More hat than horse?

[FHPhotographer]

I just posted a variation of this on the lens forum, but maybe it's open to wider discussion: is there a real cost-benefit at the novice level for high IQ prime lenses?

As you can tell my looking at my posts, I've been all over the place since joining, first asking about primes, then zooms, then back to primes. Through it all I have had the thought bumping around in the back of my mind that investing a lot of money for 2-3 prime lenses may be overkill on a K100.

Would a good all around zoom (something a level better than the 18-55, say the 16-45 or the like) really be a better fit for the entry level Pentax, and an entry level photographer?

Maybe the better question is, cost aside, will a novice learn more about taking pictures and have more fun doing it, with one good zoom than a bag full of primes?
FHPhotog

[pentkon52]

Some people think primes teach you more. You need to think about what lens to use, were to stand, how your going to frame the shot, etc, etc, than with zooms.

I think thats true, as i started off with an SP500 and several good primes, for the day.

Really depends on what you are going to shot a lot of.
Sports, then yes zooms are ideal.
Portraits, 1-2 good primes should suffice

and so on.

Dave

[alohadave]

Originally Posted by FHPhotographer

Maybe the better question is, cost aside, will a novice learn more about taking pictures and have more fun doing it, with one good zoom than a bag full of primes?
FHPhotog

As always, the is: It depends.

If you want to make a better picture, learn about composition and art, then practice, practice, practice. If you know the basic rules of composition, the lens type won't matter because you'll know what you are looking for in the viewfinder.

Some people like the constraints of prime, others like the flexibility of zooms. It all depends on your personal style and needs.

[Mike Cash]

What's so expensive about:

M42 adapter: $30
S-M-C Takumar 28/3.5 ~$40
S-M-C Takumar 55/1.8 ~$30
S-M-C Takumar 105/2.8 ~$60
S-M-C Takumar 200/4 ~$40

Buying prime lenses that render great quality doesn't necessarily mean plunking down tons of bucks for new glass.

Wanna see what Takumars can do?

Here are mine

And here are a few thousand others for your consideration.

One of the chief qualities of Pentax is the outstanding support for old lenses. May as well take advantage of it.

[krs]

I think it boils down to what you want to do and what LBA leads you to...

I just bought the FA 50mm/1.4 for $200 and am very impressed!

[Mike Cash]

Originally Posted by krs

I think it boils down to what you want to do and what LBA leads you to...

I just bought the FA 50mm/1.4 for $200 and am very impressed!

I got its grandfather, the SMC Takumar 50/1.4 for $50....and it was attached to a pristine Spotmatic ESII. For a hundred and fifty bucks, I can stand to focus it myself.

[Gooshin]

photography is like snowboarding


the initial learning curve (atleast for me) is very quick, but would take years to master

because of this quick learning curve, one realizes the benefit of quality equipment very soon.

so much like snowboarding, buying a really good board (lens) from the get go, means less expenses down the road and less disappointment.

if you buy the best equipment, your only area of improvement will be yourself.

never having to second guess your equipment is a peace of mind that i think is sometimes worth the cost.

[Parallax]

The downside to buying really good equipment is that you have nothing to blame the bad shots on.

[FHPhotographer]

Good analogy, Gooshin, applied equally to so many things in life. And I take your point that not having to "second guess" is worth the price. Thanks for the feeback, FHP

[FHPhotographer]

[quote=Mike Cash;294027]What's so expensive about:

M42 adapter: $30
S-M-C Takumar 28/3.5 ~$40
S-M-C Takumar 55/1.8 ~$30
S-M-C Takumar 105/2.8 ~$60
S-M-C Takumar 200/4 ~$40

Buying prime lenses that render great quality doesn't necessarily mean plunking down tons of bucks for new glass.

OK, I looked and I saw and, hopefully, learned. Now comes the question,
where do you find 'em?
ADDED: I just went to Early Pentax Takumar Lenses and found 'em, but there seems to be 8 iterations just for the 85mm , how do you select from all this... or better still, what do you and the other Takumar aficionados recommend?
Thanks, FHPhotog

[ftpaddict]

Originally Posted by FHPhotographer

Now comes the question,
where do you find 'em?
FHPhotog

Starts with "e"

ends in "Bay".

[Gooshin]

Originally Posted by ftpaddict

Starts with "e"

ends in "Bay".

also places like kijiji, craigslist, this forums market place section, and the like.

[krs]

I tried to by an A50mm/1.7 lens from ebay and it came in non-functional. I then bought from this website a very nice 50mm/F1.7 manual lens for less than ebay, and a Sears 135mm/F2.8 manual lens from here ($40) - that works quite well!

The good news on the ebay lens is that the seller did take it back and gave me my money back - no hassle.

My personal view - I would look here first, ebay later...

[Mike Cash]

Originally Posted by FHPhotographer

OK, I looked and I saw and, hopefully, learned. Now comes the question,
where do you find 'em?
ADDED: I just went to Early Pentax Takumar Lenses and found 'em, but there seems to be 8 iterations just for the 85mm , how do you select from all this... or better still, what do you and the other Takumar aficionados recommend?
Thanks, FHPhotog

One of the most respected online dealers in used photographic equipment is KEH (KEH Camera: Used Cameras, Digital Cameras, Film Cameras, Laptop Computers and More.). Whether you buy from them or not, you can use their listings as a guideline for how much to bid up an auction or whether a lens being sold is listed at a reasonable price.

Personally, all of mine have come from Yahoo Japan Auctions.

The lenses I listed above would make a very nice set for you, and all are pretty commonly available. Among the most available (and hence cheapest) are the 55/1.8, as it used to be a "kit lens", and the 135/3.5. The 50/1.4 is outstanding, and if my understanding of the matter is correct, it has the exact same optical formula as the FA50/1.4 which is the auto-focus version still available new for around $250 today. Due to my particular needs, the 105/2.8 is my most often used Takumar. I have a separate Flickr set especially for photos taken with it. The 35/3.5 is also a wonderful lens, as with the 1.5 APS-C sensor crop factor is has a similar field-of-view as a "standard" 50mm lens on a film body (it works out to a 53mm equivalent...close enough).

You can spend hundreds of dollars per lens for modern brand-new equipment...but you don't have to. The Takumars certainly don't have to take a back seat to their newer cousins when it comes to image quality; the only thing you're compromising on is your cash outlay...not the quality of your photos.

[Wheatfield]

Originally Posted by FHPhotographer

I just posted a variation of this on the lens forum, but maybe it's open to wider discussion: is there a real cost-benefit at the novice level for high IQ prime lenses?

As you can tell my looking at my posts, I've been all over the place since joining, first asking about primes, then zooms, then back to primes. Through it all I have had the thought bumping around in the back of my mind that investing a lot of money for 2-3 prime lenses may be overkill on a K100.

Would a good all around zoom (something a level better than the 18-55, say the 16-45 or the like) really be a better fit for the entry level Pentax, and an entry level photographer?

Maybe the better question is, cost aside, will a novice learn more about taking pictures and have more fun doing it, with one good zoom than a bag full of primes?
FHPhotog

As someone who has taught photography courses in the past, my opinion is yes, there are many benefits to a beginner using good primes. Right away, you have a technical quality advantage, as generally speaking primes still tend to be better than zooms, though this is a debatable thing with some of the newer zooms.
You will have a brighter viewfinder, and probably faster focusing because of it.
The limitations that prime lenses put on the beginner are not a disadvantage. Beginners need to learn discipline and composition.
You will learn more of both with a prime lens. Zooms do tend to make us lazy, the limitations of a single focal length will teach you to see better, and will make you a better photographer, no matter what lens you put on your camera down the road.