I have a Pentax K100D and I am looking into getting different lenses for my camera. Rather than buying new ones, I am looking to buy used. Is there anything in particular that I should look for? I'm very much an amateur and besides the type of mount, I have no ideas as to what I'm looking for. Do the K1000 lenses have compatibility with the K100D? I'm unsure of this because one is a film SLR and mine is a Digital SLR...I know on the front of the lense, on mine at any rate, it tells me the type of Lens I have (DA) but the film SLR lenses, do not. What do I need to look for in compatibility? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much in advance! Pentax has the ability to use all the older lenses from the K1000 and back.
Keep an eye out for a SMC 50mm f1.4 (great for low light, bars, stage events, etc) and/or a Pentax 135mm f2.5.
These you should find more reasonable priced
If you want to go more towards the extreme
Pentax K 50mm f1.2
Pentax A* 85mm f1.4
Super Takumar 85mm 1.8 (screw mount, you'll need an adapter)
of course there are plenty of others
If the lens has an 'A' on the aperture ring you even keep most of the automatic settings (ie picture modes) The K100D can use all the K series lens with some restrictions, as well as some earlier lenses (see link for details). Lenses designed for film cameras will work, but they will have the 35mm film equivalent focal length of 1.5 times when used on the K100D. This relates to the relative size of the sensor in digital cameras compared to the standard 35mm film image size. For example, to get the 35mm film equivalent of a 50mm focal length lens, you will need to look for something around 35mm focal length.
The reason these older film lenses work is that the 35mm film image area is larger than digital sensors. The lens were designed to provide good performance over a larger image area than when they are used on a digital camera, so they are well within the zone of their best performance on digital bodies. |
