Originally posted by DSLRnovice There is no doubt a greater number of both new and used lenses for Canon and Nikon FF digital cameras, but I don't need that many.
That's not true. K-mount has been in production for
decades, by various manufacturers, Vivitar, Zeiss, Helios..
Pentax has fewer lenses in the current lineup, true, but like you said, nobody buys all lenses, only a couple that are closest to our wishes. But I'm pretty sure there are more K-mount lenses worldwide than there are lenses in the monunts that Canon or Nikon are using now (unlike them, Pentax stuck to the K-mount, evolving it without ruining backwards compatibility)
Originally posted by DSLRnovice I got the impression that he felt it would be foolish to use film era lenses on a modern FF digital camera. He believed that the cost of getting these most important zooms for it would add up to the same amount for the equivalent Nikon or Canon kit. He seemed to think that these 3 zoom kits were the most common systems.
I wouldn't worry. On a higher resolution camera, all your lenses will appear to be higher resolution as on lower res cameras. Now, sure, a modern day super sharp 70-200mm lens that weighs and costs a lot will outperform an old 1980s budget telephoto zoom lens. It comes down to priorities. Cost, size, weight, aperture, rendering style, features (AF? WR? QS? Aperture ring? Focus limiter? What do you really need?) and optical quality (resolution, flare resistance, CA, fringing control ..).
So if you notice that a lens that you have is always giving you results that you are unhappy with, then replace it. Otherwise, go ahead and enjoy it.
Its like this - You have a nice Porsche, but you don't go on racetracks with it. Only on highway every once in a while, never faster than 100mph. Does this mean the Porsche is a waste, just because you are not a racecar driver, because you don't push it to the maximum speed? That's for you to decide. I don't have a Porsche, but I still don't drive at the car's maximum possible speed
I have a digital camera and use plenty of film era lenses, and they give me what I want, so I don't worry about the fact that a lens that is 2x heavier and 10x more expensive would give me slightly more resolution.
You can also do small upgrades, like replacing the M 28mm with F 28mm, which is slightly sharper and has full automation. But I am quite happy with my M 28mm, especially shooting raw and adding some sharpness in post. You can check out the gallery in my sig for some of the photos I squeezed out of the M 28mm, albeit not on FF camera
Just go out, take photos, take test photos, and study them. If a lens keeps 'ruining' photos for you, then get rid of it. Or learn to use it better! I have seen great photos taken with lenses that would not be described as "good." It depends on lens, though. The worst is when a lens is just completely boring, no character, no qualities to speak of.