First real foray into digital

Just before Christmas, I bought a Pentax K200D with 18-55mm Mk2 kit lens. I've a few K-mount lenses that I used with a Ricoh KR10X that seem to function OK on the K200D - but I'm not completely sure that any of them are really significantly better than the kit lens.

FWIW, they are:

Rikenon 50mm f2
Rikenon 35-70mm (yes, I know that one jams, so I won't be trying it on the K200D - it can stay on the KR10X)
Sigma 28mm mini-wide
Sigma 135mm mini-tele
Takumar 80-200mm zoom
Pentax-M 75-150mm zoom (picked up recently off ebay)

I've never done any macro photography before - so I'm going to buy some extension tubes and have a play with those. My bet is that I'll mostly use the kit lens and the Pentax 75-150mm and the others probably only rarely (50mm with extension tubes for macro, I guess).

I haven't been terribly serious about photography in the past, largely due to lack of time. Now that I've retired and don't have to worry about how to earn my daily crust, I think I've got a whole new world to explore.

As a rule, I've generally used the KR10X mostly totally manually, so most of the K200D functionality might not get used for a while until I "get the feel" of it.

I love the forum; have been lurking about for a bit and have learned quite a bit.

Cheers
Andrew

Welcome.

Hello and welcome to the forum Andrew

Hello Andrew and welcome to the forum.

Zoom lens technology has come on in leaps and bounds over the years so I'd expect the DA18-55 to be more than a match for any of your older zooms, however, there's no reason why your 28, 50 and 135 lenses couldn't still churn out excellent results.

The 50mm will now be a fast portrait-length lens and if you want to try your hand at macro on the cheap then try reversing your 28mm onto your 135mm for some results that I think you'll find suprisingly good!

Show us some results once you've given it a try

hi and Welcome to the Forum.

I also moved from Ricoh with a Vivitar 70-210 and the pentax kit lenses out perform it by a long way.

I have a Rikenon 50mm f1.7 it also has the contact that locks up on Pantax does the 50mm f2 not ?

No, the 50mm Rikenon f2 that I have doesn't have the pin that locks the lens onto the Pentax. I have a 35-70mm Rikenon zoom that does - so it's staying on the KR10X.

Cheers
Andrew

Hi Andrew,

Welcome to the forum

Hi Andrew, Welcome

Hello Andrew, and welcome.

Hi and welcome

The older lenses you list are not really up to the standard of modern digital lenses, but they will take pictures.

I'd start with the kit lens and develop a digital kit over time. You'll find it better image quality, lighter, more compact and much easier to use.

One lens I forgot to mention (probably because it really is very forgettable) is a Mitakon 80-200mm zoom (and a couple of 2x tele converters). I've been doing a little testing and am pretty sure that the Mitakon and the Takumar 80-200mm zooms are best consigned to the skip. At 135mm, they are very fuzzy compared with the Sigma 135mm prime, especially at the centre. Oddly, the Takumar is quite sharp at the edges - maybe it's been dropped at some time in the past.

The Pentax 75-150mm f4 zoom seems much better. It is sharper than the Sigma 135mm in the centre but a bit softer at the extreme edges. I'm not sure about the Ricoh 50mm f2 yet. A couple of shots suggest that it's at least comparable to the kit lens, though I need to do more testing before I can be sure.

I must admit, I haven't got completely used to the notion of trusting the camera to focus for you or of it deciding on exposure either. Maybe I'm too much of a geek. I fancy that there's a chance I'll end up using the K200D as though it were a manual K1000 film camera.

Cheers
Andrew
(I still play vinyl LPs too)

Today I did a bit more testing - and now I am (fairly) sure. The Rikenon 50mm f2 is a little sharper than the 18-55mm kit lens at 50mm both in the centre and at the edges.

I also took a few shots with the Sigma 28mm - and that is pretty good too. It also is sharper than the kit lens at 28mm right across the frame but the difference is so slight that for a different scene on a different day, in different light - who knows my impression might be reversed in favour of the kit lens.

So, of the old lenses - Rikenon 50mm f2 is fine - the Pentax 75-150mm f4 zoom, Sigma 135mm and 28mm primes are OK and the others can be consigned to the bin.


Cheers
Andrew

Before binning them try sticking them on eBay - they may not be stellar performers but there'll be somebody out there who can make use of them!

Hello Andrewk welcolme to the forum