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06-15-2012, 09:14 AM   #16
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QuoteOriginally posted by Stupot1 Quote
Looks like I will have to check out Sigma and Tamron.
I was in a similar situation, with M lenses that accompanied an LX.

The Tamron 17-50/2.8 A16P is very good optically.
It's no M lens, but the build quality is acceptable.
The K5 should let you adjust for any FF/BF issues.
Not sure about the new K30 specs in that regard,
but there's always CDAF in live view as an additional option.
That's what I've used on the K-x.

06-16-2012, 07:18 AM   #17
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QuoteOriginally posted by Stupot1 Quote
I will use my SMC-M lenses on the new body for macro, general wildlife shots and landscapes, but I want a new wide to short tele zoom and I now find the Pentax lens range confusing and I'm not impressed by the reviews. The kit lenses seem to be very poor and even the higher quality lenses seem to have image quality issues, e.g. DA 18-135, which scores only 7 for both sharpness and aberrations in the in-depth review. Looks like I will have to check out Sigma and Tamron.
Just a little about the 18-135. it covers a big zoom range and is considered by many to be a wide to telephoto WR kit lens. It's a useful lens but it's not a great lens optically. Overall the kit lens (and 18-135) are solid lens but they have big weaknesses like small apertures and distortion at the wide end. Pentax does however have 2 better general use zooms 16-45 and *16-50 and the Tamron and Sigma options are also excellent. I exclusively use primes K/M/A/DA but I just bought the 18-55WR so that I have a WR lens to go with my K5 and I can still take photos if it's raining.That's probably the only time that I'll use it.
06-16-2012, 08:18 AM   #18
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Rio, pertinent to your skill at buying lenses for next to nothing, I just did something similar. A lady advertised in the local Craig's List a load of cameras and lenses for sale, including a couple of Pentax 35 mm cameras for about $60. No harm in looking, so I drove 30 mins. to her home to looksee. I eventually bought a Spotmatic with the following screw-thread lenses, all in good clean working condition: a Sigma f/4.5/5.6 75-300 mm zoom, an Aetna Rokunar f/4.5 80-200 mm zoom, a Vivitar f/3.5 35 mm prime, a Vemar f/3.5 135 mm prime, a Vemar f/2.8 28 mm prime, and a Super Tak f/1.8 55 mm prime. Total cost was $35. In addition I bought a Voigtlander Vitessa for $35. It was in working condition but the body covering was badly scuffed and there was a little rust here and there. The lady loved to sell stuff on Craig's List and was given the photo equipment by a friend and told to sell them. I was as happy as a pig in truffles, and so was she. Not bad for a Saturday morning shopping trip. I suppose I'll spend a lot of happy times just trying out the lenses on my K100D which I have permanently fitted with a screw-thread adapter.
06-16-2012, 12:05 PM   #19
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QuoteOriginally posted by P. Soo Quote
Rio, pertinent to your skill at buying lenses for next to nothing, I just did something similar.
Good going! A few dozen more days like this, and you'll be in clover!

06-17-2012, 03:42 PM   #20
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It would be very interesting to see objective testing of some old vs. new lenses. I'm not sure where you'd find several new copies of some '80s lens, but it would be even more interesting to test the consistency of several new copies of some 80's lenses vs. several new copies of 2012 models. My guess is that some of the alignment and other issues we seem to experience more of today are due to the difficulty of implementing newer, more ambitious designs (zooms particularly), but I'm not sure some consistency hasn't been lost to cost cutting and lack of quality control (although lenses are probably, on average, no less expensive today than they were thirty years ago.)

Paul
06-17-2012, 04:34 PM   #21
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I agree, Paul. I think it would be very interesting if such a comparison could be undertaken by the photo magazines. As Rio said, above, newer coatings may make some difference in lens performance but not necessarily in the sharpness area. With the advent of computers in lens design I think that the most optimal designs must now be well established. All they can do is to tweak a little here and there to give a little improvement, increase weather resistance, or go to focal lengths and zoom ranges in the hope that they meet somebody's need. It would be embarrassing if they found that some old lens was superior to one with a new design. In fact, I sometimes read in lens reviews that the new lens is excellent but if you can get hold of an earlier version with the same specs, you will get very similar quality for far less money.
06-17-2012, 05:20 PM   #22
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Would be very interesting to see MEANINGFUL testing of old vs new lenses. Checking the odd copy from here and there isn't meaningful. We need statistically significant testing. We know about statistical variation, and (lens) copy variation. If I only test my FA and SuperTak 50/1.4 against each other, I know how those specific copies compare, but nothing about other copies. We'd need to test 5-10 copies of each to gain any useful data.

06-17-2012, 11:58 PM   #23
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Instead of testing lenses agains each other, I prefer going out and try to do my best, then do the same for the other lenses. Charts are too boring.
The samples should be many enough to cover close/medium/long/infinity distances, critical f-stops, combine with bokeh, sharpness, color rending etc.
06-18-2012, 04:50 AM   #24
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I think both Rio and hoanpham are correct. There would need to be a LOT of testing to establish whether some new lens is superior to an older version with similar specs. Also, there is the subjective point of view. Not everybody would agree on the quality of the bokeh, the contrast, and color rendering. I'm sure no camera magazine would ever have the resources, or desire, to conduct such comparisons, especially when there are so many new lenses that are begging to be tested. As hoanphan says, it's best to seek out those lenses, vintage and new, and test them out to see if you really like them. A little guidance from available lens reviews will help in this endeavor.
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