Pentax Q Lenses

Hi, I am completely new to camera's and have recently bought the Pentax Q. I have the standard prime lens that comes with it and have been looking at the standard zoom that can be purchased. I just wondered if there are any other options in terms of zoom lenses that I can fit onto my camera with the aid of some sort of adapter. I have a pretty good zoom lens that I normally have on my friend's canon DSLR camera.

There are two Pentax zooms for the Q. The 5-15mm is already available.

The new 15-45mm zoom should be here soon.

If you want to use DSLR lenses, try eBay, as there are all sorts of adapters for using all sorts of lenses. You will end up with manual focus, but there could be some interesting possibilities.

Hope that helps!

Just remember that your zoom will become a mega-telephoto on the Q, think close ups of the moon.

also remember that any adapter you use will only allow for manual focus and aperture control - no automatic functions

I think the pentax adapter gives automatic aperture

I'm not sure that it could have as it has a manual aperture ring. That's why I think it is way overpriced too.

I mentioned because from the scant information on any Pentax website there is this, 'Manual aperture control possible' which I took to mean that it was automatic. Who knows?

I took manual aperture control to mean that it is manual. The manual aperture control ring looks very similar to my cheapo version.

The tripod ring is an optional extra too! I imagine this would appeal to private eyes and paps for this money.

I think we need to wait and see what the adapter actually does. We know it has some form of aperture control. We know it has a built in shutter. We can surmise that it will be manufactured to Pentax tolerances.

Whether its final price equates to expensive remains to be seen.

Looking at a picture of the insides there appears to be some sort of lever inside and I'd imagine it could auto focus with SDM lenses but as John says well have to wait and see.

Someone will have to buy one to find out what it does!

It looks well built, but not £250 well built. I bought the camera and two lenses for that. I'd want something with glass in for that dosh.

I think we've taken on board that you think it's too expensive....

Ken and myself are waiting to see whether it's what we need to buy. For me, it's either the adapter or the new long zoom.

Please don't tell me I need both.....

You will

Adapter wise I think requirements depend on what you use the Q for. I think the telephoto capabilities of the Q are great in situations where you simply have no option than to get closer to the subject. Obvious uses are sporting events, such as to overcome the London 2012 restriction on long lenses, the Moon and Kate Middleton. Some people like to use extravagant setups for wildlife but I've only ever seen average results. Extreme macro the easy wasy gives fair to middling results too. For fast moving subjects, extreme telephoto and flash use then an official adapter is probably worth considering, but for the vast majority of subjects I think the aftermarket £30er will do exactly the same job. Whether the £250 price difference (estimated with optional collar) is justified by the better build quality and built in shutter will be interesting to hear.

The specs and function are published. The only unknown that I can determine is what will be the maximum input value for shake reduction.

The pdf on the firmware update page gives some instruction.

•When the Adapter Q for K Mount Lens is used, set the aperture manually regardless of the
capture mode setting. Images are taken in Av (Aperture Priority Automatic Exposure) mode,
even when the capture mode is set to AUTO (Auto Picture), SCN (Scene), BC (Blur Control),
P (Program Automatic Exposure), or Tv (Shutter Priority Automatic Exposure).

http://www.pentax.jp/english/support/digital/pdf/Howtouse_K-mount_lens.pdf