books/advice

Hi Guys

now that I am waiting delivery of my MZ-5 was looking at lenses and other stuff but am getting a bit flumaxed about what does what and which are suitable or good with MZ-5.

Can anyone reccomend a good book or maybe something on line so that I can fathom out the differences between the different lenses what each does and what it is sutable for?
for example macro, prime, zoom, differing apertures etc etc infinitum

jeff

http://www.bdimitrov.de/kmp/ should meet most needs.

Basically any lens described as K, M, A, FA, or DFA will work fine with an MZ5. Avoid DA (reduced image circle and no aperture ring) and FAJ (no aperture ring so you can only use them in Tv or P mode) lenses.

A good start is to pick of a 50mm 1.7 'standard' lens - the manual focus ones can be had very cheaply - and 'play' a bit. Or a standard zoom - the FA 28-70 F4 is generally regarded as excelent but occasionally has a problem with two of the elements which are cemented together seperating. Does the camera come with a lens?

Hope that helps

hi tony

thanks for the info,

the camera comes with a 28-70mm pentax lens but exactly which one i don't know hoprfully it will arrive tommorrow.

What are 'prime' and 'macro' lenses. As far as I understand it macro is for very close up pics but prime I am not so sure about.
Also how in the way they work is a zoom differing from a macro?

sorry for dumb questions especially to the camera technos on the site

The following is a rough guide (I've over-simplified a bit) as there are exceptions to every rule, but this should get you started (all based on your new film camera):

A lens with a focal length of 50mm (or thereabouts) is considered "normal"

A lens with a focal length less than 50mm is considered "wide"

A lens with a focal length more than 50mm is considered "telephoto"

A lens that can change its focal length is called a "zoom"

A lens with a fixed focal length is called a "prime"

A lens that can focus very close to the subject is called a "macro"

So you see, you could have a lens that is a telephoto, a zoom and a macro all in one. You could have a lens that is both wide and telephoto all in one (as long as it's a zoom). You can't have a lens that is both a zoom and a prime all in one as they are completely different.

I use a DA12-24 which is "wide" and a "zoom".

I use an FA43 which is "normal"(-ish) and a "prime".

I use a D-FA100 which is a "telephoto", a "prime" and a "macro".

Finally I use a Tamron 70-300 which is a "telephoto", a "zoom" and also has a "macro" facility.

Does that make things a little clearer?

The lens is probably this one
http://www.bdimitrov.de/kmp/lenses/zooms/short/FA28-70f4.html
I had one and it is pretty good provided it does not have the fault stated (mine did not - but as I got the equally good and more versatile 28-105 3.2-4.8 I sold the 28-70)
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thats great guys really appreciate the info.

I don't have a problem understanding photo theory but like most hobbies there's a lingo and knowledge to get to grips with to make sure you get the best from it.

Also into motorbike racing done a bit and also into spectating. equally there's a dialect and knowledge to go with that, eg big bang engine, slipper clutch, cam overlap, short stroke, long stroke (ooh err missus), traction control etc etc would like to get into photography in this area and I know a lot of ex recers who are also inti it big style.

I also shoot a lot of motorsport and you'll probably find that the lens coming with your new camera will be a little short for capturing all the action. In an ideal world you'd want something long (200mm+) and fast, but these sorts of lenses are expensive to say the least!

As a compromise I'd recommend a Tamron 70-300 like the one I use. It's a long telephoto zoom lens (with a built-in macro function that can be good fun!) that's medium paced (f4-f5.6) and will work on film and digital cameras. It auto focusses quite swiftly and - best of all - it's cheap! Most places will sell you one new for £100-120 but used ones come up on eBay from time-to-time for less money.

It'll make an excellent companion to your 28-70 and if you stand on the banking just after the hairpin and before the start/finish straight at Mallory Park you'll find you can track a car/bike around virtually the whole circuit - happy days!


PS. Warehouse Express have one in their January sale for £69.99: http://www.warehouseexpress.com/?/specials/Jansale.html#Digital%20:%20Lenses (Tamron AF 70-300mm f4-5.6 Di LD Macro 1:2 - Pentax).

Thanks for that Hefty,

sorry if some my questions are getting on your nerves a bit but,

you quote it as medium speed along with the aperture rating.
Can you tell the speed of a lens from the F stops quoted?

and if so what apertures are good for which applications?

Jeff, you do need to get a book.

The "speed" of a lens is determined by it's largest aperture, and is relative. A 400mm lens with an aperture of 1:2.8 is considered fast, but a 50mm lens with an aperture of 1:2 is considered slow.

A fast lens confers three advantages.

First it provides very limited depth of field when wide-open, allowing you to isolate your subject from the background. Portrait lenses are traditionally fast for that reason.

Second, it permits the use of a higher shutter speed, which is useful in low light or for fast-moving subjects.

Third, it allows more light through the lens when focussing/framing, which helps both.

The disadvantages are cost and bulk.

G

Thanks George,

as per my original post can anyone reccomend any particular books?

- so that I can stop bugging people

Hi Jeff, if nobody asked questions then forums like this would wither and die so keep it up

I don't have a particular recommendation book-wise but if you pop to your local library and get a book on general photography technique that should do the trick. The basics haven't changed in over 100 years so don't worry if it's not a particularly recent book (fat chance of that in most libraries anyway) so have a browse and get one you feel comfortable with.

George's info above is spot on regarding speed; I'd love a 300mm lens that opens up to f2.8 but they cost an arm and a leg - that's why I have the Tamron. At 300mm it's "only" f5.6 maximum but as long as the conditions are bright that's plenty enough to capture fast-moving bikes - just don't expect results in dimmer conditions to be as easily obtainable.

Just for reference, the apertures for a lens (widest/fastest first) are:

f1 - f1.4 - f2 - f2.8 - f4 - f5.6 - f8 - f11 - f16 - f22 - f32

You can't buy an f1 lens in Pentax mount (and mortals like us wouldn't be able to afford it if they made one) and anything 300mm long with an aperture of f1.4 or f2 would weigh a ton. A f2.8 would be very expensive and quite heavy at 300mm (but good if you could find one), a f4 slightly cheaper and lighter and then we have the f5.6 which is a good compromise being cheap, light and - as I said before - medium paced.

Good luck anyway!

Very well explained Hefty, You should write a book

BTW who did make that f1 you mentioned :

Cheers Clarky - I'll mention you in my sleeve notes...

Leica make a 50mm/f1 called the Noctilux which is available to special order and costs about £10k. Canon briefly made one in the 1960's (also 50mm) which is rare as hens' teeth and would probably set you back the same as a nice house if you could find it. The only other ones I know of were made by Zeiss specially for NASA to use on the moon landing - I think there were 6 of them and they were sold on to Stanley Kubrick who converted them to cine lenses.

As far as I know, nobody has ever attempted a 300/f1 - now that would be an absolute monster!!

BTW who did make that f1 you mentioned Ther's a Leica 50mm f1 lens for rangefinder and at one time (1959 I think) there was a Canon 50mm f0.95 for Canon rangefinder.

Very fast lenses are not new.

The fastest Pentax lens is the recently discontinued SMC Pentax-A 50mm f1.2. There was also a previous SMC Pentax version.

Thanks again Hefty

does that the scale of apertures/speeds only apply to 300mm or to all lenses. I'm just going back to what George said earlier where what is fast in 300mm is not fast in say 50mm?

Jeff