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Forum: Pentax K-01 11-13-2023, 02:02 AM  
Resurrecting the K-01 - need a new workhorse lens recommendation
Posted By Penta
Replies: 20
Views: 1,364
Just to throw in a curve ball here as I was in a similar predicament with the K-01 and manual focus lenses. Have you thought instead about trying a camera with a viewfinder, I found that really unlocked the full potential in those old manual focus lenses.

Anything from a K30/K50/K70 to K5/K3 has same sensor as you're used to but I found it a lot easier to dial in the focus with the viewfinder on manual lenses and far more stability for manual focusing with the camera tight to your face, there's even a focus confirmation light and other features like catch-in-focus. A 60mm equivalent focal length is quite tight especially for indoor group shots but your 28mm manual lens could work well in those situations and 50mm great for portraits.


Before you invest in more lenses it may be worth picking up a 2nd hand K DSLR and see if that's what's been holding you back from enjoying the manual focus experience.
Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help 11-18-2020, 03:21 PM  
DA* 16-50mm aperture lever jamming when bayonet mount screwed down
Posted By Penta
Replies: 19
Views: 1,187
I gave up in the end thanks for all the advice on the thread, was a bit gutted I couldn't get it fixed up as was hoping it might just be the perfect lens. Hopefully the next owner will be able to get it back to it's former glory. :)
Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help 11-14-2020, 01:36 PM  
DA* 16-50mm aperture lever jamming when bayonet mount screwed down
Posted By Penta
Replies: 19
Views: 1,187
Thanks, you could be right but it all looks good to me and I've cross referenced with other pictures/videos. I've just tried refitting again and adjusted the aperture lever throw and double making sure the gold contacts are all seated properly but same issues. I'm going to try cleaning the contacts and need to figure why this aperture lever is still catching.
Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help 11-14-2020, 12:57 PM  
DA* 16-50mm aperture lever jamming when bayonet mount screwed down
Posted By Penta
Replies: 19
Views: 1,187
Exposure seems ok even though the aperture is funky, ok image wise with manual focus although I've never tried the 16-50 before so nothing to compare to. Tbh it's not really usable in the current state...

---------- Post added 11-14-20 at 08:01 PM ----------



Yes there must be another issue related to the electronics which would explain why its not getting the focal reading to the camera. All contacts have been reseated a number of times and it arrived with these faults before I started to investigate. I think the aperture problem is also related to the lever mechanism.
Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help 11-14-2020, 11:59 AM  
DA* 16-50mm aperture lever jamming when bayonet mount screwed down
Posted By Penta
Replies: 19
Views: 1,187
I'm starting to feel like this particular lenses problems are slowly unraveling to be an almighty can of worms.... dooh
Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help 11-14-2020, 11:14 AM  
DA* 16-50mm aperture lever jamming when bayonet mount screwed down
Posted By Penta
Replies: 19
Views: 1,187
Haha @stevebrot not a bad idea!

I've just mounted it on a K30 with some of the screws not fully tight to allow the lever to move freely and in AV mode it stops between f5.6 - f32, not possible to go lower.... wait the lens is only mean't to go to f22 isn't it?! Calibration fault issue there ?


Another curious thing is the camera doesn't recognise the lens and asks to input focal length each time it's mounted... is that normal with the 16-50mm ?
Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help 11-14-2020, 10:31 AM  
DA* 16-50mm aperture lever jamming when bayonet mount screwed down
Posted By Penta
Replies: 19
Views: 1,187
Thanks all I had a look at the aperture lever and thought it looked like there was enough play on either side but will look again as that would make the most sense.


Yes there may also be some distortion in the mount although maybe only minor as it's definitely not noticeable. Will have another look at it and report back.

---------- Post added 11-14-20 at 05:35 PM ----------



That's really useful Mario as I hadn't found that one before. thank you.
Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help 11-14-2020, 09:42 AM  
DA* 16-50mm aperture lever jamming when bayonet mount screwed down
Posted By Penta
Replies: 19
Views: 1,187
I recently got a used faulty DA* 16-50mm lens off someone under the impression that only the AF was non functioning ie. manual focus only. However after inspecting the lens I noticed the aperture lever would get stuck in different positions, so took it apart and after further examination, suspected the aperture spring was past its best so have just replaced that but the problem's still there.


The main problem is with the bayonet mount removed the aperture/lever works and returns fine but as soon as I've screwed down the bayonet fitting it causes the aperture lever to get stuck again. When the bayonet is fully screwed in place it's like it causes resistance to the aperture lever and so the lever will just get stuck in different positions.

Has anyone come across this before ? I think I probably need to raise the bayonet fitting very slightly by adding little washers on the 5 bayonet screw holes or something like this so the bayonet doesn't clamp down so hard on the aperture ring. Just a bit confused why I would have to do this in the first place!


Any suggestions welcome, cheers :)
Forum: Pentax K-01 05-03-2019, 05:02 PM  
Help me not to part with my beloved K-01
Posted By Penta
Replies: 51
Views: 6,570
Thanks for highlighting the Tamron 17-50mm guys and gals, if you haven't seen this guys evangelical praise of the lens, its worth a watch:














You Tube



Forum: Pentax K-01 05-02-2019, 02:34 PM  
Help me not to part with my beloved K-01
Posted By Penta
Replies: 51
Views: 6,570
I came across this Tamron 17mm at quite a good price (the later version 151b), it doesn't really look ideal for my current needs (f3.5; MF), but I do have an unexplainable fetish for old glass... anyone had any experience with it?

Tamron Adaptall-2 SP 17mm f/3.5 (51B/151B) Lens Reviews - Tamron Adaptall Lenses - Pentax Lens Review Database
Forum: Pentax K-01 05-01-2019, 10:08 AM  
Help me not to part with my beloved K-01
Posted By Penta
Replies: 51
Views: 6,570
The DA 14mm is a bit out of my league in terms of budget even on the used market, looks like it would be a great lens for my purposes though, maybe one day. ;)

Yes, I can't see any other option really than the 17-50mm right now, just annoyed it's relatively big for the K-01 and I really don't need the zoom capabilities as I have primes to cover 24mm, 40mm, 50mm.




The K-01 does have amazing image quality but was designed/best suited for pancakes/primes, my wish is Ricoh release a K-02 with a nice wide, fast prime pancake kits lens (focal range between 16-21mm f2), updated autofocus, EVF, and I will sell all my worldly possessions to get hold of it. :cool::D
Forum: Pentax K-01 05-01-2019, 03:55 AM  
Help me not to part with my beloved K-01
Posted By Penta
Replies: 51
Views: 6,570
The 15mm looks like a beauty for sure, but at this time the biggest priority is a fast lens suited for low light, indoor, moving subjects.

I look back on a lot of the photos taken with eg. Miranda 24mm set at f2.8 ISO1600. shutter speed anywhere between 1/6 - 1/20, and there are too many with motion blur or just generally out of focus for my liking. The issue could be addressed with a good AF F2.4 or lower lens. Obviously I could bump up the shutter speed at the expense of image quality (ISO), but I don't really want to go above ISO1600.


This leads me back to my original post and problem that I cannot find something along the lines of eg. the Canon EF-M 22mm f2 or the quite ok pancake options (eg. 14mm/16mm) available for M4/3 and other mirrorless systems that are relatively affordable, wide, fast, a small pancake-ish size befitting for the Pentax K-01. And I know you just can't compare those lenses from other manufacturers with the quality of eg. 15mm DA in terms of IQ.


But maybe I'm doing something wrong with my photo capturing to date, maybe the settings I use aren't optimal for low light, moving subjects? Maybe an f3.5 - f4 would be acceptable for my purposes but I'm doing something wrong ?
Forum: Troubleshooting and Beginner Help 04-30-2019, 03:50 PM  
Noob, first pics with new DA 50 1.8
Posted By Penta
Replies: 8
Views: 1,227
Nice shot and details with the great pentax colours, enjoy! :)
Forum: Pentax K-01 04-30-2019, 03:37 PM  
Help me not to part with my beloved K-01
Posted By Penta
Replies: 51
Views: 6,570
Thanks, the lens is this one, a rebadged Carl Zeiss Jena, seriously solid piece of metal, you can manual focus but MF ring is a little fiddly: Sigma 75-200mm F3.8 Autofocus Lens Reviews - Sigma Lenses - Pentax Lens Review Database

FWIW I don't actually own an 18-135mm but have been considering it as a reason to stay with the K-01.

Main options I'm currently considering for K-01 based on wide, fast, good AF within budget:

Pentax 21mm f3.2

Tamron/Sigma 17-50 f2.8
Pentax 18-135mm f3.5

All seem good choices for the K-01 and I'm tending towards the 17-50mm options due to wider fixed f2.8 at the moment... although still open to any curve balls. :D
Forum: Pentax K-01 04-30-2019, 01:30 PM  
Help me not to part with my beloved K-01
Posted By Penta
Replies: 51
Views: 6,570
I've had the 24mm AF Sigma on the wishlist for a while but with the 24mm f2.8 Miranda macro MC lens I already own (which is great btw) wanted to go wider really. I also wasn't sure if the AF system of the super wide would really be that great on the K-01 as have had bad experience with another film-era legacy Sigma lens which hunts an awful lot (although it is 75mm-200mm so that's probably why?). The lens itself is beaut though, sharp IQ, full metal construction, zeiss optics but almost unusable on the K-01 being so unwieldy.... perfect for a pentax DLSR body especially the K1.

---------- Post added 04-30-19 at 09:54 PM ----------




I think I've decided due to the slight added weight/size and the slightly unreliable AF of the older lens (which is a big driving factor) a newer 17-50 sigma/tamron might be a better option than the 17-70mm if I end up going for a zoom lens. The 18-135mm is still on the list of potential candidates, I've been v.impressed by all the images I've seen from that and it seems to get high praise especially for the improved AF system.


The Canon EOS M has definitely caught the eye too, looks intriguing with magic lantern firmware for video. Having said that it's no K-01, I'm just so attached to old Pentax manual glass, the thought of using an adapter with no aperture priority on a canon body doesn't really appeal. :fedup:
Forum: Pentax K-01 04-30-2019, 11:01 AM  
Help me not to part with my beloved K-01
Posted By Penta
Replies: 51
Views: 6,570
Yes thanks for the reminder, wow that is quite a step up in weight for the K-01. :eek:

---------- Post added 04-30-19 at 07:38 PM ----------



Thanks for the real world comparison with the 18-55 vs 17-50 + K-01, ok I think it may be between the 21mm f3.2 and the Tammy. :cool:


If the 21mm is really a lot better IQ-wise, obviously with the weight/handling advantage as well I may have to stretch to this option as I really would prefer a more ergonomic package.


It's a big dilemna knowing the Tammy is faster, more versatile and I can definitely find it cheaper hmmmm. :confused:

But I keep seeing issues with people being unlucky with the QC on the tamrons, some reporting sub par IQ with bad copies etc = buyer beware on the used market.... double hmmmmmm.


Time to weigh it all up, I'll report back when I've hatched a plan. :D
Forum: Pentax K-01 04-30-2019, 07:17 AM  
Help me not to part with my beloved K-01
Posted By Penta
Replies: 51
Views: 6,570
Very helpful and yes I've found (I think) a decent used copy within budget... it definitely won't have the aesthetics/smallsize/handling of a prime but seems verrry versatile, relatively fast, excellent IQ and could be the answer until the next lens beckons, although I'm really hoping it's 'the one' to end my search once and for all!

Out of interest, how is the overall size of it compared with say the pentax kit lens 18-55mm?

---------- Post added 04-30-19 at 03:18 PM ----------



Great will look forward to your thoughts in due course. ;)
Forum: Pentax K-01 04-29-2019, 05:47 PM  
Help me not to part with my beloved K-01
Posted By Penta
Replies: 51
Views: 6,570
Thanks for that angelo yes I'm favouring the Tammy based on the fact it's a bit lighter and overall smaller size than the Sigma for the K-01... unless ofc there are any major negative overriding factors to consider when paired with K-01?

I can find the well respected legacy zoom Sigma 17-70mm f2.8 DC macro (which is also smaller than the Sigma 17-50) for a good price, but would that be worse combined with the K-01 with regards AF performance or ?

Pentaxians you are amazing, once again thanks for all the help :)

---------- Post added 04-30-19 at 02:02 AM ----------




I already have the 40mm XS and generally prefer shooting with an old (wider) 24mm manual lens so unfortunately the 35mm is too close for what I'm after although definitely seems a great option... the 21mm has definitely been a big contender and may yet be the 'one'... if I can find one. :cool:

I can get a Sigma 17-70 f2.8 (legacy) for a really good price, a Pentax 17-70 (F4 too slow I think) for a great price, an 18-135mm at the top end of the budget (and a tad slow), but currently steering towards the Tammy 17-50mm due to size, f2.8 and at least a current lens designed for APS-C format.

PS. will have a read up on the tilt shift things you mention, something I've not touched on yet, thanks it sounds very intriguing :cool:
Forum: Pentax K-01 04-29-2019, 04:54 PM  
Help me not to part with my beloved K-01
Posted By Penta
Replies: 51
Views: 6,570
Haha definitely sounds to me like a slightly soft undercooked eggy pancake (so to speak)! :D


The higher end (at least for its time) NEX 6 was the main contender; EVF but no mic jack and mehhh that flippin (back on the pancakes!) beginner orientated messy GUI. :eek:


Aside from those gripes (and the NEX overheating shut-off issues in video mode) it seems to be a very well rounded aps-c mirrorless option.


The A7 does indeed look verrry nice but I expect that the day I can dream of a full frame camera setup the Pentax K-1 will be my no.1 choice. :)

---------- Post added 04-30-19 at 01:02 AM ----------



Definitely a few more nods to the sigma many thanks for that firsthand insight. ;)

---------- Post added 04-30-19 at 01:06 AM ----------





Another nod to the Sigma... anyone know how it compares to the Tammy 17-50 f2.8 (I saw on the review posted by Jense copy-specific AF issues were mentioned?).
Forum: Pentax K-01 04-29-2019, 04:25 PM  
Help me not to part with my beloved K-01
Posted By Penta
Replies: 51
Views: 6,570
Many thanks, I've recently found a local used Pentax 18-135mm with warranty that's just in budget (shhhh as long as I don't tell the missus) - would you rate it higher overall for IQ than the 17-50 ? Also, any observations on low light AF performance between the 2 lenses much appreciated as that is a big factor. :)
Forum: Pentax K-01 04-29-2019, 03:44 PM  
Help me not to part with my beloved K-01
Posted By Penta
Replies: 51
Views: 6,570
For sure the costs are leading me to pretty old bodies with the fuji system... and then the fuji lenses sheeesh they're in a whole different price bracket altogether! :fedup:


If you haven't checked this guy out on youtube already (he's a big fan of the Pentax Q/M-X1/Ricoh GR), his M-X1 video got me frothing at the mouth and wondering whether this little brass Pentaxian wonder could be my dream camera/partner to the K-01:














You Tube





---------- Post added 04-30-19 at 12:06 AM ----------





The 16-45's been on my wishlist for a few years now but does look quite bulky for K-01 (although IQ as you say seems excellent) and a bit slow for night, indoor, moving subjects without flash... the sigma/tamron 17-50 definitely looks more appealing in that sense and great to hear another success story handling with the K-01, thanks for the tips.

My first choice if I was going zoom (not fixed prime which I'd prefer) would be the pentax 18-135mm... it definitely seems like a keeper, nice size, good AF and overall excellent IQ (at least for what I need). I've found one at top end of my budget and have been ever so close... the only thing that held me back was the size vs small prime, handling (again being a zoom on the viewfinder-lacking K-01), and it's slower than I'd like. But I suppose beggars can't be choosers!

Thank you all for the much appreciated help, does anyone have experience with the 17-50 sigma/tamron vs Pentax 18-135 on the K-01?
Forum: Pentax K-01 04-29-2019, 03:30 PM  
Help me not to part with my beloved K-01
Posted By Penta
Replies: 51
Views: 6,570
Older Sony Nex series mainly although I know the cheaper glass (eg.16mm pancake) is probably not the greatest (a bit soft) but at least looks quite acceptable from what I've seen.


What's holding me back is the Sony software/menus/general handling look quite cumbersome/irritating compared with Pentax + IQ and moire filters vs K-01 turn me off...
Forum: Pentax K-01 04-29-2019, 03:15 PM  
Help me not to part with my beloved K-01
Posted By Penta
Replies: 51
Views: 6,570
Thanks for your feedback on handling and I agree about the autofocus perhaps it's time for me to upgrade to a bigger body, something like the K-S2 which might handle low light AF better with the bigger zoom lenses? I just love the form factor and casual nature of the K-01 and a wide prime combo would be so perfect.

On the used aps-c mirrorless market the likes of Fuji, Sony are the main contenders that are making me consider going to the dark side (ie. life without pentax boo)
Forum: Pentax K-01 04-29-2019, 02:50 PM  
Help me not to part with my beloved K-01
Posted By Penta
Replies: 51
Views: 6,570
Thanks Bigmack I can see you have a lot of experience with pentax gear and I appreciate what you say.


Only for the price of decent wide prime glass alone for the K-01 (and this hobby amateur) it seems that there are a few other very well respected aps-c mirrorless options out there on the used market that would fit my needs pretty well with eg.16mm AF pancake f2.4-2.8 and I would still have change to spare after selling my setup.


I'm really gutted I've got to the point I'm desperate enough to even consider trading in my Pentax gear for another system as I love it and have put so much time into trying to make it work but unless I can find something soon (I've wasted too much time dreaming already).


The only redeeming thing is that the K-01 in all her glory (and Pentax) keeps pulling me back...


FYI budget would be $200 if I found a lens that worked and kept the K-01 or obviously more if I sold all my current gear (K-01 + 4 lenses +) and got something else.

---------- Post added 04-29-19 at 10:53 PM ----------



Thanks a lot I will check those out, hopefully handling/AF/IQ at wide end may be acceptable on K-01.
Forum: Pentax K-01 04-29-2019, 02:22 PM  
Help me not to part with my beloved K-01
Posted By Penta
Replies: 51
Views: 6,570
I've found a cheap 1st generation Sigma 17-70 f2.8-4.5 DC Macro which is also tempting me but I'm concerned about the bulkiness on K-01, the handling and whether the K-01 would AF without issue? Also would IQ at wide end come close to a wide prime?


Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4.5 DC Macro Lens Reviews - Sigma Lenses - Pentax Lens Review Database
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