A generous gift, now what?

[photobiscuits]

So for my birthday a friend dug out his old camera bag and offered it as a gift.

It's very generous, I am not sure what I should do with it and I have a few

questions...<br>

Here is a rundown of I think I have here,<br>

-Pentax PZ-10 body<br>

-SMC 28mm f/3.5 prime<br>

-Pentax 35-80mm f/4 zoom(I am assuming this is the kit lens)<br>

-Vivitar 135mm f/2.5 prime (real excited about this one)<br>

-Vivitar 100-300 f/5 zoom<br>

-all sorts of filters.<br>

Questions:<br>

1) This is very generous! What is this stuff worth? What did it cost to buy

new? <br>

2) All lenses seem to be manual other than the 35-80. These 3 lenses have the

letters P/K stamped on the bottom - does that mean they are K-mount lenses?<br>

3) I'm looking for a no-frills, lowest-price digital body to use these lenses

on. I have been checking out the *ist series on ebay, will these lenses fit on

these cameras? I've been reading and I think I can use them with the camera set

to full manual and maybe Aperture Priority. This is most important to me

because I am thinking of buying one of the *ist bodies. <br>

4) The Samsung GX-1L may also be an option, does anyone know if these lenses

will fit onto that body?<br>

5) Are these coloured filters useful for digital cameras or are they more of a

film thing? I am guessing the latter but thought I'd ask.<br>

Thanks for reading and for any help you can offer.

[mc2imaging]

Yes, the 35-80 is the kit lens. When I got my PZ-10 in 1995, that was the lens that came

with mine. I paid $400 for body, lens, remote release, and a 4 year warranty that I didn't

need (because this camera still works perfect today).

 

These should all work fine on a K-Mount DSLR (Pentax or Samsung), but I'd get the 18-

55mm kit due to the crop factor.

 

If the lenses don't have an 'A' setting on the aperture ring, AE will be limited.

 

Filters aren't JUST for film! Filters that are solely for white balancing aren't very useful due

to the advantages with software adjustment, but there is no software that will replace

some filters (like a polarizer).

 

My PZ-10 is an old friend that I could never bear to part with. It has never stood me up,

and it has never taken a bad picture that wasn't MY fault.

[photobiscuits]

Great, thank you. I have it loaded and am just about to finish my first roll of film. It feels like a quality camera (though it's fairly noisy) and this 28 mm is incredible to feel - a beautifully built piece. Wish they still made them like that.<br>

Yes, only the 35-80 has an A on the aperture. I do have a couple of polarizing filters here, which i've used on my d40. Also a neat filter called a 'cross-screen' which make neat starlight rays when photographing christmas lights. The rest seem to be white balancing(coloured) filters.<br>

Thanks again.

[stemked]

The Pentax 28mm f3.5 is a favorite with those that have it. It is said to be a much better lens than the 28mm f2.8 of that era.

[photobiscuits]

Douglas, it really is beautiful. So smooth and precise, no wobble, all metal and nice, tough rubber. Almost breathtaking. Somewhere along the way it's been dropped and there was a big dent on the front lip, a pair of pliers straightened it out enough to screw on the rubber lens hood seen in the picture. Can't wait to see the picture that comes out of it.

[del_gray]

The colored filters are probably for black and white film, especially if they are green, red, and a shade or two of yellow. Even though most of these lenses aren't A lenses, they still work nicely on the DSLRs. One exta push of a button stops the lens down, takes a reading, and sets the exposure to match it. It works well, and I'd keep the lenses since they probably are worth more to you to use than they would get for resale. I also agree that the kit lens is worth adding to help with wide angle issues. Eventually you might also want to add something with a faster aperture, but that can probably wait until you shoot with these for a while and determine what your priorities are.

[miserere_mei]

I see you have a polariser filter; that one is certainly useful with digital photography (and film, of course).

 

You have a great friend! I've seen similar kits sell on eBay for a few hundred bucks. But it's not the money they're worth, it's the photos they'll enable you to take.

 

Enjoy them!

[tommyinca]

"This is very generous! What is this stuff worth? What did it cost to buy new"

 

This is generous, a whole set of lens that can be use with a new K10D body. They are not available new any more. If the 28/3.5 has a 52mm filter it is the older but better version. Some will even say this is the best 28mm ever made by pentax, old or new (worth more and harder to find). If it has a 49mm, it is also good but a 6 elements in 6 group design instead of 8 elements in 7 group. The 49mm filter version will worth ~$80 used. The other lens worth less then the 28mm lens.

 

"All lenses seem to be manual other than the 35-80. These 3 lenses have the letters P/K stamped on the bottom - does that mean they are K-mount lenses?"

 

Yes

 

 

"The Samsung GX-1L may also be an option, does anyone know if these lenses will fit onto that body?"

 

Yes, The Samsung GX-1 will use these lens.

 

"Are these coloured filters useful for digital cameras or are they more of a film thing?"

 

Color filter are not very useful for digital. With digital, best shoot raw and add the filter effect with post editing software.

[michael_kuhne]

The Pentax 28mm f/3.5 has a great reputation. As for the "kit" zoom, I have had one of those for a long time. Small, light, well- made. I don't care what is said, I have found this lens produces good, snappy crisp photos. POP photo gave its manual focus twin a very good rating, essentially finding it as a remarkable good-quality value in a very small zoom. They also found top-notch clarity in its closest focus with 1:4 magnification- amazing in a cheap but good lens.

 

Matthew is right, get the DA kit lens for the DSLR to have some wide angle.

[personalphotos]

I'm in agreement with all the others and would like to add that if you want a pentax *ist series version to use these on a digital, Get the *ist D version. The others are good but IMO this is the best of this series. If you can find a grip for it, it's even better. The *ist D is basically laid out like a smaller K10D with a few features missing (SR etc) Great picture quality with TTL and P-TTL flash metering and goes to ISO 3200.

 

Nice gift and a great start. Welcome to Pentax and the chance to use brand new or 40 year old glass! Even the older screwmounts will work on a Pentax DSLR.

[photobiscuits]

Thanks a lot everybody for the info. It's nice to be connected to such a knowledgeable community. My friend didn't have much to offer for info when he gave this to me, other than 'use it or sell it'. I'm not really interested in selling it, I just was curious about the value for my own info.<br>

I'll probably use it for awhile as-is before I can pretend to afford $200-$300 for a second digital body (I use my d40 primarily). Funny, after using digital for so long I find myself looking at the back of this camera all the time after taking a shot - then I remember - film, haha.<br>

Anxious to see how my preliminary shots turned out. Used all the lenses in different situations to see how they look. A roll of film with developing at Walmart cost about 8 bucks, the battery cost $15 and I wonder how long it will last. I'm sure I can't afford to use this as my primary camera but it'll make a handy learning tool and being film I think it'll make me think a little more about what and how I shoot.

[mountainvisions]

The ist D is a great camera, and IMO superior to the DS/DL/DS2. Really the IQ of the later models didn't increase (in RAW) only some specs were removed as they released models.

 

The D is more ergonomic. Allows for a battery grip, which I use about 50% of the time. With 8 AA lithiums it runs for about 2000 shots or more in any conditions (cold, constant AF, screen review, etc). Without the grip it's nice and compact. The grip makes it feel a bit better and eliminates the claimed "shallow grip". Eithway it's fun to use, and still small and light.

 

Really the only downside of the D is it's writing performance, I believe mainly this is because of the buffer and bus. Actually, it should be faster because the files are uncompressed but there is a log jam somewhere.

 

However, the buffer is bigger on the D than the DS/DL models.

 

In terms of saving money on CF cards. Buy an Eagle Tech CF card adapter, then just buy SD cards. This system works fine on the D, and honestly, even on my HI Speed USB 2.0 card reader the images transfer pretty quickly so I assume the CF/SD apapter isn't all that limiting.

 

I own a K10D, and I still use the D quite a lot. Nearly 75% of the images I took this summer were with the D.

[mountainvisions]

oh yeah, that was a hell of a gift. Congrats and welcome to photography and Pentax.

[del_gray]

I don't know about your particular model, but film camera batteries are nothing like digital camera battery issues. Usually you go months before changing it with film, as opposed to the digital cycle of a day or two of heavy shooting and recharging. If you're using manual focus lenses the battery should last even longer in your camera.

[mc2imaging]

With this not being your primary camera, the battery could last YEARS. Early on I determined that average shooting could result in about 100 rolls on a battery, but I almost never use the pop-up flash, which would make a huge difference in battery life.

 

To save money on processing, I have my film run straight to CD with no prints. Wal-Mart will give you 4x6 size scans, but I've got a local lab that will do 8x12 size scans for about the same price.

[john carter]

Keep it and use it.

[michael_kuhne]

I second what Justin says regarding the ist-D. It is the most compact pro caliber metal body DSLR ever made. Beautiful control system, with quick-use on-body control layout instead of most used controls in menues. It has the wonderful Pentax Hyper Program and Hyper Manual system like the K10D. Very nice camera. It sold at one time for over $1,600. But now you should be able to find a used one in perfect condition very reasonable.

 

On the other hand, the K100D has in body SR plus advanced features, and excellent out-of-camera JPEG image quality. But if you shoot the ist-D in RAW, converting to JPEG in photoshop, it would be as good or better.

[photobiscuits]

Thanks again folks for all of your comments and useful info. I'll keep an eye out for the ist-D at an affordable price.

[michael_kuhne]

Mike, I would of course recommend shooting some good slide film, and get a slide viewer. Slides are a very accurate medium. Use a local or mail order service providing kodak slide processing. What you see on a slide is the exposure you set and took. Print film has its own variables in the printing process... and also has its own advantageous and often more common uses.

 

For making lots of prints to share, or for making photo albums, nothing, not digital, beats print film for value and convenience. For example, at a chain superstore here, I get 2 sets of 5x7 size prints, that is 50 5x7 prints for $10, and that is with a CD of the roll included as well! As to which print film, it depends on to what purpose. If going both inside and outside under mixed lighting, and for action, I like Fuji Superia Extra 400, or 800 ISO. For brilliant rich color in colorful, bright circumstnces, Kodak PRO Ultra Color (UC) ISO 100 is incredible. (but not easy to find) Works like slide film with your polarizing filter. The 400 ISO Kodak UC is very good too.