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07-10-2021, 01:12 AM   #16
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"My eye doctor tells me that I’m not seeing colors like others because of my cataracts. At my age, surgery is problematic."

How did you determine surgery for you is problematic? Some 4 million people in the US have cataract surgery every year, many of them pretty old.
You need two new lenses, one for each eye to replace the ones you have. If you do nothing, you can expect it to get worse.

07-10-2021, 01:53 AM   #17
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I'd say that b/w depends more on the processing* and the subject than on the lens... but something like the 77 Limited with its 3D pop can help, I guess.

I have b/w prints of photos taken with the Tamron 17-50, DFA 28-105, M20/4, FA77... I'd say pick your favourite and have fun

*Lightroom and other raw converters let you adjust each color channel individually - in camera, the K-1 has a "color filter" setting. It can certainly change the mood.
07-10-2021, 02:45 AM - 1 Like   #18
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2 observations:
1. My wife had cataract surgery, and now sees better than she ever did before, and she sees color better than most other people.
2. I'm color-blind, myself, so my approach, which I see as an alternative to your switch to simulated monochrome, is to ignore color. Set the camera to "natural" and set the white balance to "auto" (or better if you can, "multi-auto" a-la K-1) and don't touch the "hue slider" in post processing. If you're at all concerned about white balance being right, stick a light diffusing filter in front of the lens to create a custom setting on your first shot on location. And do your post-processing on a monitor that comes from the factory properly calibrated. If you're the sort who likes to yocky-fooch the white balance to make your image warmer or cooler, do it very sparingly. No one will notice you don't see color as they do.
07-10-2021, 03:42 AM - 2 Likes   #19
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QuoteOriginally posted by dlhawes Quote
If you're the sort who likes to yocky-fooch the white balance
No need to use such technical jargon, most of us are merely hobbyists

Sorry to hear about your eye problems. Consider purchasing an FA 77mm from the Marketplace here on PF. Ounce for ounce and dollar for dollar, it's an amazing lens.

07-10-2021, 03:48 AM   #20
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QuoteOriginally posted by Kiddo70 Quote
My eye doctor tells me that I’m not seeing colors like others because of my cataracts. At my age, surgery is problematic. So, here’s the question. What’s your favorite lens for monochrome in the 50-100mm focal length? Old or new, it doesn’t make a difference as long as it’s a Pentax and will mount on a K-3 Mark III.
Any of them.
07-10-2021, 04:02 AM   #21
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I guess the thing I would say is that if you are doing black and white photography, using a lens with good contrast and micro contrast is important. I like the limiteds really well for this purpose, but there are plenty of other lenses out there that would serve as well. You can turn up the contrast in post, but it often doesn't look as good.

As for the cataracts, I would seek a second opinion. My grandmother had cataract surgery at 90 and unless there is something else going on, like macular degeneration, I wouldn't see why age would preclude you from having them fixed.
07-10-2021, 04:13 AM   #22
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I'd agree with Rondecs opinion of the micro-contrast of the Ltd's. I find that I'm nearly always impressed with black and white conversion from them, there just seems to be a greater tonality which extends more to shadows and highlights. I particularly find the 15 Ltd converts well and the 40. I imagine there are other lenses that do too which I have no experience of and as ever, post processing will be equally important.

07-10-2021, 10:43 AM   #23
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HI
Being a retired OR Nurse and having done 1000's cataract surgeries I would suggest another doctor. With the newer techniques and lenses, there are extremely few people who cannot have that surgery. Yes, even I have had both eyes done with excellent results.
07-10-2021, 11:49 AM   #24
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I personally have multiple eye/vision issues including the start of cataracts. Several eye doctors have suggested that I wait until they are much worse before getting surgery - in part because of my other issues. Only you and your doc can decide what works for you.

Live view on Pentax may work if you turn down the colors so you can preview the way it will look.

An alternate idea that might help you is to switch to a camera with an EVF that can be set in monochrome only mode. That sucks as that means leaving Pentax. The m43 Panasonic GX8 has this option. I’m sure there are others as well but that one I know works. In fact you can take images in color and still set the viewfinder to monochrome on the GX8.
07-11-2021, 03:31 AM   #25
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You might take some of your favorite color images, convert them to black-and-white, see how you respond to them. Then, see what lens(es) made the images that top the list of your favorites conversions.
07-11-2021, 04:34 AM   #26
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My own kit in the film era included the SMC Pentax A 50mm f/2.8 Macro and SMC Pentax M 100mm f/2.8. I did a lot of B&W back then and can recommend both of them. Still have both of them.

You can't go wrong with a nifty fifty. The SMC Pentax 50mm f/1.7 offers the best bang for the buck by far. For something truly special, the SMC Pentax 50mm f/1.2 delivers in spades - at a price. I have both, bought in the digital era.

Based on reputation - I don't have one yet - you can't go wrong with the SMC Pentax 85mm f/1.8. They are getting expensive, so you can also look at the SMC Pentax M 85mm f/2.
07-11-2021, 06:16 PM   #27
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QuoteOriginally posted by Kiddo70 Quote
My eye doctor tells me that I’m not seeing colors like others because of my cataracts. At my age, surgery is problematic. So, here’s the question. What’s your favorite lens for monochrome in the 50-100mm focal length? Old or new, it doesn’t make a difference as long as it’s a Pentax and will mount on a K-3 Mark III.
Takumar (m42) 35, 85 and 135, from way back when are my B&W favorites, but changing lenses was a real pain.
Mainly using an SMC A 35-105 macro lately, but have K, M and A primes for when I need them
M42’s are all on the shelf now
07-11-2021, 06:28 PM - 2 Likes   #28
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I shot a TON of B&W as a young photographer an awful lot of it on the Nikon 50mm f2 manual focus AI lens, before that I used a Yashica rangefinder with a 45 or 40mm f2.8. The lens matters a lot less than the thought behind the image. .
07-12-2021, 08:40 AM   #29
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QuoteOriginally posted by Kiddo70 Quote
What’s your favorite lens for monochrome in the 50-100mm focal length? Old or new, it doesn’t make a difference as long as it’s a Pentax and will mount on a K-3 Mark III.
The main difference I see between shooting color vs. B&W is that lower contrast lenses often render color nicely whereas higher contrast lenses will help to make a monochromatic image pop.

In general that means prime lenses over zooms.

But honestly, for most of us, that's splitting hairs as a lot can be done in editing RAW and ultimately a good image in black and white is not much different than color other than lighting, texture, composition, etc, become more apparent without the "distraction" (or addition) of color elements.
07-12-2021, 09:58 AM   #30
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QuoteOriginally posted by kypfer Quote
From my b&w film days, my favourite type of lens for that "little extra punch" whilst retaining a wide level of detail was always a Tessar type, either a Zeiss original or (more often) one of the Russian Industar variants. The only problem with that choice these days is the availability of a suitable candidate in K mount. Whilst I'm happy to work with an M42 lens on an adaptor, I can anticipate there might be problems for many having to deal with a manually stopped-down lens with limited vision.
For my own purposes, as well as those of the OP, are there any K-mount lenses with the "classic" Tessar-type 4-3 configuration? Not a subject I've researched, so I simply have no idea
TIA and good luck to the OP
As far as I know, the only Tessar type lens for Pentax ever was the Macro-Takumar 50mm f/4 from 1964. It is highly regarded but the Tessar construction only works satisfactorily with slow lenses. Even in the late fifties Asahi Opt. considered f/2.8 too slow for a non-specialised standard lens and experimented with several more complex constructions than the Tessar (Heliar and Sonnar types) before settling on the six-element double-Gauss (Ultron) type for speeds up to f/1.8 (see Early Pentax Takumar Lenses).
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