[ronald_durst]

ive got a fa 50mm on the way. I was wondering if it would be worth investing in a teleconverter for it. I was thinkin it would be great for night time football. I would just need a little more reach. Anyone have any experience with it?

Also which one would you recommend? Id prefer one that is fully auto. Thanks

[Big Dave]

Ronald,
Get a Pentax 50-200mm zoom. It will have twice the reach with better IQ and the SR will work correctly. The 50-200 sells for about the same price as a good auto-tele converter, either new or used. Maybe for less. Avoid the disappointment of of the 50 on a TC.

Dave

ive got a fa 50mm on the way. I was wondering if it would be worth investing in a teleconverter for it. I was thinkin it would be great for night time football. I would just need a little more reach. Anyone have any experience with it?

Also which one would you recommend? Id prefer one that is fully auto. Thanks

[Isaac314]

the shake reduction on the teleconverter will work fine. if its not a full digital one then you can just input the focal length?
An advantage of using a teleconverter over using the zoom is that your lens will be a 2.8 lens whereas the 50-200 equals about f/4.5 at that focal length. Big difference.

Good luck with your new lens!

[k100d]

i think i've seen some people try that combo out, but TC's usually aren't meant to be used with wide lenses. the only fully auto TC would be the Tamron 1.4x which is difficult to find. probably better to save up for a real telephoto lens.

[Blue]

i think i've seen some people try that combo out, but TC's usually aren't meant to be used with wide lenses. the only fully auto TC would be the Tamron 1.4x which is difficult to find. probably better to save up for a real telephoto lens.

What do you mean by the only fully auto TC? Pentax has one scheduled to come out. Kenko has the 1.5x that many people are using.

[k100d]

fully auto i interpreted as supports AF and AE, you're right i missed the Kenko 1.5x and the Promaster 1.7x
Pentax stuff is vapourware until it's available

[newarts]

The Kenko 1.5 automatic for pentax is listed by keh.com for $25 buy it now ($35 delivered).

It'd modify your lens to about a 75mm 2.0

Sounds worth a try to me. I recently ordered one & will report on its performance soon I hope.

[ronald_durst]

Yeah i mean af and ae. i have the pentax 18-250 but its just to slow. A good telephoto f2.8 is gonna be to expensive. So im just looking for an alternative. and the tc with fa 50 sounds pretty decent. Just wondering about image quality.

[maxwell1295]

I have a 2x Bower Pz/AF TC that I've used with the FA50. IQ is decent and both AF and AE work perfectly. I'll try to dig up some images when I get home.

[kevinfox203]

Buying my first prime lens, considering a used but mint FA 50mm 1.7 for $130 or new FA 50mm 1.4 for $210. Recommendations or thoughts?
Thanks

[jsherman999]

Buying my first prime lens, considering a used but mint FA 50mm 1.7 for $130 or new FA 50mm 1.4 for $210. Recommendations or thoughts?
Thanks

That's a great price on the mint FA 50 1.7. I'd personally pick that one. The FA 50 1.4 has smoother bokeh and warmer colors, but the 1.7 is sharper at 1/7 and 2, which is where I shoot my fast-50's most of the time.

I'd go with the FA 50mm f1.7 too. Jsherman knows exactly what he's talking about!

[stgmgr]

I'd go with the FA 50mm f1.7 too. Jsherman knows exactly what he's talking about!

2 things...........

First up, the Pentax Canada website doesn't even LIST the 1.7.
Is it an older lens? Or maybe just not available up here?

Second....... I have an SMC-A 50mm f1.7 and have been toying with buying the FA 50/1.4.........will I only be gaining auto-focus??? Or is the FA series generally better than the A series?

[anirbax]

I had the same dilemma once -- if you are looking for sharpness and contrast wide open and don't mind manual focus, stick with the SMC-A 1.7. If you need fast AF go for the FA 50/1.4 (which is great stopped down to 5.6, but which lens isn't?).

2 things...........

First up, the Pentax Canada website doesn't even LIST the 1.7.
Is it an older lens? Or maybe just not available up here?

Second....... I have an SMC-A 50mm f1.7 and have been toying with buying the FA 50/1.4.........will I only be gaining auto-focus??? Or is the FA series generally better than the A series?

[Eaglerapids]

I had the same dilemma once -- if you are looking for sharpness and contrast wide open and don't mind manual focus, stick with the SMC-A 1.7. If you need fast AF go for the FA 50/1.4 (which is great stopped down to 5.6, but which lens isn't?).

I had the same problem as anirbax and I solved it by getting both!
Along with the M 50/1.7 and SMC Takumar 50/1.4 and I got a K 55/1.8 just to be sure I wasn't missing something, lol.
I guess I love Pentax 50's.
It would be really hard to pick a favorite, the FA 50/1.4 is always with me just in case I NEED the f1.4 and the AF, it was my first new quality prime that I bought after I got my K10D and it has never let me down. But there is something about the way the A 50/1.7 renders images, the colors, I can't explain it but I like it.