[Dave L]

And that club seems to have morphed to allow things like D800s and nikor lenses....I can't figure the sense in that.....but thats me.

It's morphed into the Birding thread, actually!

But to be fair, there have been a few alternative subjects lately, which is good.

[trevorg]

I guess my perspective is from someone who likes investigating individual lenses. If you want random post from a whole bunch of lenses, you have the whole post your photos for that. When people talk about how bad the 18-135 is, the best answer is, go to the thread look at the photos. You can't do that for the 17-70s to compare or the 16-85. To me, that's defeating one of the purposes of lens clubs.

The lens club on this forum is but a small sample of what's available on the rest of the net. Only a very small percentage of Pentax users would be posting photos here, but if you do a google search for "pentax [insert lens here] photos" you will usually find a flickr group or pixelpeeper page for that lens that has tons more photos and is better organized. The Sigma and Tamron lenses have an advantage here because you find photos taken with other camera manufactures, some that use the same sensor as Pentax (Nikon and Sony?).


If you want to rely on the "like" button to judge a lens' rating, it should be divided by the number of photos posted, otherwise the most common lenses will always win.

[magkelly]

Part of the big question here, is "How important is it to have an optically excellent lens to produce photographs that yourself and other people like? " None of us are going to argue that the kit lens is optically excellent. But apparently, a lot of the time, that doesn't matter. The next point would be, the most important lens, is the one on your camera.

Actually I will argue that a bit because I've seldom taken a bad pic with my 18-55's and there's a whole thread of really lovely pics elsewhere on this forum that would also argue otherwise. :P Compared to some of the other similar kit lenses I have that came with other cameras actually it's pretty darned good. It's not quite as good as my best primes or my 18-135 WR but for a kit zoom it's not bad at all. If you can't afford a digital/MF prime or the 18-135 WR then I think still it's a usable lens for most situations that don't require a longer lens. If you're not ultra picky it will do you.

The problem is not that the lens isn't good. It's that we have too darned many "serious" photographers around here who think that using an 18-55 kit lens is somehow beneath them. It always makes me laugh because compared to a lot of other kit type lenses ours is pretty darned good. One person's junk kit lens is often another person's treasure. I have a few primes in my collection that at the time they were initially offered that were not regarded as being good at all. NOW they're considered great lenses and oh so collectable but back then? You had people making the same comments about them as today with the kit lenses we have. Even the old zoom kits that were seen as total crap, they're gaining some fans. They were not THAT bad apparently?

A few years back when I started collecting Sears lenses, Vivitars, most of the serious photographers I knew were like "What do you want to collect THOSE for?" Most of them had never used any of them, had no idea of how good they actually were. But they were very cheap and I was willing to try them out. Surprise, a lot of them were darned good lenses and a few years later people are paying 5X what I paid for most of mine for the very same lenses. Chinon lenses are another good example, and Yashica. Yashica ML lenses I used to be able to pick them up for practically nothing, but not so much anymore. Even Minolta lenses have gotten more dear. I can still get a good deal on those, but I usually have to work harder for it and pay more than I'd like.

Time tends to change perception a bit when it comes to lenses I think. We take for granted the kit lenses we have now. I think down the road a little not so much. I do think the humble Pentax 18-55 will end up better regarded than it is now. Look at what's happened with the F series lenses. There was a time where with a few exceptions they didn't get much respect at all. Now? People are buying them more and more as an alternative to the more expensive newer lenses and a lot of the reviews I see there are some really happy and surprised folks who are glad they took a chance on them. Prices have gone up a bit accordingly. I'm seeing lenses that they couldn't give away 5-10 years ago commanding some decent sums. So obviously, again, they were probably not all that bad...

[noelpolar]

It's morphed into the Birding thread, actually!

But to be fair, there have been a few alternative subjects lately, which is good.

Thats why I post things like 90 year old Vietnam birds there......

[normhead]

Believe it or not... the old adage "if you don't like your pictures, move closer" still holds. Because of atmosphere etc. it's still better to be closer to large mammals if you want to capture stunning detail etc. So what can you get close to if you have a long lens without talking a picture of someone's kneecap or something? A bird. Duh

As for kit lenses getting no street cred... ya, it's true,For years everyone said the Pentax kit lenses were really quite good. You don't here it so much anymore, but it's still true. The 18-55 is still a useful lens. They went to 18-50 for the upgrade... but I haven't heard yet if it's as good.

ON that note I just checked out my two 18-55 kit lenses, what a disaster that was.... I was thinking of selling them.. I couldn't in good conscience sell something like that.

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/10-pentax-slr-lens-discussion/297821-50mm-what-use.html

[ChristianRock]

What do I "like"? I tend to go to focal lengths that I use (so I don't to into the 300mm+ thread), and also manual focus lenses (K, M, A). Then the film pictures is huge of course, and I like the B&W thread and the "shoot a stranger street style" thread. I also look at the bokeh thread and sometimes I'll venture into the fancier lens threads like the DA Limited Club (love that one, people should post more to it, I really wish I could afford the 20-40) and the FA Limited Club just to see what people do with expensive lenses. If I'm in a hurry - it's an admission - I might not hit the "like" when I really should, but if I got time I will make sure the author knows I like their post.

The lens clubs and various picture threads are the reason I come to this site

I also think you guys put too much thought into this whole "what thread gets more likes" kind of thing...

[ChatMechant]

What are you talking about? It's a forum just like any of the others. I've been posting some of my photos in there recently, in hopes of reviving it. Although it is also possible that the photos I'm posting are generating disgust and revulsion and driving interested folk away?

I've been wondering why more people don't post in the lens sample forums, it could be much more useful! oh, wait, I don't post in there at all. hmm......

[Rondec]

I've been wondering why more people don't post in the lens sample forums, it could be much more useful! oh, wait, I don't post in there at all. hmm......

I tend to post in spurts there. Save better photos or ones that illustrate something (shot wide open, or demonstrate flare). For general images, choosing the appropriate lens club is probably better.

[normhead]

Why would you post int the lens sample forums, if there's lens clubs?

I mean really, do you want to submit samples or join a club... I know which one sounds more fun.

Just the idea of submitting samples reminds me of small washrooms and plastic bottles with lids that seal real tight.

[ChristianRock]

I think if the lens samples section was organized like the lens reviews, it would see more action. I've seen duplicated threads for the same lens, and it's pretty hard to find the lens you want unless you use google...

[dadipentak]

Nice try turning random stats into data, Norm. Don't forget the likes intended to thwart the devil.

[normhead]

Nice try turning random stats into data, Norm. Don't forget the likes intended to thwart the devil.

Did you just tell me I'm full of dooo dooo, only nicer?

What are trying to say here?

Come on.. spit it out.

The less literate will be going 'Data? Like from Star Trek?

You mean all those "likes" you gave me didn't mean anything?

You're not getting a birthday present this year Mister.

[boriscleto]

I think if the lens samples section was organized like the lens reviews, it would see more action. I've seen duplicated threads for the same lens, and it's pretty hard to find the lens you want unless you use google...

Only by those who don't read the sticky...

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/130-lens-sample-photo-archive/210462-inde...s-section.html

[ChristianRock]

Only by those who don't read the sticky...

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/130-lens-sample-photo-archive/210462-inde...s-section.html

Ah yes, somehow I forgot about that...

Still, it needs to be updated manually... but yeah better than not having it, for sure...

[normhead]

Is there a shorter list for those of us with ADD?
I mean seriously....