Need help from a newbi pentax owner

I am a new owner of a k100d and 28-55mm kit lens.

Ok i need some questions answered.

1. tele zoom - pentax da 50-200mm, is this the best and has anyone had a sigma 70-300mm macro on there k100 ??

2. jpeg settings - what setup do you use, i.e sharpness etc

3. i have £100 pound to spend on a lense and like macro and tele so what shall i get and why ??

thanks

paul

For £100 you won't get much. I'd recomend geting a telezoom and something like a Raynox macro adapter:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Raynox-DCR-250-Super-Macro-Lens-SNAP-ON-52-67mm-NEW_W0QQit...

They give surprisingly good results and are snap on like the lens cap so you don't loose any time at all changing it.

Welcome to the forum, which I hope you will find helpful. Please only post messages in one thread to avoid confusion - thanks.

1. The SMC Pentax-DA 50-200mm is a fantastic lens and is a very modest price. The Schneider version for Samsung is identical and can be bought from Jacobs for around £50. This is well within your budget.

2. JPEG settings should be best quality and if you leave the values at default settings that will be fine. Sharpening should be done in an imaging program such as Photoshop as the last stage - this will give best results. You can always change the JPEG settings later after you've got used to the camera and know how you like your images to look.

3. Buy the Schneider lens and then some 52mm close up lenses that will fit both your lenses and enable even closer focus. Not expensive, perfectly good results and well within the £100 budget.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the info john, will that tele lense be ok as its a bargain at that price.

Also are these macro filters any good ??

i like macro so anything that can get the 18-55mm kit closer is good.

Thanks

Paul

As it's usual to stop down when shooting macro to fairly small apertures the quality from close up lenses (which just screw into the filter thread on the front of the lens) should be very good indeed.

If you become totally enthralled by macro then you can always buy a dedicated macro lens later when the budget allows.

I just hope jacobs keep that deal until next thursday. i called them and they said that they have no idea when it will end. fingers crossed.

If there are any nice rich people out there who wuold like to purchase one for me until next friday i have no issues with that.

cheers

Hi all

Well i recieved the samsung d-xenon 50-200mm for my k100d.

I have to say at 200mm its a pin sharp as at 50.

amazing lense for £53.49p delivered.

Now down to business. i have kit lens, tele lense so now for macro photos.

do i get a lense or macro filters ??

cheers

paul marshall

So you can see what the Raynox Macro can do on the 50-200:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/readflat.asp?forum=1036&thread=23666834&am...

And where to get the macro adapter:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Raynox-DCR-250-Super-Macro-Lens-SNAP-ON-52-67mm-NEW_W0QQit...

It is not a threaded one so there is no time wasted screwing it to the front or taking it off. It clips on like a protective cap and comes off just as easily.

Tyr,

Showing my lack of knowledge here.......

Does fitting one of these macro lenses render AF unusable on my k10d or can it be used as normal?

It doesn't really matter if AF works or not. AF is mostly a hinderance in macro work. You'd probably turn it off anyway and use manual focus.

The AF distance with that adapter is shortened below 1.1m which allows you to get really close and get greater magnification.

AF can work for macro but it can also be better to just use manual focus because the camera will not always do what you want at those distances.

Hi there John

I am new to PentaxUser Forum and have recently purchased a K10D (my first DSLR) together with a Tamron 18-250mm F3.5-6.3 DiII LD lens, which I understand has a macro ratio of approx 1:4
I've never really experimented with macro photography before, but those stunning pin-sharp close-up shots (via the link) that MightyMike took have really whetted my interest ! Would the Raynox adaptor mentioned offer me any benefits over what I could expect to achieve with the Tamron on it's own ? I must say that the adaptor seems incredibly cheap for what it offers, because I was always under the impression that dedicated macro-lenses were very expensive. Your opinion(s) would be greatly appreciated.

Best regards
Richard

Yes, the adapter will increase magnification and close focus ability on the Tamron. It is not a true macro, just close focusing, so you'll see a big improvement. The front filter size is 62mm and the limits are 52 to 67.

Hi John

Thanks for your rapid reply to my question. The Raynox converter seems such an inexpensive item for what it offers that I think I shall order one 'just-for-the-hell-of-it' anyway ! Nothing ventured, nothing gained etc. Where do you recommend the best place to obtain it from would be ?

Best regards
Richard

The ebay link above is the only UK supplier I've found. Seems to be based in Glasgow, I will order one for myself from there when I can.