We all have preferences when it comes to lenses. The type of photography you like pretty much dictates what lens works best for you. For example, landscape usually works best with wide-angle lenses, portrait can have more selective focusing with small to medium telephoto lenses with large aperture, sport photography requires telephoto (or zoom) lenses with large maximum aperture, wildlife works best with extreme telephoto lenses, etc.
Nowadays, zoom lenses are very popular, although a reverse trend to prime lenses seems to exist amongst Pentax shooters. The current zoom lenses are certainly better than the zoom lenses manufactured decades ago, but because they have more moving parts, it makes sense that prime lenses would have an edge in IQ.
There are many choices on the market, from genuine Pentax lenses to brands like Sigma and Tamron. There is also the price factor. I would like to own a Pentax SMC P-FA 600mm F4.0 ED (IF), but there is no way that I could justify that purchase. I probably wouldn’t use it much and owning one of these monsters is more of a statement than a need. "He who has the biggest lens wins!"
Like many of us (Pentaxians), I like the Limited lenses because of their physical sizes and because they are very well built. I’m still looking for the Limited lenses pouch. Used with the new K2000, they make the perfect travel or street shooting outfit. The one pet peeve of mine is that I like all my lenses to have the same filter sizes. That works fine with the Limited lenses as they all have 49mm filter thread and also with the Pentax FA 50mm f/1.4. I currently own the 40mm and the 70mm Limited’s. With time, I will get the rest.
I own some of the prime and zoom lenses, and I want them all to have 77mm filter threads. I currently have the DA 14mm, DA 12-24mm, DA*16-50, DA* 200mm, and the DA* 300mm. They all have the 77mm filter threads in common.
Soon, I will put my non-conforming lenses on EBay, DA 18-55mm, DA 18-55mm II, DA 50-200mm, DA 16-45mm and a bunch of “A” and “M” lenses. I have the DA 10-17mm, but it doesn’t accept filters, so I will keep it.
I use circular polarizer and neutral density filters. That minimises the need for more filters. I have a set of 49mm and a set of 77mm filters. I know I could use step-up rings, but that would just be more items to forget at home.
I recently purchase a “Cokin P” filter system consisting of a CPL, ND2, ND4, ND8, graduated ND and sunset. They work okay, but are still a little too big for the Limited lenses. I will post an article about the “Cokin” system soon. It’s not for everyone.
Let all of us know what your lens’s pet peeves are in the comments. I’m sure we all have some.
Thank you for reading,
Yvon Bourque
P.S. I'm trying to make my photographic system all genuine Pentax...another pet peeve. Maybe it's an obsession, I don't know!
3 comments:
My favorite lenses are the FA35/2.0 and - shame on me, not a genuine Pentax: the Sigma EX 20/1.7. Yeah, of course the DA21 would be something, because its mutch smaller and i really like the angle around 20mm, but i think i would really miss the faster apertures here... :/
Filter size is definitely a pet peeve when it comes to my film lenses, as I like to use a red filter for B&W film. Most 3rd party prime lenses seem to favour 52mm instead of 49mm, so I find myself using my Komine-made Vivitar 28mm a lot more than the Sigma 24mm because the Viv has 49mm threads while the Sigma hasn't. This is also the reason I don't use the 31 Ltd on film: 58mm filters.
Here's my biggest peeve, though: Focus and zoom rings that turn the opposite way to Pentax's. It seems most 3rd party lenses, both old and new, follow the Canon guidelines, and it can be confusing when you're trying to focus manually and you have to think about which way to turn your wrist instead of doing it instinctively. This alone is almost reason enough to stick with Pentax lenses (and some Tokina ones).
It's hard to stick to all Pentax, for
example, the Pentax 50-135/2.8, the
copy I got won't focus with focal
length from 90-135mm, ... had to send
it back. It gave you the impression
that it's hard to put your trust on.
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