Pentax faj compatability

Can anyone tell me if the pentax FAJ lens is compatable with a pentax MZ50

Hi,
The FAJ lenses will work with the MZ50 or indeed any of the autofocus cameras and most the manual ones. The only bodies you will have a slight problem with are the ones which can't use aperture priority metering.
Regards
Kim

Microflying & Kim,

The FAJ doesn't have an aperture ring so you have to:

a) work in shutter priority (ie select the shutter speed, let camera choose aperture)
b) Use one the cameras that allows electronic selection (Z1, Z1p, *ist, MZS, *istD etc)

Kim - didn't you mean that it doesn't work with the cameras that only do aperture priority? (Or conversely, those that can't do shutter priority?)

Matt

Hi Matt,
Yes - Thats the one! Fingers ran away from me! I was thinking of the K's, M's LX etc that don't have a program mode or shutter priority. Thats the trouble with puting in negative rather than positive terms.

Kim

I have the 18-35 FAJ and I'm bummed that I can't use it in manual mode on my MZS... I mean I KNEW I wouldn't before hand, I just got it for the istD... but it still bums me

The MZ-S is seriously deficient in some ways, compared to the Z cameras.

Actually, I think the FAJ lenses are the "deficient" products! I mean come on... this is photography, give me an aperture ring! Made in Taiwan? Plastic mount? Not pleased with the build of it... but I can't really complain since I got it free with my istD. But I would never spend the money on it.
The MZ-S is worth every penny to me since it is perfectly designed for my method of shooting. I know that some look at the top shutter speed and flash sync (non-important with HSS) and motor drive... but this is a gem camera for me... I dumped my Z1-p for it! (well, it's just relegated to the closet)
The MZ-S is bare bones photography for me... I love it!

Personally, I think Pentax is right to change to a simpler and more efficient system for setting the lens aperture. It's tough on M series camera owners, and earlier, but their cameras are twenty plus years old and they can't expect to hold up progress indefinitely.

What is surprising is that Pentax dropped the superb hyper-program feature on the MZ-S, which (in that respect) is a less capable camera than the Z1 and Z1-P, because it is therefore incapable of using these new lenses fully.

I didn't mean to disparage the MZ-S generally. In most ways its excellent, but this particular non-feature, and the slower shutter, drive, and flash sync speeds are a disappointment, especially as it seems to have been built to a higher standard of robustness than the top Z cameras.

I know the camera has some rather nice flash features, but they only work with the expensive AF360FGZ, which is unfortunate for those who own other digital flash guns.

Removing the aperture ring is not progress... what was wrong with the A setting? It gives the best of both worlds!

I'd like to use FAJ75-300 as a budget zoom for my MZ-7.
According to forums picture quality of this lens with *ist body is quite acceptable, but film frame of MZ is much bigger than *ist sensor. What about quality in the picture peripheral?
Did anybody try this lens with film camera? Thanks in advance
Vita

Vita,

The *ist is a film camera too (It is the *istD that is the digital.)
The FAJ lenses are designed for both film and digital (it is only the newer "DA" lenses that are for digital only and would produce serious vignetting on a 35mm body.) As has been mentioned, the FAJ lenses have no aperture ring, so you can only work in Program, or Tv modes (unless the body has an electronic aperture selector dial, like the Z1, Z1p, MZ-S, and *ist.)

Hope that clarifies things!
Matt

Many thanks to Matt, but I surely lost letter D in my previous post.

I found some samples of FAJ75-300 with digital *istD in Internet. Pictures are OK for me.
I know that in principle FAJ75-300 fits 35mm camera too, but has anybody experience to use this non-fast (4.5-5.8 ) lens with MZ-body (picture sharpness, vignetting, easy to autofocus, something else)

Vita

I got the FAJ 18/25 with my *ist D

Works with my Z10, and the Z10 is needed for those really wide shots that the *ist can't do because of its divide 1.5 x! So I will take two cameras.

Same thing here. I have the MZ-5n and bought the *istD. I was given a bonus from my boss with which I bought the FA J 18 - 35. The camera shop told me that there was no way I'd be able to use it on my film cameras and I'd have to buy a pro range ultra wide angle. I went home and promptly shot a roll of velvia on my film body. I carry both bodies for that reason.

I have to say, I tend to agree with Joshua. I got rid of my Z1P and replaced it with an MZS despite the poorer "spec" on paper. I found the Z too cumbersome and too fiddly to use. The MZS is a joy to use and I can't say I have ever missed taking a photo which needed 1/8000 sec! The MZS may not have all the gadjetry of the Z's but it is the only body apart from the LX which I had to have as soon as I picked it up.

As to the lenses, the loss of the A ring is definately a retrograde step. The J mount may make the lens a little more compact but surely not that much. The thing I want to concentrate on is taking the photo not playing with camera controls. With the *ist and MZ6 etc, you can get aperture priority but only by taking the eye away from the finder and adjusting the dials. With an A ring you can do it at eye level which is quicker and easier. I am all for modern technology but only when it helps rather than hinders me from taking better photos. Even when using manual focus, I quite often use the MZS or MZ5n in place an LX for the exposure modes. I can understand Georges comment about not having to be compatible with M bodies of 20 years vintage but the MZS is current flagship film camera!

Regards
Kim