I fear that some new photographer is going to read this discussion and think that if they don't have a ltd lens, a prime lens of every focal length, FA* lenses ... they can never hope to get good pictures.
I don't remember anyone ever said this, until now...
1) All Pentax lenses are very good. Most are great. Some are excellent.
Have you ever used ALL Pentax lenses?
2) You, I and 90 per cent of the people on this list could not tell the difference between a picture taken with the worst Pentax lens and the best when viewing a 4X6 inch print. That figure goes to 95 percent if the picture is viewed on the Web and 100 per cent if proper technique is not used.Do you know at least 90% of the list members here? The worst vs the best Pentax lens with 4x6" prints? Have you actually tried it?
3) Generally speaking, many high-quality third party lenses are as good and sometimes better than Pentax lenses.Sure there are some. I do not know how many. I haven't used many to draw this conclusion. However, flare control is what SMC lenses good at.
4) People who own a particular lens will rarely speak poorly about it. The amount of praise is directly related to how much they paid for it.I bought a brand new Tamron SP 35-105/2.8 manual focus. Popular Photography said it was great. I say it sucks big time, mechanically and optically.
I bought a brand new Sigma 24/2.8 manual focus. Great sharpness and colour. Horrible flare control and materials.
I bought a brand new FA*85/1.4. Every test shows it's a top quality lens. I say it's useless until f4. FA77/1.8 is way better optically.
I bought a brand new FA43/1.9. It's built quality is good. But I say it has nothing special optically.
I bought a brand new Z-1p. The plastic elepiece sucks. It was scratched in no time.
I bought a brand new... I think I should stop.
Btw, how many people you know exactly in this World in order to draw this conclusion?
6) People who talk ad-nauseum about lenses (And we all fall into this at times) are more likely to be collectors rather than shooters.
Proof?
Photographers & collectors have different objectives. "Better"? What do you mean exactly?7) It is better to be a shooter than a collector.
8) Most people on this list (myself included) tend to be collectors as much as shooters.Please don't drag down everyone on the list with you. Especially when you don't know many list members here.
9) The best lenses are the ones you use.
That could means many things.
10) A good tripod and ball head can turn a $150 lens into a $1,000 lens .
I doubt it.
Sharpness is not everything.11) If you don't want to use a tripod, don't waste your money on very expensive lenses.
regards,
Alan Chan
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