[pathdoc]

I sold one copy of F35-70 and both copies of FA28-105 because I have A35-105 which is more usable to me than FA28-105.

You must be particularly adept at manual focus!

I believe that new D-FA 28-105 can't beat A35-105 in IQ

Is this your prediction, or your observations? It would be interesting to see if we had a new "stack of primes" on our hands, or whether the 35-105 keeps its legendary status!

[banep]

FA 28-200 compared to the low pricey Tamron 28-75... there are worlds between both. if you scale the photos on websize you will be able to use the FA but don't start pixel peeping then haha

FA28-200 (or Tamron 28-200) is pure trash at all focal lengths. It is not decently sharp even at f/11.
Tamron 28-75 is a good lens, probably the best price/performance option for standard full frame consumer zoom lens.

[Adam]

Is this your prediction, or your observations? It would be interesting to see if we had a new "stack of primes" on our hands, or whether the 35-105 keeps its legendary status!

I think the D FA will walk circles around the A lens, except (obviously) in terms of build quality. I can test this once I receive the 28-105mm. When I tested it on the pre-production K-1 is was pretty darn impressive.

Here are some pics I just snapped with the Takumar-A 70-200mm F4. It happened to arrive at the same time as my K-1, so I used it to take some inaugural shots...before I post it on the marketplace as a freebie.

Bottom line: it's better to use good lenses on a cheap camera than the other way around

[kvetcha]

Although, to be honest, I find the visual character of various lenses to be part of the charm. If you want the cleanest and the sharpest of everything, okay, sure. But that flower shot is beautiful in its own way.

[HoustonBob]

I think the D FA will walk circles around the A lens, except (obviously) in terms of build quality. I can test this once I receive the 28-105mm. When I tested it on the pre-production K-1 is was pretty darn impressive.

Here are some pics I just snapped with the Takumar-A 70-200mm F4. It happened to arrive at the same time as my K-1, so I used it to take some inaugural shots...before I post it on the marketplace as a freebie.

Bottom line: it's better to use good lenses on a cheap camera than the other way around

Looks like it might make a nice portrait lens.

[Douglas_of_Sweden]

The interesting thing is of course if there are any cheap FF lenses that are undervalued and actually good enough, at least if you are on a budget. Good legacy lenses tend to cost, but there are some exceptions. Some mentioned the FA 28-105mm powerzoom, and that should be one of the candidates (the other powerzoom lenses that are just FA, not FA*, are really bad). Even more so one should look for the FA 28-70mm f4 (constant 4). In reviews when it came it was optically compared to the FA*28-70 f2.8, just smaller, slower and less expensive. These two are worth considering as decent used normal-zoomes if you can afford the K-1 right now, but not much more until some more saving. Or if you mostly want to spend your money on primes, but want to complement with a good zoom. I'll be testing both of them....and I will test some really crapy lenses too....for comparison.

But if you want to pick up used FF Pentax lenses...know that prices have been rising on ebay for a while.

[wtlwdwgn]

I've been having good results with my A 24-50, 35-105, and 70-210.

[mer6]

I hope lots of people bought a K-1, but have no more budget for lenses, so they can only afford one of those Holga lenses.. because remember, kids, the only thing that matters is sensor size! [/sarcasm]

That said, FA and FA J lens tests would be kind of interesting, especially the wide angle ones

My FA 28mm f/2.8 and K-1 arrived today, I will probably be able to start taking pics in a few weeks (a bit busy right now with school stuff).

[kain]

I've got an assortment of old lenses of questionable quality and heritage I'll be fooling around with:

Modified Nikon 35mm f/2 (Non-Ai, turned into a manual aperture lens)
Unknown brand 80-205mm 3.8-?? M42 zoom
(Super?-)Takumar 50mm 1:1 M42 Macro Zoom
Uncoated Takumar 135mm f/2.5
Coated(??) Vivitar 135mm f/2.8 M42 w/ 1 missing aperture blade
Nikon-Sinar F1/F2 view camera adaptor, w/ 75mm and 210mm lenses
Some vivitar 28-??mm manual push/pull zoom

[RobA_Oz]

I've used the F35-70, FA J 18-35 and Sigma 28-90 on a Sony A7.

They're certainly acceptable stopped down. Two of them are pseudo macro, even.

If I remember correctly, the FA J 18-35 was offered as an option with the *istD at one (early) stage. With the limited zoom range, I've often wondered how well it performed. It'll be interesting to see how it goes with the K-1.

[Douglas_of_Sweden]

I've got an assortment of old lenses of questionable quality and heritage I'll be fooling around with:

Modified Nikon 35mm f/2 (Non-Ai, turned into a manual aperture lens)
Unknown brand 80-205mm 3.8-?? M42 zoom
(Super?-)Takumar 50mm 1:1 M42 Macro Zoom
Uncoated Takumar 135mm f/2.5
Coated(??) Vivitar 135mm f/2.8 M42 w/ 1 missing aperture blade
Nikon-Sinar F1/F2 view camera adaptor, w/ 75mm and 210mm lenses
Some vivitar 28-??mm manual push/pull zoom

There are no uncoated Takumar 135/2.5. If it says Super in front of Takumar, it is 3 layers of coating. If it says SMC or Super Multi Coated, it has 7 layers. If it isn't an m42 (screw mount) but a bayonet Takumar, it has a 3 layer coating.

[Adam]

I spent a while going through my lens cabinet and I've really gained an appreciation for small Pentax lenses like the DA 50mm (which is fine on FF, save for some vignetting and blurry corners wide-open), FA 35-70mm (which is quite good overall), and FA 20-35mm.

[clackers]

I spent a while going through my lens cabinet and I've really gained an appreciation for small Pentax lenses like the ... and FA 20-35mm.

Hope so.

This will be my wide angle zoom until I can afford better, which I calculate to be in the Year 2525.

I do have some nice primes in the meantime!

[Wheatridger]

Ten years ago, I was hanging out over at dyxum.com. If you don't know, that's the worldwide fansite for Minolta/Sony alpha owners. We were having a great time with our new FF DSLR, the a900. Then came the a850, the cheapest FF ever at just $2,000. With new Sony FF lenses in short supply, we sorted through Minolta's back catalogue to find the best models. Thus were born legends: the "Beercan," a sleek 70-210/4 with internal focus and the best bokeh in town, and the "Secret Handshake," a 28-135/4 that was big, heavy and impeccably sharp. As the Sony FF cameras proved popular, the value of used rose sharply. Not for the lowest and most common kit lenses, but for everything else.

The point is, about five years, I was using film-ere AF lenses on a FF DSLR. Chosen well, it was ideal. The modest 2:1 zooms, like Minolta's 35-70 and 100-200, both with constant f4, were excellent. I have a 36 inch print of water spraying over a farm field, and you can see every drop clearly from 100 feet away. Not bad for a $40 lens! The Beercan's bokeh was just as silky as they said, but the secret handshake, two pounds of big glass, was too much to handle. The 24-85 was just right, and tack-sharp, but with bad bokeh, from its pioneering use of two aspherical elements. I hated to see those lenses go when I sold out of the system, but the bodies were aging and the values of the A-mount DSLR lenses was sagging back to pre-boom levels. Sony had made the lenses functionally obsolescent by introducing the mirrorless lenses.

Pentax users will have a happier fate, I predict. The company named for the pentaprism intends to remain true to the truths and pleasures of optical viewing. And we Pentaxians are quite used to being the kooks, contrarians and (N)iconclasts who held out this long. We'll feel a rush of pleasure to experience how the new camera's capabilities make our old lenses sharper, more stable and effectively five stops faster. We're going to have a good old time with Takumars and Tokinas, Fs and FAs and the rest. We're the ones who have to do it differently, right?

[RobA_Oz]

Hope so.

This will be my wide angle zoom until I can afford better, which I calculate to be in the Year 2525.

I do have some nice primes in the meantime!

You, Zager & Evans.