Update: The lens isn’t really a “fail”. It’s just quirky. I decided to keep it, but I just won’t try to use it in full manual mode without first adjusting the exposure compensation on my camera. As I said below, when I put my camera in Aperture Priority mode, the photos are fine (aka properly exposed). So, I’ll probably just only use this lens in that mode.

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So, I finally got the lens Saturday. But, I had to head out of town at the last minute on Sunday, so I didn’t get to take any test shots until I got back and recovered from the trip. From looking at the lens, it looks fine. No oil on the aperture blades, no fungus on the glass, no scratches or chips in the glass, and the body was okay, etc.

However, when I put the lens on my K10D and started taking test shots, I noticed that the photos taken with the lens wide open at f2.8 were DARKER than the photos taken stopped down to f5.6. In fact, the f5.6 aperture setting seemed to be this lens’ “sweet spot”, as it got the exposure right. The photos taken at f8 through f22 were all supposed to gradually get darker as the aperture got smaller. Looking at the photos in the order taken (from largest to smallest aperture: f2.8, f5.6, f8, f11, f16, f22), the darkening of the photos should have followed an easily detectible progression from brightest/lightest to darkest. That didn’t happen.

The weird thing is that when I took the camera out of full manual mode and put it in Av mode (aperture priority), the exposure in the shots was balanced correctly. But, if I want to grow my technical skills, I can’t get into the habit of shooting in Av mode all the time. But, if I only shoot in Av, without understanding how to use manual mode, how would I know what to do if I needed to use full manual mode in a difficult lighting situation? Exactly. I’ve contacted the seller to arrange a return and refund.

My latest acquisition is a low budget, wide-angle manual focus prime lens. The Pentax Takumar Bayonet 28mm f2.8 lens is a member of Pentax’s low budget Takumar Bayonet line of lenses, and debuted in 1984. Optically it’s identical to it’s older, and more expensive, brothers in the Pentax M and A lines, and it’s even built to the same high mechanical standards.

But, yet, it’s very much an underdog because, as a low budget lens, it lacks the Super-Multi-Coating (SMC) that is found in Pentax’s higher end lenses. The lens is coated, but the lack of SMC makes it prone to flaring, among other things. But, used within its limitations, this lens can turn out some great results.

Example 1. This photo is straight out of the photographer’s camera. Not bad. All I did was crop out a cloud and some tree leaves on the sides.

Example 2. The same photo after a super quick edit in Photoshop. I decreased the exposure and increased the contrast both a smidgen, just enough to make the colors pop a little.

Not bad at all for a 26 year old underdog “budget” lens, huh? To see more pictures taken with this lens, check out this PBase photo gallery that I found.

I’ve had my Pentax K10D digital SLR camera for almost a year. The lens I have, 18-55mm, is a really good walk-around lens. However, sometimes I want to get a closer shot of something, but I can’t move closer to it. That’s when a long lens (aka telephoto) would come in handy. So, deciding it was time to invest in some new lenses, I turned to the Internet. But, I’ve run into a little problem. The really decent lenses are out of my budget.

My K10D can use every camera lens ever made by Pentax, so I started looking at old manual focus lenses. They are usually a lot cheaper than new lenses, and sometimes are even better lenses as far as picture quality goes. I watched eBay and combed craigslist for days, resigned to settling in for a long wait. But, this past Sunday I saw an ad for an old Pentax film camera with a 50mm lens attached, and a 135mm lens – all from the same seller – for a really good price. I sent a message, set up a meeting, inspected the lenses (they were good), and made the deal.

So, now in addition to my SMC Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL II lens, I own a SMC Pentax-M 50mm f/2 prime lens, and a Pentax Takumar Bayonet 135mm f/2.5 prime lens. From my research, these new (to me) lenses aren’t great lenses, but they are very capable ones and not junk. That’s good enough for me, as I’d rather shoot with these lenses (practice makes perfect) than not shoot at all in the name of holding out for a better lens. As someone on a photography message board pointed out to me, there will ALWAYS be better lenses (than the ones you have).