Board index Equipment Film Cameras What kind of accessories do I need?

Film Cameras

What kind of accessories do I need?

teachama
 
Posts: 2

What kind of accessories do I need?

Post Mon Oct 06, 2008 3:54 am


I just acquired a Pentax K1000 35mm camera and was wondering if anyone could give me any advice on what type of flash and/or lenses I could use with it?

djwixx
 
Posts: 1360

Re: What kind of accessories do I need?

Post Mon Oct 06, 2008 4:24 am


Without wanting to be facetious, I'm betting Pentax lenses and flashes with work superbly, in addition to other brands that have been designed with Pentax in mind :D

Can you expand your thoughts on what your expectations are, you're budget and what you enjoy taking pictures of, otherwise you'll get a myriad of responses, which may not be close to what you want.

teachama
 
Posts: 2

Re: What kind of accessories do I need?

Post Mon Oct 06, 2008 7:45 pm


ah, well I suppose I am looking for advice on the best type of lenses and flashes . . . model numbers and such. I really don't know what I'm looking for or even where to find it. I'm new to the 35mm camera.

i use my camera mainly for portrait photography and some landscape work. as for budget . . . I have a middle of the road thought process. I want to invest money into my camera, but I also still wanna be able to pay my electric bill. :lol: if that makes any sense anyways.

djwixx
 
Posts: 1360

Re: What kind of accessories do I need?

Post Tue Oct 07, 2008 2:07 am


I don't know much about Pentax, but I gather you should be able to find a 50mm F2.0 lens which should be great for portraits and should also work well for some tight landscapes on a 35mm. Another option to look at might be the Tamron 17-55 F2.8 - but it's designed for APS-C size sensor so you might want to do some research on whether there is a similar option available for 35mm. Note, that I'm suggesting quick lenses, i.e. F2.0/F2.8 - if you can afford them now then make the most now rather than getting a cheaper slower lens. Another suggestion would be do avoid a do it all lens. 28-300mm sounds appealing but the results may be less than ideal. Prime lenses or a lens with a wide angle a 4th or less than the telephoto end should be ideal way to go. The longer the zoom range, then generally the more the lens will be a compromise from one end to the other.

stuegan
 
Posts: 184

Re: What kind of accessories do I need?

Post Tue Oct 21, 2008 10:10 am


Coincidentally I've just started using a K1000 for the first time. I've just received my first three rolls back and I'm delighted with the results; far better than I had hoped for. Unfortunately I don't have much equipment myself either at the moment, so can't really recommend flashes etc., but mine came with a Vivitar 35-70mm 2.8 lens and I like it a lot. Straight away it's my favourite lens by a mile.

I'm not sure but I think that type of Vivitar lens was mainly made in the 80s; I would imagine you could pick one up on ebay for around $30 upwards depending on condition. I am thinking of buying a couple more lenses myself (wide angle, probably), so perhaps if you like what you end up with yourself you could give some feedback here?

Cheers,

Stu

cambridge_photographer
 
Posts: 2
Location: exiled in Cambridge, UK

Re: What kind of accessories do I need?

Post Fri Nov 07, 2008 1:13 pm


I still own a K1000 as it was the camera I first used for learning..it actually sits alongside my classic camera collection on show!

I would have to disagree that the 50mm lens is suitable for portraiture, look for a Pentax K mount 135mm. Portraiture requires lenses of longer focoal lengths to help keep the proportions of the fave intact. A zoom lens will be suitable for street photography.

As your camera is totally manual, I would look into a second hand Metz CL4. A little bit overkill for your camera as it's a professional flashgun, but the main advantage is that it will have a large range of aperture dial settings to give you freedom over fill-in flash options. Butif you are using the flash as a main light source (indoors at night) set your pentax to f8 and your flashgun manually to f8 and you can't really go wrong.
http://www.natural-light-cambridge.co.uk/
Black and white landscapes.
Fine art portrait photography.

djwixx
 
Posts: 1360

Re: What kind of accessories do I need?

Post Sat Nov 08, 2008 2:10 am


cambridge_photographer wrote:I would have to disagree that the 50mm lens is suitable for portraiture, look for a Pentax K mount 135mm. Portraiture requires lenses of longer focoal lengths to help keep the proportions of the fave intact. A zoom lens will be suitable for street photography.


Agreed - I only mentioned it as in the Nikon/Canon world it's a fantastic lens for the money, and a quick google showed the F2 as a similar option in the Pentax world. Personally I love my 85mm F1.8 (on a DX), but I think for the price you can't do much better than the 50mm if you want something cheap, but sharp with great dof control.

jypsee
 
Posts: 1247

portraits at 50mm does not equal distortion

Post Sat Nov 08, 2008 10:54 pm


all of these are portraits made on a film body at 50mm

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

here's one with a 135mm lens

Image

clcik the photo for a larger view

Mary in SW Florida

e6filmuser
 
Posts: 12

Re: What kind of accessories do I need?

Post Thu Nov 27, 2008 2:52 pm


Around 85mm is generally accepted as optimum for portraits. The Tamron 90mm is also one of the best macro lenses.

A soft/diffuser filter, to flatter the ladies' skin texture might be usful.


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