[ramseybuckeye]

Where I work they have a service "award" program where they give you points to use in an online catalog. The catalog has many Pentax items, most well above the point range I'm in, and a few that I have no interest in, but there are actually three lenses I could choose that could be useful to me. The lenses are the Rokinon (Samyang) 8mm fisheye, the Rokinon 85/1.4, and the DA 50/1.8. The prospect of adding a free lens to the stable is great, but none of these really excite me. The fisheye could be fun, but I don't think I would use it much, and I would prefer AF. The 85's 1.4 aperture is intriguing but I'm not a portrait artist and just can't see the use of the focal length for myself, and again I would prefer AF. By all accounts the DA50 is a fine lens, but I think 50 is an awkward focal length on APS-C, I have an A-50/1.7 already. Of the three I slightly lean towards the DA50 because of the AF, I would probably use it more than I do the A 50. The 50 also costs less than the other two which would allow me to pick up another item, like a pair of binoculars.

Just for fun, if you had these three choices, what would you pick and why. Remember, these are the only three choices?

[bigdavephoto]

My self, I would pick the DA50 1.8. Like you, I would choose it because of the auto focus plus at this moment in time, it would be a big help with some photos I have been taking of a local band when they play.


I have a F2 50mm A and a F1.7 M but with out changing the focusing screen, I find them hard to use on a moving subject.

[Aaron28]

85/1.4 because it sounds cool

[promacjoe]

The fisheye could be fun, but I don't think I would use it much, and I would prefer AF.

just so you know, Not having autofocus on an 8 mm lens is kind of irrelevant. the focus range is so small and the depth of field is so great that you hardly have to focus at all. And since it's basically free, it would be a fun lens to have in your arsenal. don't reject it just because it's not autofocus.

[btnapa]

Where I work they have a service "award" program where they give you points to use in an online catalog. The catalog has many Pentax items, most well above the point range I'm in, and a few that I have no interest in, but there are actually three lenses I could choose that could be useful to me. The lenses are the Rokinon (Samyang) 8mm fisheye, the Rokinon 85/1.4, and the DA 50/1.8. The prospect of adding a free lens to the stable is great, but none of these really excite me. The fisheye could be fun, but I don't think I would use it much, and I would prefer AF. The 85's 1.4 aperture is intriguing but I'm not a portrait artist and just can't see the use of the focal length for myself, and again I would prefer AF. By all accounts the DA50 is a fine lens, but I think 50 is an awkward focal length on APS-C, I have an A-50/1.7 already. Of the three I slightly lean towards the DA50 because of the AF, I would probably use it more than I do the A 50. The 50 also costs less than the other two which would allow me to pick up another item, like a pair of binoculars.

Just for fun, if you had these three choices, what would you pick and why. Remember, these are the only three choices?

I like the DA50 and binocular idea.

[K57XR]

I already have a an AF prime covering the 50 range so for me my choice would be the 85/1.4. I wouldn’t mind honing my MF skills either.

[DeadJohn]

...The catalog has many Pentax items...

You work somewhere nice The DA 50 sounds like the correct choice for you, as you prefer AF and you think you would get the most use out of it. I'll comment on the other choices, though.

The 8mm fisheye has such a deep depth of field that AF doesn't matter much. Use it hyperfocally; manually focus 2ft away, stop down to f/8, then everything from 1ft to infinity will look in focus.

The 85/1.4 is on my shopping list but for astrophotography, not portraits. Samyang lenses are known for having minimal coma distortion and that helps stars look sharp. If you have the O-GPS1 astrotracer already it would be a good way to get zoomed in shots of busy portions of the Milky Way. This sample is a similar focal length but with a less good lens:

[tvdtvdtvd]

Sounds like you've talked yourself out of all three lenses. Can you bank your points until you have enough for
something else?

8mm fisheye - Definitely a special purpose rather than general purpose lens. Lack of AF shouldn't be a big
issue for such a wide lens. This would be my choice of the three, as I have the other two FL covered.

85mm - A short tele on APS-C. I personally find this FL very useful. Great for getting tight shots of skittish
subjects or whenever you don't want to be too obvious. Lack of AF much more critical on this lens though
it should be fast and bright enough to allow for easy MF. Yet, if you don't enjoy MF you probably won't use it.
This would be my second choice, if only because I have one 85mm at present and it's a M42 mount. The
K-mount would be convenient.

50mm - I still find this FL very useful as well. My SMC M 50/1.4 proved the perfect lens today to shoot images
of blouses on mannequins. Nice distortion free perspective, but close enough to have a little 3D pop. This would
be my third choice, for the simple fact that I already have over half a dozen 50mm all jostling for attention.

You could choose the most valuable of the three and put it in the Marketplace, then spend the proceeds on
something you actually want.

[6BQ5]

Buy whatever you think you can sell for the most cash on eBay or on the Marketplace here. Use the cash for something that does excite you or bank it.

[Mothballs]

The 85 1.4.

No really, I used to think it was a silly lens size, but it turns out to be just about perfect. I fell in love with my 85 1.9 Super-Takumar, and it's managed to get some good shots of People, architecture, Instruments, cars, hummingbirds, flowers... You get the Idea.

After that, Fisheye. You'll have a very, very wide depth on that lens, so Autofocus isn't even really needed. Stop down, get to hyperfocal, and take good shots of everything between 4 feet and infinity.

[Bagga_Txips]

Just for fun = the 8mm, it's the only choice that can do things that you can't do already. The 50 you already have, 85 can be achieved by cropping.

But I would bank the points for later, as you may be able to get a really ace lens later - one of the amigos for instance, or a useful zoom.

[SpecialK]

just so you know, Not having autofocus on an 8 mm lens is kind of irrelevant. the focus range is so small and the depth of field is so great that you hardly have to focus at all. And since it's basically free, it would be a fun lens to have in your arsenal. don't reject it just because it's not autofocus.

That. The others sound boring.

[yorik]

I will join the fisheye chorus, and as others have said - it will be a `fun' lens, and the depth of field is so wide that focusing shouldn't be difficult.

[redcat]

Buy whatever you think you can sell for the most cash on eBay or on the Marketplace here. Use the cash for something that does excite you or bank it.

voice of reason I'd do the same ^^

[schnitzer79]

I have all 3 of the lenses you mentioned and out of those the 85mm really shines. I bought it specifically for portraits,especially for my newborn baby, and family in general, so if you're not into portraits then that would be a waste really.
the fisheye is fun but ever since i bought the DA15mm ltd, I hardly use it.you have the tamron 10-24 so no need really to get it. The DA50mm is also a great lens, even though I have the A-50mm f1.4 which I prefer, there have been quite a few times where I use the DA50 due to the AF and ease of use. its sharp but suffers from some CA wide open.nothing you cant fix in PP though