First Prime Lens for new Pentax K-x User

timo4352 · 01-12-2010, 11:45 PM

Originally posted by Igilligan

Yes as J bush says... the 643.99 amazon cost for the kx 18-55 and 55-300 is the ticket. Got mine in six days even though it said one to 2 months for shipping.

Hi All
Just signed up and saw this good news about the faster Amazon shipping.
I ordered mine a few days ago and was prepared for a long wait...
Hope mine ships sooner like yours did! Did you get shipment notification from Amazon or did it just show up?
Now I'm getting excited!

Tim

woefulwabbit · 01-13-2010, 03:57 AM

Originally posted by hcc

The Pentax FA50mm is auto-focus and lens-correction can be enabled in a Pentax camera.

How did you get your FA50 lens corrected? I was under the impression that only DA or DFA lenses could be corrected, and when I have my FA50mm mounted on my K-x, the lens correction option is grayed out.

Not that I'm bothered by that anyway, since Bibble5 can do the lens correction automatically.

**Rondec** · 01-13-2010, 05:20 AM

Originally posted by woefulwabbit

I was under the impression that only DA or DFA lenses could be corrected, and when I have my FA50mm mounted on my K-x, the lens correction option is grayed out.

You are correct, although there isn't much that needs to be corrected on the FA 50 anyway.

Marc Sabatella · 01-13-2010, 12:12 PM

I assume the "correction" being referred to regarding the FA50 is focus adjustment, not the distortion/aberration correction. On a camera that supports focus adjustment (the K-x doesn't), it should work with any AF lens.

**Michaelina2** · 01-13-2010, 12:48 PM

If you like your DA 18-55, I'd recommend adding the D FA 100/28 MACRO as you next lens. It's not cheap, but save your money, ask Santa for some help and perhaps it will be yours by next Christmas. It's so good that you can aggressively crop the output to simulate a 300mm focal length with ease. Likewise, your 18-55mm images will crop to simulate any focal length up to 100mm. With some skillful pp, your DA 18-55, plus the D FA 100 will give a very good 18-300mm kit.

Now, if you find later on you want the replace the 18-55, I suggest the DA 15. Like the DFA 100, it is so good that you can crop simulate up to a 100mm focal length with little loss in image quality. So... your D FA 100, plus the DA 15 becomes a pro-quality 15-300mm kit.

All of this assumes your primary publishing medium is the web, or paper to about 8x10. If you wish to go larger on paper you will need real focal length lenses (not simulated via crop) for best image quality.

... my .02 cents ---

Marc Sabatella · 01-13-2010, 01:38 PM

It's rather a stretch to say the 15 can be cropped to the same fov as a 100 with no loss of quality even for web viewing. On a 12MP camera, a 100% crop at typical close-to-full screen size works out to around a 4X "crop factor", so it only barely covers the field of view of the kit lens if you crop at 100% for viewing on screen. And as sharp as the 15 is, viewed at 100% it's still not going to be a match for the kit lens. I don't have any exact comparisons (same shot both lenses at a variety of focal lengths), but based on what I do have, I'd say a crop from the 15 will beat the kit lens at the wide end, but by the time you get to the normal range (by 30mm or so, say), you're in the kit lens' sweet spot, and are pushing the 15 pretty hard.

dougdeep · 01-13-2010, 10:58 PM

Originally posted by timo4352

Hi All
Just signed up and saw this good news about the faster Amazon shipping.
I ordered mine a few days ago and was prepared for a long wait...
Hope mine ships sooner like yours did! Did you get shipment notification from Amazon or did it just show up?
Now I'm getting excited!

Tim

Ordered mine on 1/2 from Amazon. Still hasn't shipped yet. Hopefully you'll get lucky and be in the same ship group as me and not have to wait so long.

*************** had instructions for a free Prime trial. I hit it and bought 1 day shipping for $4.

Great news! My kit shipped from Amazon today (1/16).

Last edited by dougdeep; 01-16-2010 at 05:27 PM. Reason: Shipped.

rodmandrill · 01-15-2010, 08:32 AM

I have to disagree with the people saying don't get a prime lens for 6 months and then get a new one for $350+

There are tons of manual focus Pentax-M's and -A's on ebay and craigslist for very cheap (under $100 or even cheaper). At that price I don't see any reason to wait to start learning how to use a prime lens. Even if plan on getting a new DA prime I'd say it's a good idea to get a cheap used one and use it for a while. Also don't forget to just check for old Pentax film cameras, they might not come up when you search for a lens but will include the lens you want, sometimes even cheaper than the lens alone.

testlord · 01-16-2010, 03:05 AM

i got my first prime after a month of checking which fl i use the most. its around 28mm - 35mm so i decided to get the pentax-fa 35mm.
this lens is such a big improvement over the kit lens because it's wider aperture helps significantly acquire focus in available light situations. so if you need a prime which is faster and wide enough to use it as a walk around lens i would choose this lens.
i got mine a week ago for 300€ not cheap but far away from the expensive 35mm macro...

RioRico · 01-16-2010, 11:32 AM

I haven't checked prices lately, haven't needed to, but when I was on an eBay spree just over a year ago, I acquired a PILE of good manual primes, in M42 and PK and other mounts, mostly for (well) under US$30 including shipping. As suggested above, look at camera offerings too; often, several lenses are included. Also look at 'lots' where a batch of various bodies and lenses sell together for a song. And keep in mind that Nikon f-mount lenses can be force-fit onto a PK mount without damage.

newarts · 01-16-2010, 01:41 PM

If you are interested in shooting interior, non-flash shots, like at home, in bistros, etc. you might consider getting a fast 50mm lens right away.

I doubt the excellent high ISO performance of the K-X with the kit lens is good enough to handle social interiors, which are a large fraction of photos I want to take.

Get a manual 50mm 1.4, 1.7, 2.0, whatever & shoot away. Focus confirmation by the camera makes focusing easy. (it beeps when it detects focus...kind of semi-automatic focus) You might get lucky & find an autofocus Pentax-F 50:1.7 for $150 or so - snap it up!

dougdeep · 01-16-2010, 05:32 PM

Grabbed a Pentax K1000 body, neck strap, and 50mm f2 A lense from Craigslist for $25. It's in beautiful condition, looks barely used. I really dig the retro neck-strap. While f2 isn't the fastest 50mm lense, I think the A lense will be particularly helpful in video mode and may make for a nice walk around lense.

Snagged a Ricoh XR Rikenon 50mm f1.7 off ebay for $30 shipped. Not as hot of a deal, but I think the fast 50mm are in decent demand on ebay right now. I think it lacks coating. If that's true, it may be a nightmare for flare.

I'm really hoping to snag up a 300mm f4 M or A lense for Wildlife photography. After cropping factor I'm looking at about 450mm. That will be fantastic.

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01-12-2010, 11:45 PM	#16
timo4352 Inactive Account Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Ohio Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 169	Originally posted by Igilligan Yes as J bush says... the 643.99 amazon cost for the kx 18-55 and 55-300 is the ticket. Got mine in six days even though it said one to 2 months for shipping. Hi All Just signed up and saw this good news about the faster Amazon shipping. I ordered mine a few days ago and was prepared for a long wait... Hope mine ships sooner like yours did! Did you get shipment notification from Amazon or did it just show up? Now I'm getting excited! Tim

01-13-2010, 03:57 AM	#17
woefulwabbit New Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 5	Originally posted by hcc The Pentax FA50mm is auto-focus and lens-correction can be enabled in a Pentax camera. How did you get your FA50 lens corrected? I was under the impression that only DA or DFA lenses could be corrected, and when I have my FA50mm mounted on my K-x, the lens correction option is grayed out. Not that I'm bothered by that anyway, since Bibble5 can do the lens correction automatically.

01-13-2010, 05:20 AM	#18
Rondec Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Gladys, Virginia Photos: Gallery Posts: 27,653	Originally posted by woefulwabbit I was under the impression that only DA or DFA lenses could be corrected, and when I have my FA50mm mounted on my K-x, the lens correction option is grayed out. You are correct, although there isn't much that needs to be corrected on the FA 50 anyway.

01-13-2010, 12:12 PM	#19
Marc Sabatella Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Denver, CO Photos: Gallery Posts: 10,685	I assume the "correction" being referred to regarding the FA50 is focus adjustment, not the distortion/aberration correction. On a camera that supports focus adjustment (the K-x doesn't), it should work with any AF lens.

01-13-2010, 12:48 PM	#20
Michaelina2 Site Supporter Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: SE Michigan USA Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,300	If you like your DA 18-55, I'd recommend adding the D FA 100/28 MACRO as you next lens. It's not cheap, but save your money, ask Santa for some help and perhaps it will be yours by next Christmas. It's so good that you can aggressively crop the output to simulate a 300mm focal length with ease. Likewise, your 18-55mm images will crop to simulate any focal length up to 100mm. With some skillful pp, your DA 18-55, plus the D FA 100 will give a very good 18-300mm kit. Now, if you find later on you want the replace the 18-55, I suggest the DA 15. Like the DFA 100, it is so good that you can crop simulate up to a 100mm focal length with little loss in image quality. So... your D FA 100, plus the DA 15 becomes a pro-quality 15-300mm kit. All of this assumes your primary publishing medium is the web, or paper to about 8x10. If you wish to go larger on paper you will need real focal length lenses (not simulated via crop) for best image quality. ... my .02 cents ---

01-13-2010, 01:38 PM	#21
Marc Sabatella Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Denver, CO Photos: Gallery Posts: 10,685	It's rather a stretch to say the 15 can be cropped to the same fov as a 100 with no loss of quality even for web viewing. On a 12MP camera, a 100% crop at typical close-to-full screen size works out to around a 4X "crop factor", so it only barely covers the field of view of the kit lens if you crop at 100% for viewing on screen. And as sharp as the 15 is, viewed at 100% it's still not going to be a match for the kit lens. I don't have any exact comparisons (same shot both lenses at a variety of focal lengths), but based on what I do have, I'd say a crop from the 15 will beat the kit lens at the wide end, but by the time you get to the normal range (by 30mm or so, say), you're in the kit lens' sweet spot, and are pushing the 15 pretty hard.

01-13-2010, 10:58 PM	#22
dougdeep New Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 8	Originally posted by timo4352 Hi All Just signed up and saw this good news about the faster Amazon shipping. I ordered mine a few days ago and was prepared for a long wait... Hope mine ships sooner like yours did! Did you get shipment notification from Amazon or did it just show up? Now I'm getting excited! Tim Ordered mine on 1/2 from Amazon. Still hasn't shipped yet. Hopefully you'll get lucky and be in the same ship group as me and not have to wait so long. *************** had instructions for a free Prime trial. I hit it and bought 1 day shipping for $4. Great news! My kit shipped from Amazon today (1/16). Last edited by dougdeep; 01-16-2010 at 05:27 PM. Reason: Shipped.

01-15-2010, 08:32 AM	#23
rodmandrill New Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Chicago Photos: Gallery Posts: 9	I have to disagree with the people saying don't get a prime lens for 6 months and then get a new one for $350+ There are tons of manual focus Pentax-M's and -A's on ebay and craigslist for very cheap (under $100 or even cheaper). At that price I don't see any reason to wait to start learning how to use a prime lens. Even if plan on getting a new DA prime I'd say it's a good idea to get a cheap used one and use it for a while. Also don't forget to just check for old Pentax film cameras, they might not come up when you search for a lens but will include the lens you want, sometimes even cheaper than the lens alone.

01-16-2010, 03:05 AM	#24
testlord Inactive Account Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 11	i got my first prime after a month of checking which fl i use the most. its around 28mm - 35mm so i decided to get the pentax-fa 35mm. this lens is such a big improvement over the kit lens because it's wider aperture helps significantly acquire focus in available light situations. so if you need a prime which is faster and wide enough to use it as a walk around lens i would choose this lens. i got mine a week ago for 300€ not cheap but far away from the expensive 35mm macro...

01-16-2010, 11:32 AM	#25
RioRico Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Limbo, California Posts: 11,263	I haven't checked prices lately, haven't needed to, but when I was on an eBay spree just over a year ago, I acquired a PILE of good manual primes, in M42 and PK and other mounts, mostly for (well) under US$30 including shipping. As suggested above, look at camera offerings too; often, several lenses are included. Also look at 'lots' where a batch of various bodies and lenses sell together for a song. And keep in mind that Nikon f-mount lenses can be force-fit onto a PK mount without damage.

01-16-2010, 01:41 PM	#26
newarts Inactive Account Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Ames, Iowa, USA Photos: Albums Posts: 2,965	If you are interested in shooting interior, non-flash shots, like at home, in bistros, etc. you might consider getting a fast 50mm lens right away. I doubt the excellent high ISO performance of the K-X with the kit lens is good enough to handle social interiors, which are a large fraction of photos I want to take. Get a manual 50mm 1.4, 1.7, 2.0, whatever & shoot away. Focus confirmation by the camera makes focusing easy. (it beeps when it detects focus...kind of semi-automatic focus) You might get lucky & find an autofocus Pentax-F 50:1.7 for $150 or so - snap it up!

01-16-2010, 05:32 PM	#27
dougdeep New Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 8	Grabbed a Pentax K1000 body, neck strap, and 50mm f2 A lense from Craigslist for $25. It's in beautiful condition, looks barely used. I really dig the retro neck-strap. While f2 isn't the fastest 50mm lense, I think the A lense will be particularly helpful in video mode and may make for a nice walk around lense. Snagged a Ricoh XR Rikenon 50mm f1.7 off ebay for $30 shipped. Not as hot of a deal, but I think the fast 50mm are in decent demand on ebay right now. I think it lacks coating. If that's true, it may be a nightmare for flare. I'm really hoping to snag up a 300mm f4 M or A lense for Wildlife photography. After cropping factor I'm looking at about 450mm. That will be fantastic.