also the non-SMC lenses seem to vary somewhat sample to sample.

For example, I have 2 copys of the Takumar Bayonet F2.5 135mm

One of them is a great lens, sharp as a tak (pardon the pun) but has unfortunatly developed sticky aperture syndrome and is now jammed on F2.5

The other is significantly poorer in general performance and very soft wide open, I never bother to use it.

Similarly I have heared lots of people say very nasty things about the Pentax-A 28-80 zoom, but my Dads copy of this lens consistantly produces stunning shots good enough to blow up to 10x8 and beyond.


As a general rule though I'd avoid anything Pentax in K mount which doesn't have SMC somewhere in its name.

it wouldn't work on a pentax, theres no space, unless you put some sort of optics in the adaptor which would of course have quality implications. It might be possible on a Canon if the back focus on Canons is short enough to allow a decent sized aperture ring to go in between lens and body without sacrificing infinity focus.

ahhh, good point, I'd forgotten that!

/me bangs head against something

its amazing how many canon users are ignorant of what I consider to be the only major benefit of their system of choice. The back focus distance is so short they can mount almost litterally anything using a suitable adaptor.

as far as I know all the currently available Samsung lenses are re-badged Pentax lenses which may or may not have SMC coatings, so while they will work fine I wouldn't bother too much about them unless they are significantly cheaper.

on Ebay they tend to go for between 100 and 150 if memory serves. I've always fancied one but not for the asking price!

I think a lot of us would be a lot richer if we followed that idea!

I must admit that most of my action shots are taken MF, because my fastest glass is all A series or earlier, and my long glass is all slow so the AF performance suffers. If I ever get my hands on a K10D (another toy I don't need but will probably buy as soon as ever I can) and a long SSM lens I'll probably start using AF for action shots.

I'm waiting very interested to see how the Pentax SSM focus system works out.

could always get yourself an EOS 5D and a Pentax K lens adaptor

why are you sure of that?

Do most Canon users buy a 5D? I know more Canon SLR photographers than I can count, I only know 1 who owns a 5D, the rest all have APS-C models.

I certainly wont buy a full frame DSLR unless there are no crop frame models available which match my requirements.

edit:

/me looks at post count
[l33t]
omfg, I is teh 1337zor!!1111 w00t!
[/l33t]

ahem, sorry, 1337th post.

it's well known that the DA* 200 is basically an FA* 200 with a focus motor and weather sealing, hence it doesn't vignette on film bodies.

Handy.