Question about old Pentax hand me downs

[russell_brown1]

Hey Everybody,

My uncle recently gave me a Pentax ME Asahi manual SLR from years

back when he used to use it for dental photography at his office.

With it came a 100/4 SMC M-series Macro prime and an SMC 45-125mm

zoom. All are in pretty good condition. Am I gonna enjoy the

results compared to my Canon EOS Elan 7e with 50mm/1.8? I know I'm

going to have fun shooting completely manually, but I'm wondering if

the pictures are going to be sub-par by comparison. And any other

cheap but functional Pentax lenses you can think of that would

benefit this new SLR? Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Happy Shooting.

[John Farrell]

The ME has automatic exposure - aperture priority. It is a sweet little camera to use. All of the Pentax SMC primes are excellent lenses.

[robert_davis2]

Ya it'll make the Canon look subpar but what can you do-) I'd look for a 50mm and a 135mm. Neither should be too much money.

[ron c sunshine coast,qld,a]

There are a TON of great lenses available for that model.I think you can even use anything up to the most modern AF lenses that still have an aperture ring.

<BR>Here are some sites with good info to get you started

<BR>http://home.att.net/~alnem/html/equipment_review.html

<BR>http://stans-photography.info/

 

<BR>http://www.bdimitrov.de/kmp/

[david richhart]

Great camera Russell... For around $60 you can buy yourself a Pentax 50mm/1.4 lens. Then get some Tri-X film for shooting low light portraits without flash. Be sure to do a few frames of "street photography" as well. <p>

Then post the results on the Leica forum and allow yourself the pleasure of basking in the praise.

[russell_brown1]

Whoa wait a minute....its going to make the CANON sub-par???? Really? Thats totally not what I was expecting

[everitt]

As said before, the Pentax SMC lenses are excellent. I feel Pentax doesn't get the respect that Canon and Nikon do, which is too bad, since much of their equipment is top-notch (Conversely, while Nikon and Canon have made amazing equipment, they've also made complete dogs). Plus, there are some amazing deals on used Pentax equipment right now. I just bought a used Pentax 6x7 (with mirror lock-up) plus a 105mm SMC for $450 Canadian (~$330 U.S), and this combo will make mincemeat out of any Canon or Nikon.

[frank.schifano]

No. I don't think that the photos from your Canon will be inferior to the ones made with the Pentax. It is the lens, after all that forms the image and the 50mm f/1.8 that you have for your Elan is quite a good one. What will probably find is that a comparison between an old 50mm SMC Pentax optic vs. your similar Canon optic will show that these old lenses are indeed quite good and maybe slightly better than the more modern optic. It will certainly be easier to focus than the Canon lens in manual focus mode due to it's slower focusing ring. Personally I'm not a fan of zoom lenses, though the high end modern zooms are quite good. The 100mm f/4 macro lens is also a good lens, much better than the consumer grade "macro zooms" sold today.

[trevor_little1]

be careful man.....manual camera are addictive. The pentax zoom wont compare to the newer canon zooms you would have on your elan, but pentax primes will surprise you. I shot with a pentax KM w/ a 55mm f/2 lens for years and it is just as sharp (in my opinion) as any of my nikon primes today. have fun man.

[stemked]

The 100mm f4 M is a beautiful little optic. Very light, unbelievably sharp (no portraits now of your friends, it's just too reveling of blemishes). It is only a 1:2 macro, not 1:1, but it still is one of my favorite pieces of glass.

 

I can't speak to the 45-125, my best guess is that it ISN'T going to match up well with your Canon 50mm f1.8 (and I warm you I am a totally pro-Pentax user). Speaking 'in generalities' a single focal length 'normal' optic such as a 50mm lens generally will out perform a zoom. To take matters the next step the 45-125 zoom is an old zoom made in the pre-computer design days. Zooms of that era tend not to be as impressive as more modern ones.