I had an opportunity to try an FA* 24/2 a couple of years ago on my K-3 and it's a nice lens with good image quality. On APS-C I would say it's absolutely fine and fives 1 & 1/3 stops of advantage over the DA 21mm but at the cost of size and weight. It also has the benefit of being fully film-compatible.

The 21mm f/3.2 is a good lens but make sure to check that it focuses properly at infinity - mine didn't always but was very good indeed at shorter focus distances.

I'd recommend staying away from pre-digital-era Sigmas in general as the quality can be very hit-and-miss. The newer 10-20mm f/3.5 though, is excellent.

For a focal length around 20mm I would recommend the 20-40mm Limited zoom, which is a superb lens when it focuses properly (check for front and back focus at all focal lengths). This and the 16-85mm are the best Pentax zooms I've used and are better than many primes.

Bad quality filters can soften images and bad quality polarisers can rob them of contrast and add colour casts too. Always check image quality with a new filter before using it for proper photos.

Get your film negatives or slides with none of the fun of shooting a film camera? No thanks.

It's taken me a while to get around to posting as I'm currently in Edinburgh and on holiday visiting places and people, but I wanted to report that John's 85mm Takumar was received very well packed and in excellent condition. It is now being very much enjoyed and put to use photographing all sorts, but especially around the coast.



Mara on the beach by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Flower bokeh by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Edinburgh blossom by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Doorway of the Japanese garden by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



North Berwick by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Causeway puddle by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Melrose Abbey by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Coffee & Churros by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



North Berwick by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr



Wooden trail by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr

The K 35/3.5 is a very nice lens. The copy I have belonged to my grandmother and was used on her K1000 back when my siblings and I were kids and most of the photos of us as children were taken on it I imagine.

I have the S-M-C Takumar version of the 24/3.5 and while the corners aren't great it's very sharp in the central portion of the image and has very good contrast overall.

And I'll be honest about the 85mm soft - I think those results are horrible, as was the 1980s trend for deliberately soft images overall. It's one of photography's dark days and is best left in the past and all those soft lenses should be ground into dust or tossed in the sea.

I think the K10D is infamous for back and front focus issues and from a time where AF fine-tuning was not included in cameras.

However, I had the same lens a few years back and it also had front or back focus which was a shame as otherwise it was a good lens.

Welcome to the forum and to Pentax. I hope you enjoy your new gear.

The M series, as with Takumars, have a weak 135mm f/3.5. Go either side to the 120mm f/2.8 or the 150mm f/3.5 (M) or f/4 (Takumar) and they are much better, at least wide open or close to it.

I'm posting this here in case there is any interest. The equipment is with me in Madrid but I can take it over to the UK and post it when I go over in a few weeks if there's any interest, because it's sitting unused and someone might have a use for it.

My original K200D, bought new in 2008 in good condition and working except that the internal battery/capacitor which maintains the clock no longer holds a charge & I have been unable to get it to work with batteries, though to be honest I haven't tried very hard, even with Eneloops or lithium Energisers. This is normal for a lot of DSLRs of the era - the camera always thinks the batteries are flat because it's diverting power to try to charge the dead internal battery/capacitor. I have the original Mains adapter (with European plug) and with that it works perfectly.

The camera has a Katezeye split-screen with optibrite installed and shimmed to perfection - I can easily manually focus my M 50/1.4 or 85/2 wide open. Somewhere I also have the original screen and the remaining shims, which I had to source in the UK (back when that was possible).

Also comes with original grip.

Could be useful for someone who likes to manually focus with a split-screen at home, which is of course a small use-case, but it's just taking up space.

If anyone wants the grip separately I can sell that, or even the Katzeeye screen and shims and I'll put the original back in the camera. I'm not sure which other models have the same screen and would be compatible. I won't separate the camera and mains adapter though as the camera needs it.

PM me with any interest. If in the UK it has to be within two weeks so I can it over with me. If in Europe I can post from Spain so no fees for receiving goods from outside of the EU.

Get yourself a K&F Concept K to RF adapter and you can use K-mount lenses on your new mirrorless, at least as long as they don't have electronically controlled apertures.