How about a Tokina 28-70mm f/2.8-4.3? It's pretty fast and has the 'A' aperture (which is useful for KA mounts, if you have any other cameras that might benefit from it). Hin Man on this forum raves about it. Show There is also the Tokina AT-X 35-70mm f/2.8, which, ahem, I will be selling a copy of soon. You loose 7mm at the short end but gain a constant f/2.8 throughout. Both are very well built and offer superb optics. What do you consider inexpensive? Link to commentShare on other sites
An even older Tokina to look for is the 24-40mm f2.8 AT-X. Great too-toch zoom, a bit of distortion wide open on the wide end but very sharp. Link to commentShare on other sites
"Final piece to the puzzle" If only that could be true. Link to commentShare on other sites
I agree with Del. But lets just say you have that much self control. My recomendations. 28mm 3.5, 24-50mm f/4. Or, the 28mm f/2 kiron/vivitar. DON'T PAY MORE THAN $50 for it so you can budget $75 for a CLA since the blades tend to gunk up. I've shot a few more frames with the 24-50 this weekend, and it is a nice sharp lens with good contrast. Actually seems like a very good lens. Just a few notes. The 24-50 is compact for a lens of that range, but it's pretty heavy. Since I haven't tested it on film, I don't know if there is any relative distortion at 24mm but through the lens it looks very good on a DSLR, and it looks good on screen on an APS-C sensor. Link to commentShare on other sites
Sigma 16-50mm F2.8 or Sigma 24-60mmF2.8 or Tamron 28-70mmF2.8 should fit in quite well with your present setup. Whether that is final piece has to be decided by you Daniel, Toronto Link to commentShare on other sites
The Tokina 28-85mm f/3.5-4.5 AT-X is quite good but might be difficult to focus in low light with a K1000. Tamron made two different 28-70mm f/3.5-4.5 Adaptall II lenses. The second model was more compact. I have the first one and I like it. Most of the manual focus zoom lenses in the wide angle range are very slow so you need to think about how you might use them. The Vivitar 28-90mm f/2.8-3.5 Series 1 is a classic. It's heavy, well made and sharp. The later The later Vivitar 28-105mm Series 1 (f/2.8-3.8?) is also sharp but larger and heavier. Link to commentShare on other sites
I don't think there is a Sigma 16-50 f/2.8, but even if there was I doubt it would be a good choice for a K1000 as it would likely be APS-C only and would probably lack an aperture ring. Not K or M, but I picked up a A35-70 f/4 recently and am encouraged so far. Nice-feeling, a little bigger and heavier than the especially compact 35-70 f/3.5-4.5 but quite a bit smaller than those M35-70 2.8-3.5 beasts. Has a pretty good 1:4 macro mode at 70mm as well. While I think it would look and feel right on a K1000, from a price/performance standpoint though I wonder if a FA 28-70 f/4 might not be a better performer for about the same price if you don't mind going plastic. Another question is whether you have a preference for one-touch or two-touch zooms; many of the K/M zooms were one-touch. Link to commentShare on other sites
There is a Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8, but it's designed for APS-C sensors. Sigma do have a full-frame 20-40mm f/2.8, but I wouldn't consider it inexpensive. Link to commentShare on other sites
Let me suggest a lens I recently picked up for a couple of dollars -- the Ricoh Rikenon 35-70 3.4-5.6. It's not a fast lens, but I like the IQ, the build quality, the look of the lens, and the feel. It's a perfect match for my Program Plus, matching black and boxy, but not too big. On 35mm, I find 35-70 to be the perfect length to be ready for anything. This lens feels like I just have a 50mm on the camera, but just have that little extra width or reach as needed. Link to commentShare on other sites
To all those that gave me suggestions I say thanks. In the end I bought a Cosina 35-70mm f3.5 Marco lens. I do not know if the quality is any good, but the price was right and it has not been used in almost 30 years. I had it inspected by a great camera repairman. I could not believe my luck. I was at a camera flea market in Japan. Anything a camera buff could want was on hand. It had to seen to believed. I even got a hold of a Konica III rangefinder for 50$. It is also in perfect working order. Unreal. What is a 24 50mm lens good for?The NIKKOR Z 24-50mm f/4-6.3 packs big optical performance into the shortest, lightest full frame standard zoom lens in its class*. At its widest, 24mm, it's great for street photography, interiors and landscapes. Zoom in to 50mm and capture beautiful portraits, product images and everyday snapshots. What is difference between Pentax A & M lens?With the "A" lenses set to "A" you can use matrix/pattern metering. With the "M" lenses you have to use stop-down metering or the green button in manual mode. The "M" lenses will only shoot at wide-open in Av mode, regardless of what the aperture ring is set. How much does a Pentax 50mm f1 4 weigh?HD PENTAX-FA 50mmF1. 4. What is a Pentax FA lens?SMC Pentax-FA lenses have fixed focal lengths and can be used with both Film and Digital Pentax SLRs. They cover the full-frame 24x36mm image circle. Auto-focus. Auto-aperture (aperture ring available) Select lenses feature Power Zoom. |
