[Gorgarath]

I'm interested in possibly picking up a 28mm lens and would prefer having the option of the camera controlling the aperture. I've found 2 Quantaray 28mm f/2.8 lenses and a Rokinon 28mm f/2.8 lens that look promising. The one Quantaray is listed as having an A mode and shows a photo with the aperture ring which confirms there is an A mode. The second Quantaray comes with a hood, UV filter, and case but doesn't show a photo of the aperture ring. It is also the most inexpensive of the 3. I asked the seller and he said that it does not have an A mode. The 3rd option is the Rokinon which comes in between the 2 Quantaray's in terms of price.

I'm sort of getting the hang of stop down metering with my M 50mm, so I can probably manage with the fully manual Quantaray and it has the benefit of being the cheapest option and including accessories, but it is definitely a bit easier to use the e-dials instead of the aperture ring and allows you to use the various other modes. Does anyone have any experience with any of these lenses that can give some advice? The price difference between all 3 lenses is only about $15, so I'm mostly concerned about quality and ease of use.

If you know another 28mm lens (preferably f/2.8 or faster) that is fairly inexpensive and easy to pick up on the used market, I'd be interested to hear about it as well. (While I know it's better to toss more money at glass, I also need to keep the wife from murdering me for buying it. So I'm trying to keep this lens under $50, and the less the better. I do have 28mm at the low end of a zoom at f/3.5, so I can wait until I can do better if the consensus is that. An f/2 would be nice but is out of the budget right now.)

While I'm looking at primes, I'm not opposed to something that has the 28 at the middle to long end of the zoom range either if it's feasible. I'm using these on a K-7, so I do still need to go wider for some nice wide-angle landscapes, but it's not easy finding inexpensive wider lenses.

[BigDave]

A 28 on the K-7 will be more like a 42mm lens on 35mm/full frame sensor camera. It can work for landscape, but a 20 would probably be better for that woder landscape, maybe a 15 or 10mm FL too,

[pepperberry farm]

wasn't Quantaray a re-brander of Sigma lenses? that would make the Quantaray options probably similar (if not identical) to Sigma Mini-Wide 28/2.8 lenses...

[pres589]

I think the Quantaray with A position would be my pick as well. I don't think the Korean lenses from that era are very good at all (although there may be one or two examples that bend the rule). My only concern would be that the A function with the one lens would be via Ricoh pin and not Pentax's implementation. Take a look at the mount if there's a picture of it and make sure there's not a pin standing proud by a good three or so millimeters. You can still use the lens but you would need to glue the pin back into the mount or take the pin out or else it can become locked onto your Pentax AF camera body.


28mm on APS-C is a wonderful focal length and I'm a huge fan of the field of view they provide.

[K-Three]

Quantaray used to the old Ritz Camera in-house brand. At least 20-years old?
Think the actual makers varied with different ages and focal length of the lenses.

Personally, I'd go for the newest and most automatic of the lenses you can find that hit your price point. Hoods, cases and filters are easy to acquire.
From what you've described, that sounds like the Rokinon,

[stevebrot]

Quantaray used to the old Ritz Camera in-house brand. At least 20-years old?
Think the actual makers varied with different ages and focal length of the lenses.

That is my memory as well, though several models (zooms mostly?) have strong indications of being Sigma sourced. That said, Sigma did no always have the reputation they enjoy today.


Steve

[Gorgarath]

A 28 on the K-7 will be more like a 42mm lens on 35mm/full frame sensor camera. It can work for landscape, but a 20 would probably be better for that woder landscape, maybe a 15 or 10mm FL too,

For some reason, I was thinking the 28mm was a 50mm fov instead of the 42mm. I'm not sure why when I was looking for 35mm lenses to get the 50mm fov earlier. I'll have to take a look and see what I can find in a 20mm, though I think around 15mm on APS-C is about what I'm looking for in terms of wide angle landscapes. I won't be certain until I can try out some of these wide lenses.

wasn't Quantaray a re-brander of Sigma lenses? that would make the Quantaray options probably similar (if not identical) to Sigma Mini-Wide 28/2.8 lenses...

I'll have to look up the Sigma lenses, I think I do recall seeing one listed for sale before, but not sure where it fell in terms of price.

I think the Quantaray with A position would be my pick as well. I don't think the Korean lenses from that era are very good at all (although there may be one or two examples that bend the rule). My only concern would be that the A function with the one lens would be via Ricoh pin and not Pentax's implementation. Take a look at the mount if there's a picture of it and make sure there's not a pin standing proud by a good three or so millimeters. You can still use the lens but you would need to glue the pin back into the mount or take the pin out or else it can become locked onto your Pentax AF camera body.


28mm on APS-C is a wonderful focal length and I'm a huge fan of the field of view they provide.

Unfortunately, of the 2 A function lenses, only the Rokinon shows the view from the mount and I can confirm it's not a Ricoh pin. On the Quantaray, it doesn't have any of the K/R markings on the side that I've seen on some of the other lenses with Ricoh pins, though I know that's not definitive. I'm not sure how I feel about the 28mm fov and I don't recall why I started looking at this particular FL. As I was posting the original post, I was thinking it was the 50mm fov equivalent though I knew better. I know I wanted something a bit wider than the 35mm on my kit zoom and perhaps this was what prompted me to look at 28, though on APS-C, it's nowhere near a wide-angle lens which is what would probably end up being more useful for landscape photography. But for the cost of some of these older 28mm lenses, I might pick up one anyway.

Quantaray used to the old Ritz Camera in-house brand. At least 20-years old?
Think the actual makers varied with different ages and focal length of the lenses.

Personally, I'd go for the newest and most automatic of the lenses you can find that hit your price point. Hoods, cases and filters are easy to acquire.
From what you've described, that sounds like the Rokinon,

As I can confirm the Rokinon doesn't have a Ricoh pin, I might do that. I'll probably do another search and see what comes up as I do recall seeing a Sigma show up before, but maybe it was in the too expensive category.

[luftfluss]

AFAIK, Quantaray rebadged Sigma and Tamron - I have actually owned Quantaray versions of both.

If you're patient you might be able to find something like a Vivitar 28/2.8 Close Focus in your price range.

[stevebrot]

AFAIK, Quantaray rebadged Sigma and Tamron - I have actually owned Quantaray versions of both.

It's possible a Quantaray 28/2.8 is a Sigma WideMax under the skin, rather than a Mini Wide II.

There are some that are co-branded Eyemik (Mitake?) and others that are stamped "made in Korea". That does not mean that Sigma and Tamron are not in the mix, only that the mix is quite complex. It also does not mean that the Quantaray in the listing is a crummy lens. As has been stated many times, both here and other places on the Web, it is pretty hard to make a bad 28mm lens and most that were sold through established retailers were reasonably good and many were probably as good as name-brand lenses in the same price bracket (yes, many Pentax, even SMC, were sometimes priced within $20 or so of third-party offerings).


Steve

[ramseybuckeye]

wasn't Quantaray a re-brander of Sigma lenses? that would make the Quantaray options probably similar (if not identical) to Sigma Mini-Wide 28/2.8 lenses...

Quantaray used to the old Ritz Camera in-house brand. At least 20-years old?
Think the actual makers varied with different ages and focal length of the lenses.

AFAIK, Quantaray rebadged Sigma and Tamron - I have actually owned Quantaray versions of both.

If you're patient you might be able to find something like a Vivitar 28/2.8 Close Focus in your price range.

I'm in agreement that the Quantaray was the Ritz house brand, probably Sigma or Tamron, similar to the Promasters. Of course there are a lot of good 28s out there. And there is the Cosmicar-A, which was made by Pentax, but without SMC, sometimes it flys under the radar at a low price.

[DWS1]

I have the SMC Pentax-A 28mm f/2.8 and like it very much. If I recall correctly, I got off Ebay for less than $40.

SMC Pentax-A 28mm F2.8 Reviews - A Prime Lenses - Pentax Lens Reviews & Lens Database

[Gorgarath]

I have the SMC Pentax-A 28mm f/2.8 and like it very much. If I recall correctly, I got off Ebay for less than $40.

SMC Pentax-A 28mm F2.8 Reviews - A Prime Lenses - Pentax Lens Reviews & Lens Database

I've tried looking for Pentax-A primes in quite a few FLs but it seems that the only times I can find them for that price is when there's scratches/haze/fungus issues. Granted, I've only just started looking, so it's quite possible that I'll come across better deals over time. The month or so leading into Christmas probably isn't the best time for lens shopping.

[ecostigny]

I've tried looking for Pentax-A primes in quite a few FLs but it seems that the only times I can find them for that price is when there's scratches/haze/fungus issues. Granted, I've only just started looking, so it's quite possible that I'll come across better deals over time. The month or so leading into Christmas probably isn't the best time for lens shopping.

If you've only started looking, I would recommend continuing to look for a while. New postings are always popping up, especially as people look to unload their older gear to help pay for their Christmas revelry.