Hello All,

I just recently acquired the 165/4 LS lens and went on a walk through the woods to give it a workout, totally handheld with my non-MLU P6x7. I found this lens to be surprisingly compact for its focal length and the focusing is smooth and precise. The leaf shutter works great and I can see some potential advantages with that.

Here's one of the shots from yesterday on Tr-X:



I found, though that during my initial tests the lens leaf shutter flash sync was inoperative; it's not a big deal since I think I would make use of that only under rare circumstances, but it still bugs me that that option is unavailable to me. The flash works fine in the camera sync port. Is this something that can still be repaired? I'm still waiting for an answer from Eric but I don't expect to hear anything until after the holiday break.

In any case, I'm looking forward to using it for portraits and landscapes.. it's incredibly sharp!

I did not see a photo or link in your post.
The 165 LS is an outstanding lens, as are the rest of the specialty lenses from Pentax. I use mine for landscapes and macro because of its f/32 depth and general sharpness. It's a bit sharper than my 90-180 zoom @ 165mm. I don't use mine for flash work, so I can't help you in that regard.

Ah, let me try again...



I hadn't thought about the macro aspect; I do currently have the helicoid extension tube but I haven't exercised it yet.

Speaking of zooms, I'm thinking about the 55-100; there may be one in my stocking.

Nice shot!

PM me if you need a copy of the 165/4 LS manual.

Phil.

PM sent, and thanks Phil!


The lens is on its way to Eric Hendrickson, he said he'd take a look to see if it's an easy fix for the PC socket.

This guy, Michael Carter has a video where he talks about the sync speed "1/8s or slower"—and the lens works for him at 1/4s (slower) but not at 1/8s

Regards Jakob