Bought a new lens today

[Shel_B]

I've been looking for a short-range telephoto zoom lens for a while, and while there have been a few that, superficially at least, met my requirements, tonight I found the one I've been looking for.

I've been a Pentax guy for years, and this lens is their top quality model, a "Star" series lens. The star lenses have a better build quality and higher quality optics compared to the regular lenses. The zooms usually have a fixed aperture, and this one's no exception: it's a fast 2.8 throughout the range, which is 50mm to 135mm.

It's a good range for much of what I want to do, and it's small enough and light enough to be easy and comfortable to carry.

Pentax DA* 50mm - 135mm f/2.8 Zoom

 

[Lubener]

I always believed the lens makes the camera.

 

[ka9mnx]

Good choice! I'm not familiar with Pentax. Is it full frame?

My choice would be 35mm to 135mm equivalent since I shoot with an APSC sensor. I like shooting with 20mm, 35mm and 50mm equivalent primes. When not sure what I'm shooting for the day, I'll take a short zoom.

 

[ka9mnx]

I always believed the lens makes the camera.

You are partially correct. The skill of the photographer makes the photograph but the lens is far more important than the body.

 

[Kira]

Back in my film burning days -it was Asahi Pentax-, those variable lenses were most handy.
But still, shots with the 28mm wowed the audience often.

A friend made a imperfect comparison to photography:
He said it's like driving.
Some people will never get the ideas of momentum, centrifugal force or evenness of operation (not up + down on the accelerator).
Some people will never get the ideas of depth, background, proportion, symmetry or even focus.

 

[Shel_B]

Good choice! I'm not familiar with Pentax. Is it full frame?

My choice would be 35mm to 135mm equivalent since I shoot with an APSC sensor. I like shooting with 20mm, 35mm and 50mm equivalent primes. When not sure what I'm shooting for the day, I'll take a short zoom.

My current cameras are APS-C sensors producing an image of approximately 26-28 MB. I have tochuckle when typing that as I recmember my first computer had a total hard drive capacity of only 20 MB.

 

[JavierH19]

Not a camera guy but I know pentax is one of the best. Had a point and shoot film one long ago and it took some of the best film photos ever and was easy to use. Can't remember the model number.

 

[goblin]

Pentax and Olympus have always been a little bit like the Subaru of the photo world, from when Subaru was small and knew what their clients wanted.

Both started in the microscope industry, and both specialized in medical imaging.

Pentax was purchased by Hoya in 2006. Hoya makes 95%+ of the optical glass that camera manufacturers machine their lenses from.
They got Pentax for the medical imaging part, and sold the digital camera branch to Ricoh a few years later.

Just as Olympus in the past, Pentax had a genius optical engineer who created most of their recent (90s and early 2000s) lenses.
He was sent in forced retirement when Hoya took over, the lens know-how spilled to Samsung, who was there starting in the camera business. Samsung was however also working with Schneider, so it's not 100% clear which lens was what.

Samsung closed the camera division abruptly in 2014 (by then their cameras were out of this world, and the lenses were second to none), and the remaining know-how and engineers, or at least part of them, were salvaged by Chinese brands and especially by Samyang in South Korea.

Olympus was a bit luckier as their medical imaging business was larger, and their camera division invested in mirrorless from the very beginning, but eventually they also sold their camera division to an investment firm. They are now marketed as OM Digital and are completely separate.

Here's my aging Zuiko 40-150mm f:2.8 on one of my camera bodies, just now.

Had lost that lens - at home, don't ask - for the last five years, my better half dug it out from some obvious location I had hidden it in, a couple of months ago.

 

[berniedd]

I remember Pentax - esp the K1000 model that was fully manual - focus, aperture, shutter speed (the small battery merely operated the metering measurements) and was usually the go to camera in the '80s and 90s for someone starting in the camera enthusiast scene.

I also used the Olympus OM-2, the first camera to offer off-the-film metering (OTF). This revolutionary system measured light reflected directly off the film surface during the exposure, enabling more accurate exposure control.

Both brands were part of the big 5 Japanese camera names in the 1980s and 1990s - Canon, Nikon, Minolta, Olympus, and Pentax.

Nowadays, the main business for both Pentax and Olympus names resides in medical flexible fiberoptic imaging and diagnostic systems.

 

[goblin]

Not only nowadays, it has always been the main business. The photo branches were for visibility - although they were a money maker as well of course.

Same for Canon, their main business used to be lithography machines for chip makers (Nikon was in that business as well) and their office equipment branch is still larger than the photo one.

 

[Shel_B]

I remember Pentax - esp the K1000 model that was fully manual -

I've been using Pentax since 1963 when I bought my first camera, the Honeywell Pentax H1a. The K1000 is a relatively new model, and one that still lingers.

A most interestig Pentax was the C.I.A."Stinger," which sported a .22 Magnum pen-gun inside the camera.

 

[1lieutenant]

My first slr camera was a Asahi Pentax Spotmatic with a 50 mm f 1.8 SMC Takumar lens. Please correct any errors as I am going by a distant memory. Great camera, I learned a lot about photography and did a lot of black and white processing and printing. Fond memories of Kodachrome ASA 25. Colors are vibrant still.

Current DSLR is a Canon 5D Mark II vintage 2010 with my all time favorite L lens. 24-70 f 2.8. 21 megapixel full frame sensor. Can’t see any reason to upgrade. Heavy, but durable.

 

[Shel_B]

My first slr camera was a Asahi Pentax Spotmatic with a 50 mm f 1.8 SMC Takumar lens. Please correct any errors as I am going by a distant memory. Great camera, I learned a lot about photography and did a lot of black and white processing and printing. Fond memories of Kodachrome ASA 25. Colors are vibrant still.

Current DSLR is a Canon 5D Mark II vintage 2010 with my all time favorite L lens. 24-70 f 2.8. 21 megapixel full frame sensor. Can’t see any reason to upgrade. Heavy, but durable.

Nothing here to correct. My first Spottie was purchased from a pawn shop and came with the 50mm 1.4 lens. It travelled all over the US and into South America with me.

When my studio was broken into, the camera was stolen, which I considered odd. It was in a pile with Leicas and Hasselblads, yet it was the only one taken ... sadly, even though it was the least valuable, it had the greatest sentimental value.

 

[1lieutenant]

Your reply reminded me of a short stint with a Leica M5 with a 50 mm f2 Summicron. Elegant but I just didn't get the appeal. Sold it to someone who could better appreciate the quality,

 

[Shel_B]

Your reply reminded me of a short stint with a Leica M5 with a 50 mm f2 Summicron. Elegant but I just didn't get the appeal. Sold it to someone who could better appreciate the quality,

I could do things and make photos with the Leicas that I couldn't do with an SLR. Leicas are more elegant in some ways, more limited in others. They're their own thing.

 

[1lieutenant]

I could do things and make photos with the Leicas that I couldn't do with an SLR. Leicas are more elegant in some ways, more limited in others. They're their own thing.

Can't beat a Leica lens for their bokeh quality. Unsurpassed!

 

[Shel_B]

Can't beat a Leica lens for their bokeh quality. Unsurpassed!

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/33052547

Below pic was shot with my M2-4 and a Summicron showing example of Bokeh, which is slightly harsh and touching lightly on double-imaging:

 

[goblin]

Can't beat a Leica lens for their bokeh quality. Unsurpassed!

I beg to call cliched bull secondary waste on that one but I shall shut up for the sake of remaining a reasonable adult.

However - Nope. To remain in the realm of at least partial objectivity in the most subjective field ever discussed, any decent lens with defocus control would be superior to its equivalent without defocus control, all other things being equal.

Nothing against Leica, they are great and are a great investment so at the end of the day they are not that much more expensive, but using absolutes in photography is like using absolutes in oil - not a good idea.

 

[1lieutenant]

I beg to call cliched bull secondary waste on that one but I shall shut up for the sake of remaining a reasonable adult.
However - Nope.

Ok. Each to their own.