unified brand or mixed for film/digital kit?

OniFactor · 06-16-2008, 03:56 PM

i need some unbiased opinions, guys. i'm trying to figure out if i should try to consolidate my kit to 1 brand, simply for lens interchangeability, instead of Minolta for film, and Pentax, for digital.

Ideally, i'd like to have a solid constant f/4 lineup, for both, consisting of the 70-210 f/4, which i have, and 24-50 f/4 for minolta, and probably the DA 17-70 f/4 and DA* 60-250 f/4 for pentax. but those will be 2 new lenses for me, in pentax, and will probably set me back quite a bit. also, i am annoyed at the fact that i can't get a good grip for my k110d, and would ideally like to upgrade to the k200d.

now, if i were to consolidate to minolta, i could sell my pentax kit and probably afford the a200, which gives me the option of a vertical grip, and a little bit higher resolution. i haven't played with the camera itself, to see how i like the feel of it, yet, but i plan on checking it out.

as for consolidating to pentax, i'm at a loss. i'm not sure what there was for FA lenses with a constant f/4 aperture, nor am i aware of a film body as capable as the minolta 700si which i own, but i will be looking into it.

now, in your guys' opinions, which do you think would be the best move for me, right now? stay where i am, go minolta, or go pentax? and i thank you for your opinions.

Falcons · 06-16-2008, 04:37 PM

Originally Posted by OniFactor

i'm not sure what there was for FA lenses with a constant f/4 aperture,

Have you looked at the Lens review database on here? It lists all the FA Primes & Zooms.

OniFactor · 06-16-2008, 05:02 PM

i have, and there is a suprising lack of a medium to telephoto f/4 in AF, right now..

*hwblanks* · 06-16-2008, 06:56 PM

I'm assuming that either way you go, you're going to have both film and digital bodies in that mount. If it's constant aperture you're after and you're not necessarily stuck on a constant f/4, then how about picking up a Tamron 28-75/2.8 for both digital and film Pentax bodies? On the film body, 28 would be pretty wide and if you need to go wider than 28 on the digital, you could always get a DA 12-24/4. For the longer end of things, a Sigma or Tamron 70-200/2.8 or the Sigma 100-300/4 would work on both bodies.

If you have your heart set on f/4, then there's always the FA28-70/4:
FA 28-70/4 AL

If you don't mind a MF lens, then there's the A70-210/4:
A 70-210/4

As for film bodies, you might want to go check out the film slr section of the forum. I know one more recent body that people really seem to like is the MZ/ZX 5-n:
MZ-5n / ZX-5n

HTH,
Heather

OniFactor · 06-16-2008, 07:05 PM

honestly, i don't know why i prefer f/4 over 2.8.. maybe it's because i feel that good solid f/4s are designed for the price limited advanced amateur, and that you can find 2.8's that are not of the best quality? i'm not sure, really.

i really wanna stick with AF.. i saw the FA 28-70 f/4, and that is tempting, as is the F 24-50 f/4. if the new DA* 60-250 has full frame coverage, that covers my tele needs, otherwise, it really is a sparse field in the telephoto zoom area, for pentax.

as far as for a body, i was looking around, and saw the MZ-S, which has a grip, and looks... interesting. i'd want to borrow one to play with, if i could find one, first, though.. ergonomics is a huge thing for me