brand 19-35 for about $200. This is at the limit of my budget (yes I am cheap?but most critically I am a novice). Any help that you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Best regards, Luci -- Message posted via http://www.photokb.com |
#6
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"Luci Lucida via PhotoKB.com" wrote in message . .. Can anyone recommend a wide angle lens for my Pentax K1000? Buy a real Pentax SMC lens, and stay away from those third-party Promaster things. The tool of the photographer is his/her LENS. Pentax made superb lenses in the K-mount when the K-1000 bodies were introduced. No-holds-barred designs, top-shelf build quality, smoothest focusing of any lens--Leica included, multicoated, flare-taming optics that were second to none (well, maybe Carl Zeiss equaled Pentax's multicoating, but no one did it BETTER), classic METAL BARRELED prime lenses, and they are available really cheap. You can find them on eBay or at www.keh.com. I suspect that your local camera dealer is trying to sell you whatever he happens to have in stock--not what is really best for you. If you want to read up on what made Pentax-branded lenses so outstanding, have a look at this article from Mike Johnston. It does not specifically cover your particular application, but he explains what makes Pentax lenses so special: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/co...02-05-02.shtml |
#7
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"Luci Lucida via PhotoKB.com" wrote in message . .. Can anyone recommend a wide angle lens for my Pentax K1000? Buy a real Pentax SMC lens, and stay away from those third-party Promaster things. The tool of the photographer is his/her LENS. Pentax made superb lenses in the K-mount when the K-1000 bodies were introduced. No-holds-barred designs, top-shelf build quality, smoothest focusing of any lens--Leica included, multicoated, flare-taming optics that were second to none (well, maybe Carl Zeiss equaled Pentax's multicoating, but no one did it BETTER), classic METAL BARRELED prime lenses, and they are available really cheap. You can find them on eBay or at www.keh.com. I suspect that your local camera dealer is trying to sell you whatever he happens to have in stock--not what is really best for you. If you want to read up on what made Pentax-branded lenses so outstanding, have a look at this article from Mike Johnston. It does not specifically cover your particular application, but he explains what makes Pentax lenses so special: http://www.luminous-landscape.com/co...02-05-02.shtml |
#8
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"Jeremy" wrote in message ink.net... Buy a real Pentax SMC lens, and stay away from those third-party Promaster things. The tool of the photographer is his/her LENS. Pentax made superb lenses in the K-mount when the K-1000 bodies were introduced. No-holds-barred designs, top-shelf build quality, smoothest focusing of any lens--Leica included, multicoated, flare-taming optics that were second to none (well, maybe Carl Zeiss equaled Pentax's multicoating, Pentax SMC and Zeiss T* is the same coating. Asahi and Zeiss developed it jointly in 1971. During the late 1960's until the late 1970's Zeiss and Pentax collaborated on a lot of optics, coatings and ophthalmological instruments. Yje broke up over the Contax RTS, both wanted their name on that camera. |
#9
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"Luci Lucida via PhotoKB.com" wrote:
Can anyone recommend a wide angle lens for my Pentax K1000? Speaking with a local camera shop, they suggested Promaster brand 19-35 for about $200. This is at the limit of my budget (yes I am cheap?but most critically I am a novice). Any help that you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Best regards, Luci There are a number of 19-35 F/3.5-4.5 lenses on the market by Tamron, Tokina and Cosina. They all seem to be of similar design and they're probably all made in the same factory, but they may differ in the quality of the coatings, quality control etc. Of these three the Tamron is usually the most expensive and the Cosina the cheapest, so possibly you would expect the Tamron to be the best of these three. The Promaster is probaly one of these sold (most likely the Cosina variant) under an "own-brand" name. I have the Tokina version and have found it to be a good performer, with a Pentax MZ-5N and also with a Pentax *istD. It's of metal construction and has a good feel to it. Definition is good, certainly at f/8 or smaller. There's some barreling at the 19mm end, but this is not excessive. You' might find that non-AF versions of these lenses might be difficult to find, but the Tokina version (and probably the others) works just fine on K1000 also. Hope this helps Tony |
#10
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"Luci Lucida via PhotoKB.com" wrote:
Can anyone recommend a wide angle lens for my Pentax K1000? Speaking with a local camera shop, they suggested Promaster brand 19-35 for about $200. Before opting for any particular lens, the OP should ponder why she is using a Pentax camera in the first place. Pentax made some of the best lenses in the world. Before she selects a third-party lens (especially if that lens is going to be the only lens she uses) she ought to consider used Pentax lenses, if her budget does not allow for the purchase of a new one. Even without seeing the actual lens tests, I do not think that a "Promaster" brand lens will stand up to the performance of an excellent Pentax lens. I mention this because it appears from reading her post that she really does not understand some of the subtle differences among lenses. And she apparently is being steered into buying whatever the camera dealer has in stock--which may not be in her best interests. Admittedly, Pentax makes some pretty pedestrian lenses, but they also make some excellent ones, too. Before she settles on a generic-branded lens, she ought to at least survey the field of available Pentax lenses and she may be able to get a superior-performing lens at a price that is even less than the "Promaster" brand. |
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