Originally posted by pepperberry farm There's a chance for me in the near future of a windfall and I'm thinking of purchasing a new K-3 at that time... but what to do with my current K-50?
There's nothing wrong with it at all, but I was thinking of keeping it and making it my fully manual camera - essentially mounting an adapter on the K-50 and shooting only manual lenses with it.... but which lenses?
Do I go M42 and the plethora of old pre-K-mount lenses.... or go a little further off the rails and mount a 645 to K adapter and take advantage of the line of legacy 645/6x7 lenses out there?
I do have the K3 and a few 645 and M42 lenses. The best M42 lens I have is the Takumar 50mm f1.4. It is a great lens but for me the CA and the soft corners put a damper on its otherwise stellar reputation.
As far as the 645 lenses, the bargain of the century is the A120 macro. I have seen them for sub $200 price tag. For the life of me I do not know why it is so cheap. I just shot a series of studio table tops with it and the images are spectacular. I also shot the FA 45-85 for some wide angle shots and that lens too is challenging the K3s sensor to keep up. The 645 lenses are heavy but manageable. The M42s will be a lot lighter if weight is a consideration.
As to the adapter for the 645 to K mount, I got mine from Fotodiox. It is well below $100 and it works perfectly. I tried eBay adapters but they were not focusing to infinity. Fotodix is a little pricier but they offer better warranty and service, not to mention the all important infinity focus.
If you shoot macro work, get the A120. You will not regret it.
BTW, when I owned the K5IIs, I shot some macro work with the A120. We ended up using some of the pictures to blow up to mega sizes for trade show work. I was pleasantly surprised as to how well the "tiny" 16MP sensor held up to such mega blowups. It kind reinforced the saying I had heard a long time ago. "It is not the MP count but the quality of those pixels." In that regard, Pentax gives you the best bang for the buck. At least for still photo work.
I think you got a good sensor in the K50. Just put some high quality glass in front of it and enjoy the results.