[cmadigan]

Hi all!

'Officially' new tot he forum, but have lurked in and out over the years

About five years ago I purchased a secondhand Kr to accompany me on a 9 month trip to Asia. I didn't know much about photography at the time, but really enjoyed the learning process and was able to get some good shots here and there.

Fast forward to the present day and my Kr has remained a trusty sidekick, but is certainly starting to show the miles and develop some quirks. I'm still very much an amateur, butI think I'm at the point where it makes sense to invest in a body with a few less bumps and bruises.

A local former photographer was moving and unloading all of his Pentax gear, and I bought the whole lot from him. (I hope it was a good deal, folks on the forum who know about older glass will certainly know better than I.)

The lot included two 35mm cameras, eight lenses from 24 to 500mm, a tripod, a monopod, and a bunch of smaller accessories (bags, filters, flashes, cleaning equipment, etc.). All of the lenses are manual, save one 300mm with an auto aperture setting. I'm happy to list the gear in full detail for anyone interested, but this is already along post.


EDIT - Here is the thread with the list of glass in it:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/10-pentax-slr-lens-discussion/389143-hel...ml#post4674283


Anyways, I now have all of this 35mm gear that, while older, is in great condition. My real question is, does it make sense, now that I have this stuff, and am shopping for a newer body, to be on the hunt for a K1?

Skills-wise I'm sure that K-70 or KP would be plenty for me, so I am mostly interested in the K1 in order to match up with the full-frame glass that I now have. I never made much of an investment in APS-C lenses, and will be keeping the Kr, so I'm not too worried about that. I prefer to shoot landscape, nature, and astro, so I'm not too concerned about most of my lenses being manual. I also have one full-frame auto lens if needed, and can always pick up something else if needed.

With the Mark 1starting to hover around $1,000 level on the used market it seems to make sense to go that direction. This thread also has me thinking it's a good idea! Post your K-1 pics with vintage glasses - PentaxForums.com

I can't imagine I'm the first person to have this thought, so I was hoping to ask anybody who has gone down this road if you have any advice, or if there was anything you wish had thought of or knew before buying a K1. (monochrome, it sounds like you may have done something similar?) Any thoughts, comments, words of advice are appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

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Last edited by cmadigan; 06-27-2019 at 11:17 AM. Reason: Included link

[photoptimist]

Congrats on the acquisition! Trying out new lenses is always a lot of fun!

The K-1 is an awesome camera and would provide both the features and the sense of serious upgrade investment to motivate you to take your photography to the next level. The K-1 will make all your wide angle lenses truly wide and that's great for landscapes.

That said, the KP is a great camera, too. You'll get more reach with the 300 & 500 for distance nature shots on APS-C. Of course, if you keep the Kr (or use crop mode on the K-1), you'll have the APS-C reach advantage covered that way.

Enjoy the K-1 (or whatever you decide to buy)!

[BugsDogsAndSunsets]

@photoptimist just about covered it. I can guarantee you some folks will want to see the full list though.

[monochrome]

Welcome to the Forums.

Click Cameras and Lenses in my Signature. I bought K-1 specifically to use with these manual lenses from my film camera days and what I’ve bought since. I guess it tool ten years all-in to accumulate these lenses. The K-1 viewfinder is big band bright enough to allow me to manual focus hand held, and the Image files are luscious. Low ISO long exposure shots on a tripod have massive dynamic range to bring up shadows.

The main problem you will have with (many) old lenses is purple fringing, which is easily removed in post when you start with a RAW file.

I can’t encourage you enough to get a K-1.

[cmadigan]

Thanks all for the thoughts, sounds like I'm on the right track!


I was planning on putting together the list and putting it in the lens forum and seeing if there are any quick tips/things to be aware of. For better or worse, I bought the lot without having much time to do research on what was actually in it...

I'll make sure to link back here when I get the put together.

[Papa_Joe]

All three cameras are very good ones. As normhead showed in a very recent thread you will have problems to distinguish if a full frame or APS-C has been used, if someone knowing what he does is shooting them side by side.

So it comes down to personal preferences. And the first thing you should do is hold those cameras in your hands and play a bit with them before buying one.
For example, the Kr is very tiny compared to a K-1 which is a real heavy and very thick brick. That is the reason why I am still pondering if I should buy the K-1 as a replacement of my K10D which is not really tiny either. On the other side I am wearing glasses and the viewfinder of the K-1 is a dream, unmatched by any other Pentax camera.

Only after trying the cameras I would think about all the other options and pro and cons.

To answer your original question. Most Pentax brand prime lenses with smc coating should work nicely with a K-1, but they also would do that with an K70, depending on the lens.
As long as we don not know which lenses you aquired, there can be no recommendation. Moreover, as you do not have invested into APS-C lenses yet, it might make more sense to buy a K-70 and a 16-85 mm, which gives you a very good camera - lens combination for less money than a K-1 Mark II body and you can still use the aquired lenses from 50 mm upwards with good results.

One last thought - if you could do with a K-1 Mark 1 - the difference in price between a new one and a new KP is not that big.

[richard0170]

As others have said. You do really need to have a feel of these cameras before making a decision. On paper though the K1 would make more sense. Unless you were into extreme telephoto shots. SH it's very competively priced, although it's a brick it is a very comfortable one, and you will get the correct fov on the wider lenses. The IQ will be better, although the sensor may be beyond the capabilities of your glass resolving power. The only real downsides of the K1 is its bulk and the file sizes at full resolution.

[Kerrowdown]

Rock ‘n’ roll, I’d by waiting at the door for the K1 delivery.

[pathdoc]

You are already a Pentax user, your Kr could be dying, and you're happy to stay with the system. You have a whole bunch of full-frame lenses.

A used K1 in good condition is a logical progression if it's in your price range. Mine is 2 years old and has something like only 9000 shots on it, but that's because I still muck around with film and also use a K-5 and an *istDS (the latter for various reasons connected to its TTL flash protocol). The K-1 comes out to do the heavy lifting when nothing less will suffice, and I am sufficiently happy with it that when Pentax offered a low-cost conversion to K-1 Mk 2 I saw no reason to get that done. If I die before the K-1 does, it will never be replaced.

If all I had were my DA lenses, I probably would never have moved up from the K-5. But I was gifted my late father in law's old Pentax film kit and bought some other lenses for it and things snowballed from there, so when my K-5 became my nearly full-time work camera, I had enough full-frame lenses from across the entire range (including AF) that a full-frame body for recreational heavy duty stuff was more than justifiable for me. You are in a very similar situation now.

[jimr-pdx]

If you can afford one, it seems that any time is right for a K-1
I too have many fine classic lenses that would love a 36×24 sensor, sadly the budget says no -or not yet?

[pres589]

Fuji Superia 400 is 3 bucks a roll online...

[TerryL]

I have the original K1, and have not had a reason to upgrade to the K1 II.

[cmadigan]

Thanks everybody for the responses and thoughts. Absolutely some great advice to consider.

I put together a list of the full-frame lenses that I picked up and posted them in this thread, for anyone who may be curious/interested.

Help Me Understand What I Vintage Stuff I Have! - PentaxForums.com


Thanks again!

[Smoke665]

I have a K3ii and a K1Mii. Despite the fact that it's slightly heavier/larger then the K3ii, the K1 is hands down the most comfortable in my hands. The control layout is excellent, everything just fits. Image wise most would be hard pressed to tell the difference between them unless it was a high ISO shot.

Most of the time I'm on the last side using DA and FA glass, for the auto features, but occasionally I'll throw on some old glass that I've accumulated through the years. Both bodies do well with manual glass, though with the K1 you have to tell it the focal length of the manual glass every time you turn it on.

If you go with a used K1 (Not K1Mii) make sure it has the update installed, otherwise you'll have to pay for it.

[Durf]

I don't even have to think twice about it, get the K1 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have a large collection of Takumar's and also old Pentax manual lenses, plus a few other M42 mount lenses and the K1 (first edition). Pretty much the best camera I ever owned, especially for shooting old glass.