Hello Shaun,

I agree with Stefan - you've got to be heading for f2.8 lenses ideally and he's mentioned the obvious ones. And if you really wanted to cover all bases, I think you'd ideally be taking two bodies - one with the 16-50 and another with 50-135 for shots from the back of the church etc.

One other suggestion - you could consider 17-70 and supplement it with a fast 50mm prime (eg 50mm f1.4 - oddly enough I have one for sale!!!). I think quite a few pro wedding photographers take one of those in their pocket too, as they can be very helpful in poor lighting conditions as well as being ideal portrait lenses.

Jon

Aarrgghh just looked at Ffordes website... therefore price reduced to £60. It's cheaper than their example given mine also includes the ghostless filter and P&P!

Continuing to clear out my collection a little, and concentrate on the lenses that I use. Which means these two great lenses need to go to people who are going to put them to good use, rather than staying in a case for months on end!

Voigtlander Ultron 40mm/2 SLii

If you lust after the FA43 Ltd, and would prefer something with slightly more substance that the DA40 Ltd, then this lens may be the perfect solution! It's a pancake lens which covers full frame and acts as a (very) short telephoto on APS-C. It's a lovely lens but on APS-C the focal length turns out to be one that I personally rarely use.

Image quality is excellent, being sharp staight from maximum aperture and getting even better as you head towards f5.6/8. Build quality is superb like proper lenses ought to be, and world's apart from some of the plastic stuff we get nowadays. It's not AF, but the manual focus is a joy.

The lens has been used only a handful of times and is therefore in as new condition. It comes complete with hood (which was supplied with a tiny amount of the white "Ultron" lettering missing but it wasn't bad enough for me to do anything about it). Also a very handy close up lens which gives 1:4 "macro" ability (on 35mm body). Complete with box and instructions etc.

I can supply a few photos if required, but assume that aside from the minor issue with the hood mentioned above, this lens is "as new".

New from sole UK dealer Robert White (which is where I got this one), these go for £370 plus P&P. This one is available for £260 plus insured P&P (plus PayPal fee if that's how you want to pay). Incidentally - this is also a handy £100 cheaper that it would cost to buy a new DA40 Ltd, so represents an absolute bargain. Therefore, I'm not planning to negotiate on price.

Pentax DA 16-45

This lens needs no introduction on this forum and is a nice upgrade from the 18-55, offering a constant aperture, improvement in IQ (although the kit lens runs it reasonably close), surprisingly good close-up ability and a useful extra 2mm of wide angle ability.

A great lens if you occasionally find the 18-55 does not go wide enough, but don't want to go down the route of the ultra wide 10-20 and 12-24 options. The reason I have decided to sell it is that I have primes covering most this range, and enjoy using them too much. And the sale of this lens and the Voigtlander above will allow me to build up funds for the DA15 Ltd later in the year!

I bought the lens secondhand from LCE and apparently the owner was an older gentleman who looked after his kit very well, but then decided to trade in all of his SLR stuff to get something much more compact (m4/3). It shows - the lens is in excellent condition and I can find nothing of note to mention. It comes with hood and original caps but no box I'm afraid. Again, I can send some photos if you need them, but to be honest if you can visualise a 16-45 in excellent condition with only the slightest signs of use, then this is it.

As for price, I am aware that it is possible now to track the few remaining examples of this lens new for around £230 in the UK. Therefore, this one is offered for £150 plus insured P&P (and PayPal fee. It's a very generous price (not to me!) so, again, I'm not planning on negotiations.

If you are interested in either lens, please let me know. Thanks for looking,

Jon

50/1.4 still available...

Hi Nick - sorry I should have closed off this thread by noting that the PK-A adapter has found a new home (en France). Good luck finding one - they make a big difference compared to PK-M.

From looking at a few images on the web, I think the quality of what the 645D can do looks very impressive, and it's spec is very complete when compared to other MF cameras.

I think Pentax have played to their strengths and developing brand as a manufacturer of well-specified and rugged cameras for outdoor use, which differentiates the 645D from other MF cameras sold mainly for studio photographers.

To the extent that they manage to develop that image for the camera, I see two main markets for it:

(1) owners of existing film 645 cameras. I suspect these folk may have been slower to make the transition to digital than the rest of us who used 35mm. If the camera delivers what is promised, they may be persuaded.

(2) some owners of 135 dSLRs who either (a) want to buy into the latest thing or (b) want to buy a landscaper's camera that is capable of providing even better image quality than what they have already, as long as the light is OK.

The whole thing might thrive or fail depending upon how much support Pentax can bring in the form of a coherent lens system that works with the cropped MF. If they want people to part with serious amounts of money for the camera, they need to prove that there is a system back up there to make it worthwhile.

I don't want to see a 645.... I have a horrible feeling that I would like it too much if I did!

Lenses that I own in the general focal lengths you are talking about are:

SMCM 20mm/4 - very good; at least as good as my earlier copy of DA21 Ltd, but obviously somewhat slower to use.

Tamron Adaptall 2 24/2.5 - can be found quite cheap and if you are lucky enough to have a PK-A adapter, then you get AE. I'm pleased with mine. Usual rules apply - stop down a click or two before it starts to shine, by which time it is a very nice lens. Nicely put together too.

SMCM 28/3.5 - only just bought this so too early to say. But I am surprised how sharp some early shots have been even when used wide open.

SMCM 35/2.8 - if you don't want to stretch to the cost of the FA lens (which I agree is excellent), then I'd really recommend this one. I think it's something of an unsung hero from the SMCM lenses, and simply does what it does with no fuss, and very well.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

Jon

PM answered - let me know (but methinks your K1.2 is a better lens?!)

Jon

Now I've tracked down an SMC A version of this lens, I'm putting the SMC M up for sale. This is about the cheapest way that you can get an even faster lens than the excellent f1.7 version, and it's a lovely lens to use with nice colours and contrast, and very nice bokeh too.

Here's a quick example of how you can have fun with depth of field and bokeh, taken wide open at f1.4:





The lens is in excellent condition. Optically it is superb and there are no signs of fungus, oily aperture blades etc. The aperture stops down snappily and the focus ring is just as smooth as you would expect.

Cosmetically it is in very good condition but with some signs of use which are consistent with its age. I've included a few pictures below, which are unretouched.

























You'll note that the filter ring is in perfect condition, which brings me to the exotic extra: a boxed original Pentax ghostless 49mm filter. A bit of Asahi Pentax history!





The lens also comes with front (generic) and rear caps, and will be supplied in a soft pouch (Tokina).





Price is £65 including UK special delivery postage (please don't try and negotiate it down too much, this is a pretty good deal!), as bank transfer. PayPal is also fine but with the fees paid. I am happy to ship to the EU, and will quote for postage if required. For EU sales, PayPal only I'm afraid.

Don't miss this opportunity to buy a great fast lens that would be great for portraits on APS-C camera.

Cheers and thanks for looking,

Jon

28/3.5 received with thanks. Out to play tomorrow!

Jon