New article: Guide to Pentax DSLR Cameras and Lenses

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Just posted a new article on the Pentax system of cameras and lenses. <a

href="http://www.photo.net/equipment/pentax/">Click here to read</a>.

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The Pentax system area of photo.net has been lacking for a long time, and Josh

and I are working on changing that.

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Stay tuned for upcoming reviews on the Pentax K10D, 16-45/4, 100/2.8 Macro, the

21/40/70 "limited" lenses, and the AF540FGZ flash.

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<p>Thanks!</p>

Hannah, that link appears to point to dev.photo.net and is requesting a username and password. Perhaps the general public has no access to your new article?

Fixed the link for you Hannah.

Thanks for the great work!<div></div>

Thanks for fixing the link Josh, and thanks for pointing that out Andrew!

Great start! Thanks for posting.

Nice work, glad its getting some rep now.

Nice to see continued effort to expand photo.net's Pentax-related information. Any chance that the following marginalizing sentence in the <A href=http://www.photo.net/equipment/building-a-digital-slr-system/>Building a digital SLR system</A> will be updated to reflect this increased enthusiasm towards Pentax's system?

 

<P><I>"Leica, Minolta, Olympus, Pentax, and Sigma are the small vendors in the digital SLR market. Unless you have an enormous investment in lenses for one of these brands the only one of these worth considering for purchase is Olympus, due to its innovative Four-Thirds system, discussed below."</I></P>

 

<P>A few corrections/suggestions:

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<LI>The Sigma lenses in Pentax mount don't currently offer HSM (hypersonic motor). It is conceivable that they will eventually offer HSM compatibility with the SDM capability built into the newest K10D/K100D Super bodies but this hasn't been announced.

<LI>Include AL = Aspherical Lens in glossary

<LI>Perhaps mention FA-J 18-35 f/4-5.6 under film autofocus without aperture ring-FA-J series, this is still relatively common and was the kit lens before the DA 18-55 was introduced.

<LI>like the 100mm, the 50mm f/2.8 macro is also D-FA

<LI>I would include the DA 16-45 f/4 and possibly the Sigma 17-70 f/2.8-4.5 in the recommendations somewhere. I also would not relegate the 'Limited' primes to 'lightweight travel'. They are the pride of many "serious" Pentax photographers who often collect these instead of "pro" zooms (e.g. DA*) for his or her style of shooting--not just for portability but for the best available image quality. The DA 50-200 f/4-5.6 that you recently reviewed is also an excellent starter recommendation.

</UL>

Price of the K10D kit set forth in the article ($895) is approximately $150 more than the actual amazon price (net of rebate). Some other prices have also dropped. In the interest of accuracy, it might be worth re-checking prices, or perhaps omitting prices altogether since they don't remain constant and you offer links to a commercial site in any case.

 

I agree strongly that language in the other cited pnet article, "Building a Digital SLR System," broadly dismissive of all but two brands, is unfortunate. And it's out of date in many respects. That article is absolutely due for an overhaul.

 

I guess I'm not sure of the precise objective of this article. The list is helpful in identifying available products, and the references to Pentax nomenclature and abbreviations are likewise helpful. The accompanying descriptive language, however, is generally promotional in nature.

Suggested correction to the following:

 

"The K100D was put on the market in July 2006, to high acclaim and introduced the K lens mount. All successive Pentax DSLR models are designed with the K lens mount, and compatibile with any of the numerous lenses manufactured by Pentax."

 

Pentax introduced the K mount in 1975 on the Pentax K-series 35mm SLRs. Refinements since then have added features. The confusing string of letters appended to Pentax K mount lens (M, A, FA, FAJ, etc) describe the presence/absence of these features.

 

Thanks for putting more attention on Pentax!

Though supposedly discontinued, the FA 35mm f2 continues to be in stock at several major retail outlets and gets rave reviews at such sites as photozone.de. It probably should be included among the normal lenses perhaps with a warning that it may not be around long. And the 31mm 1.9 Limited is a normal, not a wide on digital bodies. Otherwise, a great start, keep it up!

Great to see your work. We've needed it.

 

Some nits:

 

- All Pentax DSLRs are compatible with ALL Pentax lenses. Of course, some lenses require an adapter (e.g. when going from M-42 to K mount) and if the lens was not originally autofocus itself, don't expect that it will magically become autofocus (unless you interpose the 1.7 autoconverter). Similarly, if the lens is not auto-exposure the photographer will have to provide some assistance.

 

- Not all Pentax lenses were SMC. My original Spotmatic M-42 50mm 1.4 is pre-SMC. That doesn't keep me from using it as a wonderful low-light portrait lens on my DSLRs.

 

- I assume that you want to only include reference to 'current' bodies. Unfortunately, in today's digital marketplace this will quickly go out of date. You might want to add the currently discontinued bodies. There aren't too many of them and it will be easier to add a reference to a body being discontinued than having to remove it from your document. This will also give greater permance to it as well as assisting those in the used photography marketplace.

 

- Of course prices will always be out of date almost from the time you enter them.

 

- Both the K10D and the K100D Super offer power to SDM lenses (which you probably should define) as well as the FA power zoom lenses.

 

- You probably should decide whether or not you want to mention Samsung equipment and than be consistent.

 

- Shift lenses work best for architectural photography.

 

- Kit zoom lenses also were available with Packaged versions of the top of the line Pentax DSLRs (*istD or K10D).

 

- The kit lenses lenses work best as you describe. People can certainly use them in different situations. I've taken wonderful monopod mounted pictures at f8 indoors. Additionally, by leaning against a firm object, with Shake Reduction, it is possible to take shots without the tell-tale blur.

 

- There are also Kenko teleconverters for Pentax lenses (as well as used Pentax versions).

 

- Perhaps you should define P-TTL and indicate why TTL flashes will not operate as TTL flashes on the newer Pentax DSLRs.

 

- Of course there are other reliable providers of SD cards.

 

Again, great job!

 

Larry in Dallas