Help choosing a MF zoom for pentax

[yoni_weismuller]

Hi

 

I usually shot with a pentax k1000 mounting a 50mm (or was it 55?:-P)

pentax lens.

 

Sometimes i've felt the need of a bit of zoom, and i'm searching the

second hand market for such lens.

 

I've came across the following:

 

Pentax-A 28-80mm zoom 1:3.5-4.5.

 

I'm just an amateur photographer, however, used to the sharpness and

lack of distortions of the 50mm, i fear that this zoom may not

satisfy me....but then again i'm fed up of going back and foward

with the 50mm to get the pictures i want :-), so i'm tempted to get

the zoom.

 

 

Any ideas? I'm aware it's maybe a kit lens, but i'd like to know if

it's enough for simple hobbytists.

 

thanks

[mawz]

Why not just buy a couple extra primes, say a 28mm and an 85 or 105mm. They'll have the quality of your 50mm, and probably cost around what the zoom will.

 

The 28-80 is a slow, variable aperture zoom and will not be near the optical quality of the 50mm.

[yoni_weismuller]

The thing is that i already have (well, my father has :-)) a 28mm and a 70-200 telephoto. But to be sincere, carrying the whole gear is a real pain for me...so i though i could find a decent multi porpose lens.

 

regards

[stemked]

Yoni,

 

It sounds like you prefer to hand holding your shots.

 

Details first. You can check out this lens as well as everything else Pentax has ever made at:

 

http://www.bdimitrov.de/kmp/

 

First of all I doubt the zoom lens you are talking about was ever a kit lens, but I may very well be wrong. It takes 58mm filters (if that is an issue) and was made in the days before most optical formulas were computer tested meaning it is a little less likely to be a stellar lens, but that would only be a guess. On the fast end it should be fine without flash if you regularly use ASA400 film in reasonably good light.

 

It doesn't focus especially close (0.8 meters). Its relatively light (355 g) and by construction looks to be a comfortable lens to manually focus.

 

Alterantively a couple of primes might be more to your taste in both speed, optical quality and weight.

[bengt_rehn]

That zoom is very good. Distortion levels are very low for being a consumer grade zoom, in fact the lowest I have seen in any consumer grade zoom of similar range. My sister used it for more than twenty years before it fell down and broke on a stonefloor. She replaced it with a Vivitar Series 1 zoom (28-105). She still miss the superior contrast of the Pentax zoom. It is quite bulky compare to the modern zooms. I doubt you will suffer from distortion in the 50mm range, but there is a little barrel distortion at 28mm.

[bengt_rehn]

Btw, use your 28mm prime indoors and when you take pictures of buildings. For everything else I think you wont notice any distortion. I can confirm what Douglas told, it is nice to use. Dont expect it to be as sharp as the 50mm prime, but I think you dont.

[Jochen_S]

O.K. I have this lens and had the similar looking Takumar version of it before. The Takumar was mechanically worn out within 4 years; the distance ring allowed a shift of at least 1mm for and backward. I don't like the feeling provided by this lens in my hand. Close focusing only at 80mm and "macro", which means being limited to 1m distance, sucks. The lens badly needs a shade if you are doing wide angle shots against the sun on bright days, but you can't mount one because the filter ring rotates during focusing. - I don't like this lens very much.

Sorry I can't tell exactly how bad it performs optically, a workmate's daughter borrowed it. I kept the (rather soft) Tokina ATX 35-70 and a Sigma 28-85, which I at least like for the mechanical feeling here, for the case that I might like a zoom.