Lenses for mx and zx50-need some help

i have mx and a zx50. i have an smc 135mm for mx and several sigma zooms for the zx50. if i buy a 28mm fixed focus and a 80-320 for the mx will these lenses be useless for the zx50? budget is really a problem here as i am not george soros. is there another way out of this? ie will an auto foc. lenses work with the mx? my problem is that if the mx goes south then i will be stuck with useless lenses. i like to do nature and landscapes and portrait photos. I figure the above lenses would pretty much cover me. If i am misguided please give me your comments. i am an amateur and can use all the help i can get. btw- i live in nyc and adorama and b&h camera stores have little in the way of used lenses. is there a reliable seller on the internet?
let me know your experience. thanks in advance.

Hi,
Both manual and AF lenses will work with the ZX50 as long as they have an "A" setting. This is because the ZX50 has what some people call a crippled mount. The manual lenses won't give autofocus of course but all the other functions should work. I have bought many of my Pentax items on eBay. You need to check the sellers feedback carefully and it is important to "watch" the market to find the typical prices items sell for and be wary about being carried away. If you want to buy from dealers try an internet search for the lenses you want but you will end up paying about rwice the price this way.

Regards
Kim

i put the 135 mm manual lens from my MX into a zx50 in manual (M) mode. the latter will take the lens, as you stated, but the strangest thing is that there is an audible "beep" when the manual lens is in focus. I, of course, set the f/ and the shutter speed. In addition, in the zx viewfinder the flash indicator was flashing which may indicate the need for a flash for this particular lighting situation. I have a dedicated af flash for the zx so i will have to figure how i can use it with a manual lens. if what i think is happening is really happening then i have found a camera that takes all my lenses and operates without a hitch in manual mode. am i dreaming or what?




this was the wrong week to give up sniffing glue.

The beep is focus confirmation from the camera I think.

My MZ3 will do that if I switch on the sound. If I set it to autofocus and use a manual lens it will not release the shutter unless the image is in focus - perhaps that's something else you could try?

Hi humblejohn,
I am afraid you are dreaming. The MZ50/ZX50 will not function properly unless you use a lens with an A setting. It cannot unfortunately cope with the older K and M lenses. It may appear to work but it will not meter properly. You may be able to use it with a hand held meter but I am not sure. That is why the camera is telling you to use flash! To use the older lenses you would need one of the SF, PZ series or one of the following ZX series: ZX10, ZX7, ZX-L, ZX5, MZ3 or MZ-S. Of course if your SMC lens is one of the SMC-As, then it will work and you will be able to use it in aperture priority mode. If you need a manual for either of the cameras, thay are available at www.pentax-manuals.com. The ZX50 is the same as the MZ50. It's just that you Americans like to be different

Kim