[woody54]

Currently using an Olympus micro 4/3 body with adapters to shoot with vintage lenses. Have considered Sony A7 as a possibility, but does Pentax have an affordable full frame digital 35mm option? Lapsed Pentax Loyalist

[jatrax]

Pentax K-1 and the K-1II
Pentax K-1 II - Pentax K-mount DSLRs - Pentax Camera Reviews and Specifications
I must say it is a real pleasure using my vintage Pentax glass on a real Pentax FF camera.

[mikesbike]

Depends on what you are looking for. FF bodies will provide the same field of view (FOV) as you'd see through the VF and get in your photos, as you would using a 35mm film body. If the is what you are after when you say a "35mm digital option" a Pentax K-1 II is the way to go! For what it offers, prices are now well below anything comparable in other brands. The Sony A7 is a mirrorless design,whereas the Pentax is a DSLR, that is with a (very fine) optical viewfinder, as well as a live view screen for use for purposes where an electronic VF is advantageous.

But OTOH, with Pentax APS-C bodies, you can still use your lenses without needing an adapter. You'll get a bit more FOV than with the 4/3 system, and excellent resolution capability with the better models, like the compact Pentax KP, a very well-built camera of metal construction, weather-resistant seals, and advanced engineering with exceptional controls. Prices are remarkable for this class of camera.

Which lenses are you using?

[UncleVanya]

D

But OTOH, with Pentax APS-C bodies, you can use your lenses without needing an adapter. You'll get a bit more FOV, and excellent resolution capability...

Which lenses are you using?

Edit: I misread the comment, ignore this next paragraph...

I'm not sure that is what you meant to say. The angle of view will be narrower on apsc than ff. To me that implies a smaller FOV.

In any case I'm reading the question to be about full frame.

The K-1 and K-1 mk ii are both excellent cameras, but I'm not sure they're affordable in the same way an old first generation Sony A7 series is. Sure the K-1 is better and probably as good a value, but if the main objective is merely to shoot the old gems at their original FOV, then the old A7 is a cheaper option to do that with. The a7 does come with some Sony warts like the first generation menus.

On the other hand if getting closer to the original FOV is sufficient, then any Pentax DSLR body would work.

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Last edited by UncleVanya; 10-18-2020 at 05:26 AM.

I'm not sure that is what you meant to say. The angle of view will be narrower on apsc than ff. To me that implies a smaller FOV.

In any case I'm reading the question to be about full frame.

The K-1 and K-1 mk ii are both excellent cameras, but I'm not sure they're affordable in the same way an old first generation Sony A7 series is. Sure the K-1 is better and probably as good a value, but if the main objective is merely to shoot the old gems at their original FOV, then the old A7 is a cheaper option to do that with. The a7 does come with some Sony warts like the first generation menus.

On the other hand if getting closer to the original FOV is sufficient, then any Pentax DSLR body would work.

I think that Mikesbike compared 4/3 with APS-C and then the FOV is larger. That the angle of view will be narrower on APS-C than FF is another discussion.

[Oldbayrunner]

Several years ago when Olympus abandoned us dslr users for mirrorless I like many others I abandoned Oly. Now if you like mirrorless and using EVF then you may prefer opting to go with the A7 but if you like dslr then I've been really happy with all of the Ricoh/Pentax ones I have used. Others may mention going apsc and I certainly maintain owning a k3ll but it is getting less and less used. I resisted going full frame mainly because I had a lot of apsc glass but then I had a few full frame also so I finally bought a full frame K1ll. I found what I have searched for in a camera with it. I love full frame!

Others may disagree but I find instead of breaking out another camera to use the apsc glass I have left I find it easier just to slap that glass on my K1ll and use the 16mp crop mode. I used a 16mp apsc for years prior to buying the 24mp k3ll and I don't enlarge to huge prints and to be honest I always preferred the 16mp images my K5 lls produced over my k3ll so I have that and then some using my crop on the K1 ll. There are a few thing one does give up in speed but for my use it doesn't matter.

[UncleVanya]

I think that Mikesbike compared 4/3 with APS-C and then the FOV is larger. That the angle of view will be narrower on APS-C than FF is another discussion.

Lol. You're right! I'm not sure how I got mixed up.

[aslyfox]

Welcome to the forums

you will find friendly members and a lot of knowledge here

___

first: " full frame " digital sensor equals the old negative size film of an 35mm SLR

these articles explain

The Crop Factor Unmasked
Field of View vs Focal Length on various formats
By PF Staff in Articles and Tips on Jul 23, 2014

Read more at: The Crop Factor Unmasked - Articles and Tips | PentaxForums.com

________________

The Crop Factor Explained: An Animation
Understanding a very confusing concept
By PF Staff in Tutorial Videos on Jan 19, 2015

Read more at: The Crop Factor Explained: An Animation - Tutorial Videos | PentaxForums.com

_______________________

second, as has been said, the only full frame digital sensor available with Pentax is the K 1 or K 1 II

___________________________________________

third, here is a side by side comparison between the K 1 II, K 3 II ( an ASP-C sensor body ) and the K 1

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-cameras-compared/?c1=Pentax+K-1+I...&c3=Pentax+K-1

[aslyfox]

Lol. You're right! I'm not sure how I got mixed up.

let the one who has not done the same, - - -

you know what I mean

it has happened to many of us

[texandrews]

Currently using an Olympus micro 4/3 body with adapters to shoot with vintage lenses. Have considered Sony A7 as a possibility, but does Pentax have an affordable full frame digital 35mm option? Lapsed Pentax Loyalist

Welcome to our forums. So, I used to be in Oly (C5050, C8080, E330, E3) and liked Oly very much back then. I went to FF Sony, A850, in 2010, and then added an NEX7 and an A7R. I used vintage glass on this last one. It's do-able....but in the end a bit awkward. Not terribly, but a bit. With the Pentax lenses, the size of the adapter plus the lens made things a little long. Never used the pancakes, though.

The K1/K1mkII cameras are really terrific. Huge upgrade IMO from the OLY's today. If you're not size obsessed, I think you would truly like them---their ergonomics are excellent, far better than the Sony line right now. I think the K1/K1mkII cameras are as small as I would want a camera to be, if I wasn't looking for something pocketable. There's such a thing as too small, which I found out with my A7R, even though I thought it an excellent camera.

[woody54]

Appreciate all the knowledgeable advice and the friendly banter here. Will shortlist the Pentax K1, K1 mkii in my full frame considerations. Lenses? A trove of M42 and K mount lenses from the pre-digital days, fish eye through to telephoto. Happy Shooting!

[Fenwoodian]

Appreciate all the knowledgeable advice and the friendly banter here. Will shortlist the Pentax K1, K1 mkii in my full frame considerations. Lenses? A trove of M42 and K mount lenses from the pre-digital days, fish eye through to telephoto. Happy Shooting!

.


I own lots of older, manual-focus full frame lenses. While I often use these lenses on my full frame Pentax K-1 camera, these days I'm actually preferring to use them on a Metabones Speed Booster on one of my MFT cameras! I like this approach so much that I've purchased 3 Metabones Speed Boosters.

The Speed Boosters make the field of view on MFT close to what it was on the full frame sensor K-1. Also, the Speed Boosters improve the sharpness and increase the background blur/bokeh (e.g. my 50mm f/1.2 lens with Speed Booster on MFT turns into a 40mm f/0.80 lens on MFT that's sharper than it is on full frame camera).

So, you just might want to consider getting yourself the appropriate Metabones Speed Booster and try using your collection of older, manual-focus, full frame lenses on a Speed Booster on your Olympus camera. While there are other companies that also make "focal reducer speed boosters" that are cheaper than the original Metabones ones, my experieince with these knock-off brands is not as good as with the original Metabones' FRSBs. So if you can afford it, buy the best, get a genuine Metabones one.

[surfar]

. my 50mm f/1.2 lens with Speed Booster on MFT turns into a 40mm f/0.80 lens on MFT that's sharper than it is on full frame camera).

Maybe your maths needs an update.



Metabones®

[UncleVanya]

As far as I can tell there isn't a current K to m43 metabones made. The suggestion I've seen is to use the Canon EF one with a passive adapter to fit K lenses on EF mounts.

Additionally the Metabones site has a lot of caveats (see link posted earlier) about which m43 bodies work with which adapter and lenses. For example on Panasonic bodies they recommend the .64x ultra xl for FF lenses and the .71x ultra for apsc lenses. On Olympus they only recommend the .71x for both full frame and apsc.

My assumption is that the ultra xl can fail to fit the Olympus bodies due to something physically interfering.

[mikesbike]

Not all pre-digital Pentax or 3rd-party K-mount lenses are MF. But all those AF will be using the screw-driven technology- and not a problem! Those being MF and having an "A" setting on the aperture ring will also benefit from that advancement when used on a Pentax DSLR body.