[ZombieArmy]

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And by cheap I mean dirt cheap, 50 dollars or less cheap. Don't care what brand, mount or whatever as long as I can slap it on my k-01 somehow and focus to infinity.

Willing to even put in extra work like on the Minolta mount.

Right now I have primes ranging from 58mm to 200mm, but I have absolutely nothing for the wide end. A 58 becomes a bit cumbersome as a walkaround lens, and my 18-55/35-70 kit lenses don't always fit the bill especially when it comes to speed.

So what are my options? I'd like to keep it at the 20s or lower but would consider something as long as 35.

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Last edited by ZombieArmy; 10-25-2014 at 08:09 PM.

[johnyates]

Considering your budget, it's unlikely you'll find anything wider than 28mm. You may be able to get a M series 28/2.8. Lots of third party 28's, vivitar, haminex, soligor etc in K mount. Good luck!

[ZombieArmy]

Considering your budget, it's unlikely you'll find anything wider than 28mm. You may be able to get a M series 28/2.8. Lots of third party 28's, vivitar, haminex, soligor etc in K mount. Good luck!

Hm ok. That's understandable, but there may be that mystical lens somewhere!

[Swift1]

And by cheap I mean dirt cheap, 50 dollars or less cheap. Don't care what brand, mount or whatever as long as I can slap it on my k-01 somehow and focus to infinity.

Willing to even put in extra work like on the Minolta mount.

Right now I have primes ranging from 58mm to 200mm, but I have absolutely nothing for the wide end. A 58 becomes a bit cumbersome as a walkaround lens, and my 18-55/35-70 kit lenses don't always fit the bill especially when it comes to speed.

So what are my options? I'd like to keep it at the 20s or lower but would consider something as long as 35.

For $50, you're pretty much limited to the many various 28mm lenses.
You might find a 24mm Sigma Super-Wide.

[promacjoe]

Settling for just any cheap lens that meets that range is not a good option, not in my book anyway. There is some pretty bad glass out there, and unless you know what you're getting, it might not be any better than what you've got. And you've wasted $50 or so. My advice is to save up a little bit of money and then look for a decent lens. Yes you may find a good one that only cost $50, but at least you will not be limited to that amount. Before you buy, do your homework on that particular lens.

[ZombieArmy]

Is the Konica AR-mount adaptable to the K mount?

---------- Post added 10-25-14 at 11:28 PM ----------

Settling for just any cheap lens that meets that range is not a good option, not in my book anyway. There is some pretty bad glass out there, and unless you know what you're getting, it might not be any better than what you've got. And you've wasted $50 or so. My advice is to save up a little bit of money and then look for a decent lens. Yes you may find a good one that only cost $50, but at least you will not be limited to that amount. Before you buy, do your homework on that particular lens.

I do my homework on lenses even if they're cheap

Price doesn't always have to come down to quality, as my very cheap assortment of manual glass shows.

[interested_observer]

Use Stitching - and then drag the results into Microsoft ICE - O'h by the way, its free. You can make your shots as wide as you want, with any lens you have....

• Microsoft Research Image Composite Editor (ICE)

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You can get 50mm/f2 primes very cheap - $20, because they were the kit lenses on film bodies and they were very easy and inexpensive to make. Wider than that, things start to get expensive. You can try a 28mm f2.8. That is probably the best you are going to be able to go for the dollars you have. They were reasonably plentiful and there are still a lot of them out there. Wider than that - you are into specialty territory - in terms of old lenses from film bodies, since they are wide and expensive. So, here are some recent sales on evilbay. You can look on Craigslist too for cheap film 28/f2.8 with a camera body attached.

• pentax 28mm f2.8 | eBay

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Scroll down to the 28's and compare the ratings with the price. That will help you out on some names.

• Miscellaneous Lenses for Pentax: Prime Lenses - Pentax Lens Review Database

You might also want to try Yashica lenses. They come in M42 screw mounts and also the later ones in the C/Y mounts. Pentax and Zeiss had a "cooperative engagement" for a while in the mid 70's that resulted in the K mount and also the famous K28/f2. For whatever reason the engagement broke up and Zeiss went with Yashica to build their Contax camera line (the C/Y mount which is the K mount with thicker tabs - so they are not interchangeable). When Yashica began to build the Contax system, their lenses improved quite a bit - so what you want to do is find a newer Yashica 28/f2.8 in the C/Y mount (and dremel the tabs down - but NEVER do this on a Contax Zeiss lens as you will destroy its value). You can also look for a later Yashica with the M42 mount.

• yashica 28mm f2.8 | eBay

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Last edited by interested_observer; 10-25-2014 at 09:31 PM.

[fuent104]

What you're running into is my biggest problem with aps-c. The wider end of the spectrum is very seriously neglected by lens manufacturers. A wide-angle lens for aps-c is going to come with a premium price tag, which is freakin' absurd.

[mike.hiran]

why does it have to be a prime? If you need wide, maybe consider the DAL18-55. Bonus points for AF...

[amrocha]

if 28mm is OK for you, maybe 35mm is OK too. Then, you could consider saving an extra 100 for a DA35 2.4, which goes for around 150 new, maybe less if used.

[mythguy9]

I think 28mm is more likely to be cheap. I have a $20 Tokina RMC 28mm f2.8, can recommended if you can stand the flare.

[Conqueror]

wondering if you can hold out / save for one of these:

2nd hand tamron 17-50mm zoom though
2nd hand samyang 14mm f.28 or 16mm f2 (if you can find one)
2nd hand pentax 21mm

[Na Horuk]

Zenitar 16mm, Peleng 8mm. These are fisheyes, but the Zenitar or crop sensor is not very fishy. They can be found in m42 and K mount, I think. Fully manual. And I think there are online posts (blogs? youtube?) about how to double check the construction and calibrate the focus ring better.
The next cheapest option is Samyang 14mm or 16mm, if you can find them used, but I doubt you can get them under $100. Sigma 10-20mm or Tamron 10-24mm are your next options, but even used I doubt you would get them close to $50.

Thing is, in the old days 24mm was ultra wide, almost exotic. Anything wider was rare and expensive, and often not that good. I enjoy my M 28mm f2.8, which was around 60euro. Decently sharp, but on crop sensor it is not very wide (though, it is still significantly wider than 35mm and is quite suitable for landscapes).

tl:dr; Zenitar 16mm, keep it between f5.6 and f14

[WPRESTO]

I just checked at www.keh.com. They have a Sigma 28mm f2.8 and a Tokina 28mm f2.8, either for about $62. Both are PKA manual focus. If you go there, hunt by category - SLR lenses - Pentax K-A mount.

You're not going to get something as wide as your present 18-55mm with a significantly wider aperture for under $50 - best you could do would be f2.8 instead of f3.5 on a 28mm lens, which is, as someone noted, barely wide angle, not even as wide as 35mm of FF. I was looking at an old lens, Tokina 17mm f3.5, never made SFAIK with an "A" setting on the aperture ring so both focus and exposure would be manual. I had the lens for use on my LX and other manual focus bodies, and the IQ was very good, BUT, the going price seems to be over $250 even for this old, non-Pentax optic.

[mtux]

If you want really wide, I'd suggest you save up a little more and go for the Zenitar 16mm f/2.8 I've seen very good results from it.
I think 28mm is in fact a normal FL on APSC. 24mm and wider could be considered as wide angle.