|
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
02-21-2014, 07:48 PM
|
| |
Just got the Tamron 90mm from KEH a couple months ago for my K30 and it's great...macro and great for portraits is a bonus. I already have a Vivitar 55mm 2.8 macro (1:1) and the Pentax M 50 f4 macro(1:2) which are both great but I wanted something longer for insects.
|
|
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
02-21-2014, 07:01 PM
|
| |
Extension tubes with A contacts cost $4 (plus shipping):
http://www.keh.com/camera/Pentax-Manual-Focus-Lens-Converters/1/sku-PK100090102400?r=FE
EDIT: make sure if you order that you are getting whats pictured (quick phone call), the description sorta implies that its a sample photo and they have other stuff listed with no pics too.
Some idiot left a cheap piece of glass in the middle of it, but a hammer and a nail makes quick work of that if you don't have a lens spanner. Not sure of its exact length though which would effect macro zoom, mine is about 50mm as I recall.
Attach it to whatever A series lens you feel like and control aperture and shutter speed with the front and rear dials like normal, stop down metering is a joke.
Ideally I use a gutted 2x converter as a macro tube with my A35-105 F3.5, its fast enough to handle the light loss, plus you can use the zoom as a focus when in macro rather than moving the whole lens closer or farther (try it with any fixed aperture parfocal zoom and it'll make sense). That combo also has many other attractive benefits.
You could use many different lenses, some far cheaper or even something you already own to save even more money, I just happened to have that lens already and found it the most convenient for quite a few reasons.
For your viewing pleasure:
This is my "gutted" 2x tube, its actually a rare and amazing toy with a bayonet core so you can pop the guts out in 2 seconds with no tools and put them back in just as fast (I do use it as a 2x on occasion).
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/members/46390-pppppp42/albums/4594-pictures/picture48139.jpg
This was taken with that and my A35-105 F3.5 its cheap Kodak gold 200 film with a K1000 in case you were wondering:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/members/46390-pppppp42/albums/4594-pictures/picture48399.jpg
In case you were concerned about minimum focusing distance, when you set the A35-105 into its own macro mode and combine it with the tube your minimum focus distance is actually inside the lens, here is a coin touching the front lens, wonder what the magnification is for a dime to fill the image, that's uncropped:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/members/46390-pppppp42/albums/4594-pictures/picture48136.jpg |
|
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
02-21-2014, 11:44 AM
|
| |
Welcome to the forums and congratulations on your new camera kit!
Macro lenses are almost uniformly excellent. It really comes down to usability more than optical quality. The main factors are magnification, working distance, handling, and robustness. If your goal is to photograph insects in the wild, for flying insects you generally want reasonable working distance so you don't scare the critters away before getting your shots. If the insects are small (an inch or less), you also want high magnification (1x or greater). (Note: magnification refers to the size of the image on the camera sensor; your K-50 has a sensor that is about an inch across.) High magnification and longer working distance requires a longer focal length.
Autofocus is not particularly useful for macro work, so consider an older, manual focus, lens -- they are generally cheaper.
Extension tubes are great. But your 18-135 lacks an aperture ring, so you would need A-type tubes, and these are very difficult to find. The other issue with tubes is that the focal range is greatly reduced; to significantly change magnifications you need to change (or remove) tubes. So handling is not as convenient.
I mention robustness because there are many ways to achieve high magnification (tubes being one of them), but they tend to be more fiddly and less robust for field work.
|
|
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
02-21-2014, 11:31 AM
|
| |
What kind of things will you be shooting? More focal length gives you more distance from the subject while maintaining the same magnification. Working distance can be a big consideration when dealing with living subjects.
Extension tubes can be a great way to start with macro, and I have a 60mm macro and still use extension tubes with my other lenses. I also use a Vivitar macro focusing teleconverter sometimes.
|
|
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
02-21-2014, 11:37 AM
|
| |
| |
|
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
02-21-2014, 11:53 AM
|
| |
It seems there is some attraction to "macro lens" that is almost magic. Instead of asking which macro lens a better question would be "how do I shoot "xyz"?" Define what you want to achieve, define what 'macro' means to you. Quite often, maybe most of the time, what you want to achieve is easily done without a macro lens. There are of course things that require a good macro lens, but they are not the only way and sometimes not even the best way to achieve something.
Read the article noted above. Think about what kind of pictures you want to take. Think about the magnification ratio you need: 1:1, 1:2, 1:3, 1:5? Think about the working distance you need (the longer the lens the further you can be from the subject), which changes what subjects you can shoot and how you get light onto them. For example it is difficult to shoot insects at high magnification with a 50mm because you are so close you block out the light. (And scare them off).
I'm not against macro lenses, just don't spend money until you know what you need. I have 35mm, 50mm and 100mm true macro lenses as well as a 200mm lens with extension that serves as a very long macro for me. Each has things they do better than the others. But there is nothing magic about any of them, they are tools that perform a specific function.
|
|
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
02-21-2014, 12:21 PM
|
| |
As others say, you need A-type tubes--tubes with electrical contacts that communicate the aperture to the camera--to work with lenses newer than the FA series, unless you want to shoot wide open all the time. Digital lenses don't have aperture rings, so the only way to adjust is via the e-dials on the camera. Pre-DA series (FA,F,A,M,and K) lenses can adjust the aperture the hard way and use stop-down metering in M mode to get the correct exposure.
Such tubes are hard to find and will be significantly more expensive than "plain" tubes.
If you want to do macro photography, I'd look into the legacy lenses. For one, macro shots are invariably best done in manual focus mode anyway, so getting a macro lens that doesn't have AF is not much of a loss. When you look in this direction, you no longer care about A-type tubes and can get some without electrical contacts entirely. It's a good way to get into this sort of thing while saving a boatload of money.
I have an f/4 M-series 50mm macro:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/lensreviews/SMC-Pentax-M-50mm-F4-Macro-Lens.html
It's really quite good and can be obtained relatively inexpensively. Because it's M-series, it works great with extension tubes. f/4 may seem slow, but in macro mode, DoF is soooo small that f/4 is more than enough. Going to 2.8 will reduce your DoF to tiny fractions of inches (think 0.10" or smaller) when you focus closely. A major advantage of this lens is that you can shoot it wide open, so actually, you don't even need to do stop-down metering or worry about much else.
So, I'd say if you want to use tubes--they allow you to increase magnification beyond real life (shoot insects with a 50 while being farther away!) or turn lenses that are not true 1:1 into that--then look into legacy offerings. Otherwise, just stick with what you have.
|
|
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
02-21-2014, 12:37 PM
|
| |
Good advice all around, IMHO. What I would emphasize is how extreme 1:1 magnification is. On a 100mm lens, your subject will be about a foot from the focal plane (near the back of the camera), and most of that foot is taken up by your camera and lens! So although I have a Sigma 105mm f2.8 autofocus macro, in all honesty my personal closeup needs would probably be just as well served by an older manual focus 1:2 macro, such as the Pentax M series 100mm f4. Just my perspective, if you just want get your feet wet doing closeup work. Enjoy your new toys!
|
|
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
02-21-2014, 02:28 PM
|
| |
| |
|
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
02-21-2014, 02:40 PM
|
| |
The working distance for 50mm macro is a major pain in the ass. The 90mm lens would let you be further away from your target.
|
|
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
02-21-2014, 02:37 PM
|
| |
I think I said that in my first paragraph.
My point was that if you realize that AF is not going to be used in macro mode anyway, you can expand your search for lenses to A-series and before. Then you can get pretty much whatever for tubes, since you'll be using stop-down metering with those lenses.
|
|
Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
02-21-2014, 02:22 PM
|
| |
You could stick a Raynox DCR-150 / 250 on the end of that 18-135. For around 50$ it's an inexpensive way to get your feet wet.
|
|
Forum: Welcomes and Introductions
01-05-2014, 10:03 AM
|
| |
I totally agree! I have no money to travel right now but I'd be back in Scotland in a heartbeat if I did.
|
|
Forum: Welcomes and Introductions
01-04-2014, 08:28 PM
|
| |
Exactly my thoughts when I jumped in to the DSLR world a little while ago; I purchased a used Nikon D50, right price range easy enough to learn on. Then of course I 'discovered' Pentax in the form of a steal of a deal K100DS. It's in the same class as the D50 but...better. I love them both but....I'm fairly certain had I waited a few months I probably would have bought 'more' camera and been just as happy.
In short, learning the camera isn't all that hard. For me, the K-50/30 control setup would be a dealbreaker; I prefer the setup of the K-3/k-5. On the other hand, the money you save on the K-30 could be spent on awesome lenses.....Or, you could be regretting that awesome camera a few months down the road when it becomes old hat and you discover the whiz-bang features of that other camera you didn't think you needed...BTDT.
|
|
Forum: Welcomes and Introductions
01-05-2014, 03:53 AM
|
| |
Welcome to the forum. :)
+1 on that, this way you get what you want, not what someone else thinks you want. ;)
I would go that way too, if I were you. :)
Now you develop in light rooms with the likes of Photoshop and no messy chemicals. :lol::lol::lol:
|
|
Forum: Welcomes and Introductions
01-04-2014, 04:56 PM
|
| |
Well enjoy and there is plenty of help here to be found... You can always if you get the gear fever and rummage through B&H, Adorama Used or Keh Camera for lenses. Hint, one thing about KEH look in the 35mm section under Pentax auto focus lenses. Then there's always Feabay, you have to watch it there though.
|
|
Forum: Welcomes and Introductions
01-03-2014, 10:04 PM
|
| |
| |
|
Forum: Welcomes and Introductions
01-03-2014, 10:25 PM
|
| |
None of those lenses are particularly great at the things you list. Unless you want a 50 prime, I would get the 18-55 while you learn the camera and then buy lenses accordingly.
|
|
Forum: Welcomes and Introductions
01-04-2014, 01:05 PM
|
| |
I have both the 18-55mm and 50-200mm DAL kit lenses. They are both fine lens -- not the top of the line by any means but Pentax kit lenses aren't junk and you can do a lot with them. Today, I might choose the 18-135 instead -- the 18-55 is on my camera more than any other lens (of my meager selection) and if it had more range I think I'd like it even better.
Anyway, I would not hesitate to start with a kit lens and see what it is missing for you before starting a lens collection.
Oh... and were you a Pentax film shooter? If so, you can use all your old K mount lenses if you still have them.
|
|
Forum: Welcomes and Introductions
01-04-2014, 02:19 PM
|
| |
When I got my first ILC (a Sony NEX), I got frustrated fairly quickly with using an 18-55 as a walkaround lens (supplemented by the 55-210). I often felt as though I wanted to shoot a particular scene with a wider angle and a longer telephoto and with only one camera body, switching took a few crucial minutes.
That's the main reason I get the 18-135 lens when I got my K-3. I also got the 55-300 WR lens because I'm interested in wildlife photography. I like having the overlapping zooms. I do tend to shoot a lot in the 60-120mm focal length range, and sometimes I combine that with more wide-angle images and sometimes with more telephoto perspectives. My husband and I also have several primes between us (such as the f4 15mm, the f1.8 50mm, the f1.8 77mm).
I'd encourage you to consider the 18-135 lens because it does produce quite good quality images for a kit lens and it is flexible. You could also look at buying a macro extension tube (I like Kenko), which would give you a useful range for doing some macro in good light in combination with the kit lens.
Beyond that, you could look at getting the affordable 50mm f1.8 for low light situations and portraits. And check out the highly rated Tamron 90mm f/2.8 macro lens. It's less expensive than the Pentax 100mm macro (with the same max aperture). Aside from being useful for your macro work, it also works nicely as a low light lens (especially for portraits). If your budget is tight after getting the K-3, think about getting the Tamron as your macro / low light lens and then get a wider angle prime for landscapes.
|
|
Forum: Welcomes and Introductions
01-04-2014, 02:21 PM
|
| |
Edith.. I was in the same quandary between the k30 & k50 at first. I did a lot of research as far as one being better than the other there isn't much difference. Performance wise it would be debatable if there was any from a user standpoint.. I went with the K50 two lens kit because the price dropped to where there was only $50.00 difference at the time of my purchase. To me it made more sense to go with the newer model for that difference. I went with the two lens kit simply to have more lenses and the cost difference from the 18-135mm kit. I would have liked the 18-135 but went the cheaper route but I don't regret the decision. You can't go wrong with getting the 18-135mm
If you have used old slr film camera lenses there are a lot of older lenses that work well with Pentax Dslr's. If you don't mind manually focusing, use of those can give you access to some great glass. It's one way to build a collection for use if one doesn't have the $$$ to spend at first for more expensive digital glass especially if you like macro. Plus I have a lot of fun using them, You can find some decently priced Pentax F & FA auto focusing lenses. There is a wealth of reviews for all types of glass here to help guide one in their search.
|
