[Trees]

I've been a "Pentaxian" for a couple years now. I started off with a kit lens and then dove into the 20-40 Limited head first because I could.

A few weeks ago I replied to an online post asking about lenses that were good for landscapes and astrophotography. My response, while valid, was not one that I'd personally tested.

I recommended that the OP look into craigslist for manual lenses that would fit the bill over DA lenses that cost many times more because if they didn't NEED AF, there was no reason to pay for AF.

After that post i realized that although I'd window shopped on craigslist;ist, I'd never actually made a purchase myself. After a few days and some questions about how one would look for manual lenses on line I thought I should probably look myself.

What I found was a gentleman less than an hour away selling out his father's system as he himself was a nikon user. For less than the price of a DA18-55 I got 4 lenses and 3 film bodies (that, honestly, I'm using as displays/rear element covers)

In that range I got a 28mm f2.8, a 50mm f1.7, a 70-210(macro), and a 1000mm 13.5. These are not apex pieces of glass, but (esp the 28 and 50) they are darn fine lenses, especially for the price.

All I'm saying, esp for the new user, is that while you may think that spending a copious amount on one NICE lenses will help you out, spending far less on a few older lenses could be a great alternative.

Happy shooting and best of luck to everyone.

All for less than the price of a kit lens. - Imgur

[wizofoz]

which 50 is it? I have the M 50 1.7 and it is a spectacular performer for the price. I usually recommend it as a cut price alternative to the FA43.

Edit: I just realised you had a link to a pic of the lenses. It is a M 50 1.7, you will love it.

The Vivitar series one is reputedly a very nice lens as well. I don't know much about the Cosina 28mm or the 1000mmm mirror lenses

[Trees]

which 50 is it? I have the M 50 1.7 and it is a spectacular performer for the price. I usually recommend it as a cut price alternative to the FA43.

Edit: I just realised you had a link to a pic of the lenses. It is a M 50 1.7, you will love it.

The Vivitar series one is reputedly a very nice lens as well. I don't know much about the Cosina 28mm or the 1000mmm mirror lenses

Wiz, So far the 50mm is unquestionably sharp. The 28 is also a good performer... we'll really see in a week or two I really wanted something sharper for landscapes and astro until I can get the Sigma 35mm Art, although I value the compact size, so we'll see how I feel in a few months. But honestly for $20... IT'S AMAZING.

The vivitar impressed me when I popped it on briefly. My D FA 100 is a better macro, but I can see the value, esp for $20.

The 1000mm Sigma... it's not sharp, and it's slow, but it's long and for the price... it's worth having, if for no other reason than it hasn't been reviewed on here yet.

Thank you for the words my brother in 1.7

[wizofoz]

This is my M50 taken with the famous travelling Nifty fifty, which also happens to be a Brethren M series lens

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[r0ckstarr]

This is my M50

Looks like an A series lens to me.

[wizofoz]

Looks like an A series lens to me.

Where is the emoji for embarrassed? Of course it is an A lens..... as the kids say... my bad

[robgski]

I have that same A Series lens, I love it. Almost all of my lenses are used manual focus, I pass the savings on to myself in the form of more lenses. I used a K-1000 for over 30 years, the lack of auto focus does not bother me, it only makes me slow down to enusre I'm in foucs, which usually means I better compose the shot as well. The ability to zone focus is also important. I really do appreciate the focus assist the K-5 provides

[r0ckstarr]

Where is the emoji for embarrassed? Of course it is an A lens..... as the kids say... my bad

After I posted here, I seen your post about beer, which showed to have been posted before this one. You're forgiven.

[pathdoc]

Every DSLR owner needs at least one good AF lens in their armamentarium.

That being said, your old-glass philosophy is one I heartily endorse. You made a good find, though I must admit I'd be as interested in the film bodies as the lenses they came with. You did exceedingly well there. I envy you.

[wizofoz]

After I posted here, I seen your post about beer, which showed to have been posted before this one. You're forgiven.

Thanks for the mercy rOckstar, but none is required. I had only had two beers at the time, no excuse there. I happen to have both the M and A series lenses. It was just a dumb 'oldtimers' mistake. Too many lenses, far too few brain cells....

Apologies to the OP for derailing his thread.

[bdery]

1000mm 13.5

That Sigma looks like fun.

[Trees]

Every DSLR owner needs at least one good AF lens in their armamentarium.

That being said, your old-glass philosophy is one I heartily endorse. You made a good find, though I must admit I'd be as interested in the film bodies as the lenses they came with. You did exceedingly well there. I envy you.

One of the superME's is seized up, but the other two function as best as I can tell. HEck one of them had a unused roll of t-max 400 in it. That really brought me back to high school!

[chuck_c]

What I found was a gentleman less than an hour away selling out his father's system as he himself was a nikon user. For less than the price of a DA18-55 I got 4 lenses and 3 film bodies (that, honestly, I'm using as displays/rear element covers)

In that range I got a 28mm f2.8, a 50mm f1.7, a 70-210(macro), and a 1000mm 13.5. These are not apex pieces of glass, but (esp the 28 and 50) they are darn fine lenses, especially for the price.

All I'm saying, esp for the new user, is that while you may think that spending a copious amount on one NICE lenses will help you out, spending far less on a few older lenses could be a great alternative.

Happy shooting and best of luck to everyone.

All for less than the price of a kit lens. - Imgur

How interesting. Back in October of 2011, the date I mark as the beginning of my trek into the land of LBA, I came across a very similar deal on craigslist, from a guy about half an hour away. I don't recall now exactly how the ad read, but I remember that I was excited at the prospect of getting the Pentax M 28mm ƒ2.8 for $20. Well, not only did I get that, but I also got the Pentax M 50mm ƒ1.4 and a Vivatar 70-210 ƒ 2.8-4.0 Macro with the A setting and a Ricoh XR-10 film camera, all for just $20.

So you never know what gems you may discover perusing the lens/camera ads on craigslist.

[jaremart]

Trees - I completely agree. The ability to acquire older manual focus lenses is the reason I got into Pentax in the first place. I had a Canon DSLR about 10 years ago and realized that I wasn't going to be able to afford very many lenses with my budget. I frequent thrift stores, resale shops, auction sites, and I use craigslist often. I kept finding older k-mount lenses in good shape for not much money. My buddy had a k100D and he'd buy them, walk out of the thrift store, mount them up, and start shooting. I decided I wanted to do that, so I switched to Pentax.

The only thing I'd add to your recommendation is that new users or beginners should spend some time reading up on lenses in the pentax forums lens review database - to become familiar with what is good and what to avoid. It helped me out a lot.

Reguarding your recent craigslist purchase (of should I say - score!), those are some great, very useful lenses.

If I'm looking at it right, I'd say the biggest steal of your purchase may be the Vivitar Series 1 70-210. Without being able to see the serial number, that appears to be the third version of that lens (judging by the grip pattern and the fact that it is f2.8-4.0). As you may know, the third version was built by Konime, and is considered by most to be the best version of that lens. It's really sharp, and it has great colors and contrast. I routinely see them go for $125-$175 in good working condition.

I have the first version, built by Kiron (also highly rated), which I also picked up for $20. It's a great lens, and is one of my 3 favorite lenses. I've picked up 15-20 great old lenses for not much money over the past few years. To purchase modern, auto focus lenses that can do what my bag of old glass can do - would have cost hundreds to thousands...

My frequently used - 4 lens kit - is the vivitar 70-210 discussed above, a Sears 50mm f1.7, a Mitakon 28 mm f2.8, and a promaster 28-70 mm f2.8-4.5. These are all "M" lenses. In total - I have $55 in these 4 lenses.

Anyway, I've gone on too long. Great advice! Enjoy your "new" gear!

[Trees]

Indeed. I was able to research the lenses on here before I met with him, which definitely helped me out bigtime. The 70-210 is great, I will say it's not as good a Macro as the 100 f/2.8, but it's a lovely zoom. I wasn't sure which version it was, but when I put it on my k-5 I could tell that it was a nice lens.