[mikesbike]

For the kind of macro you are interested in doing, a 100mm macro lens would be more suitable than a shorter focal length. This would allow you to shoot far enough away to hopefully avoid alarming your little subjects. The current DFA 100mm f/2.8 is a great lens, and has excellent build quality with WR. I like having WR because some very nice effects can be achieved in macro shots under drippy conditions. But I do not ordinarily get into doing catch-in-focus shots. I have been getting some excellent results with hand-held shots of insects, not necessarily 1:1 but still appearing quite close up. 1:1 would not normally be done hand-held or with a moving subject, because focus will have to be very precise and carefully done, as the area that will be well-focused and sharpest in your frame will be very shallow, and any movement at all will cause focus accuracy to be lost.

The KP is a very advanced, very high resolution model that offers excellent imaging quality, and its relatively slim design is ideal for hiking. One of the goals of this design was for a very high caliber body but is smaller and lighter for advanced use in the field. Its construction is of professional standards. I like mine very much. I used to shoot with a K200D and a DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 II as well. It provided very good results, but that was over 10 years ago, I went on to 2 other improved generations before getting the KP, and I can tell you the KP is substantially superior. For one thing, you can use a higher ISO while preserving high quality imaging, so this will provide a higher shutter speed for hand-held macro shooting in less than bright sunlight. When it comes to closeups, a higher shutter speed for hand held shooting, even with SR, is more important- very similar to longer telephoto shooting.

Pentax is just now coming out with their latest flagship APS-C model, the K-3 III. There are many who have pre-ordered this model, and delivery is expected soon. It is quite expensive at $2,000 USD body-only. After it has been available on shelves for a short time, there might be some KP owners, especially those who are interested in burst shooting and AF tracking for fast-moving subjects as well as even higher ISO with quality, and want this bigger camera that has outstanding capabilities for this kind of shooting, who might be selling their low-use KP in the market place of this forum. (this will not be me!) The appearance of the new model has actually driven up the price of the new KP stock still on the shelves over what it was a month ago.

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Last edited by mikesbike; 04-25-2021 at 09:38 PM.

[Papa_Joe]

I would suggest to buy a macro lens first and try it on the K-200D. The camera produces very good colors, so if the pictures ares sufficient for you you can save some money.

On the other hand the latest Pentax cameras produce much better images out of the camera, so if you do not develop your pictures on a computer a new camera is a worthwhile upgrade.

I would reommend a Pentax with an articulated screen for macro photography as it makes taking pictures in low level positions much easyer. Those are the Pentax KP and the Pentax K-70 at current in APS-C.

[pres589]

I don't think any of the 90 to 105mm macro lenses available in k-mount are that bad, meaning there should be something in your budget available new or used. The recently out of production Tamron 90mm f2.8 AF Macro and Pentax's 100mm macro's would probably be top of my list, as well as the previously mentioned Cosina made 100mm f3.5 macro's that are available used. Tamron did sell 90mm f2.5 macro's but they're really not that all-around great on digital camera bodies so I'm not sure I would recommend one if you do see one for sale (and I own one and like it very much but I mostly use it on film cameras).

I don't think there are any macro lenses available for Pentax mount that won't work on both your K200D as well as a brand new body like a K-70 or KP so I wouldn't worry about timing of body upgrades.

[volley]

If you can live with results like these there is nothing wrong with a K200D (it is a wonderful camera!!)
With the K200D I have mainly used an old manual focus 2.8/90 macro lens. Plenty of these are available at very decant prices.

[aslyfox]

for me I decided to do what I call " field " macro as oppose to " lab " macro

in other words, I try to take macro outside without tripod and flash

although a good ring flash would be helpful

I mainly try macro of pollinators so the longer focal length of my Pentax D FA 100mm F2.8 lenses are better for me

[UncleVanya]

A misnomer... that 400mm on the Canon can provide good macros using the right add on lens. The cheap diopter lenses are bad, but a good achromatic multi-element lens will provide excellent results. The size of the front element may make this a bit more expensive and the existing focus issues would need to be resolved. With the right adapter (rings or other types) the ads on lens could also be used on a lens for your Pentax.

With $2000 you can but a lot of equipment. If it were me, I’d stick with your existing Pentax to lean more about the techniques and buy some inexpensive Macro lens and a manual ring flash. Later you can decide what you want to really buy.

This also might interest you:

Free Online Class presented on Macro: Up CLose With Fujifilm - Virtual Class May 27 - PentaxForums.com

Try to see past the brand centric pitch and focus on technique and general tools.

[noblepa]

As far as enlargements go, I am looking a shot I took a few years ago with my K10d, which also has 10.2 megapixels.

It is about 85 percent crop enlarged to 8 x 12 and sharp as a tack. I have others that I have enlarged to as large as 16 x 20.

As long as you don't need to crop out the central 10 percent of the image and blow it up to 16 x 20, 10.2 MP is fine.

[nosliwmit]

buy some inexpensive Macro lens and a manual ring flash

I'll second this. I have some wonderful macros of bugs and flowers that I took with my K200D. One thing to keep in mind is the low-light performance of the K200D is not great by today's standards; but an inexpensive manual ring flash (like a Pentax AF080C, which can be purchased rather cheaply on the used market) opens up a world of possibilities. Someone else mentioned the DA 35mm Limited macro. It's a fantastic lens - small, light, allows very close focus, can be used as a general-purpose walk-around lens etc.


This was taken with a K200D, a 35mm Ltd. macro and an AF080C ring flash. It's a very capable kit:

[pentasonic49]

Your camera is perfectly capable of taking superb macro photographs. I would recommend a macro lens in the 90 to 100mm focal range. It can be manual focus, which is no disadvantage, as you can set in focus indicators in the viewfinder as well as an audible beep. I tend to take 90% of my macro photos with the lens set to manual focus. Mention has been made of the Cosina/Vivitar 100- f3.5 macro which goes to 1:2 or 1:1 with the matched closeup lens. I had one and cannot fault it optically, it is called "the plastic fantastic". It may be hard to get one as most people love them. Any proper macro lens will give good results, if you have a choice, get one with the "A" setting on the diaphragm ring, it will be easier to use than one without.

[mikesbike]

Right. The K200D is a capable camera, as long as lighting is good. If you regularly need above ISO 800, recent models will perform better. If you shoot JPEG images right out of the camera, the default category used among Custom Image processing is the "Bright" category. Colors are very saturated. Perhaps too much so for some flower petals so that detail may be obscured. In this case, switch to the "Natural" category. Also, be sure to go into the Custom Image menus to implement Fine Sharpening down in the Sharpening adjustments both in the "Bright" and "Natural" categories.