I recently got a pentax istDL, I got a 35mm lens from my father inlaw. I have been told by most that it should work fine, but i still have a few that say no, it could mess up the camera in the long run. Everything seems to be working just fine, Apeture, S.Speed, everything is automatic and works great. Should I use it or not?
Since the aperture is controlled, I assume it's a Pentax lens (or a third-party lens made for the Pentax mount? If so, I see little risk. Your camera should be backward compatible with lenses made for Pentax film SLRs (with that mount type).
If the lens mounts properly without you having to force it, and if the mirror doesn't hit the back of the lens, there isn't anything that could possibly mess up the camera in my opinion. The mirror won't be a problem as the lens is made for full frame, and there can tolerate a camera with a larger mirror than a cropped sensor dSLR.
If I get an older 50mm 1.4 lens, not AF, should it work with my AV/TV mode on my camera ?? Or, will I have to change everything manually?
Has anyone else delt with something similar to this??
There's no way that Tv will work, you need to move the aperture ring to change the aperture. Av might work, you set aperture on lens, and camera chooses shutter speed. I only have a manual film SLR so I'm no expert.
It works differently with different brands of body. On lower-end Nikons, for instance, you cannot use AV. On Canons, you can use Av. Tv is never possible, since the camera would have to control the aperture, and it cannot. Full manual mode is almost certain to work. If I were a betting man, I'd wager that Av will work for you, but don't take my word... hopefully someone with direct experince with the behavior of the Pentax cams can comment.
I'm back, I have the lens, but it does not seem to be working. It mounts up fine, but the AP value just flashes like it does not have enough light. I tried it on all the modes, but same result. Am I missing something?
I'm back, I have the lens, but it does not seem to be working. It mounts up fine, but the AP value just flashes like it does not have enough light. I tried it on all the modes, but same result. Am I missing something?
What mode are you in? the aperture value will probably display either some nonsense value (Canons display 00) or might flash. Still you should be able to shoot, but you'll have to watch the mater and adjust shutter speed accordingly. Aperture priority may or may not work, depending ont he metering system in the camera (reference my comments above regarding some Nikons).
To use manual lenses ...
Set the camera to "M" [ manual mode].
Set AF/MF switch on left hand side front of body to MF
i use spot metering and have the AE and AF linked [in custom menu] on my Ds but you can change this if you like.
You do have to set " using aperture ring" to "permitted" in the custom menu to be able to use manual lenses like the Pentax "M" lenses !
You can leave this setting like this permanantly.
1: focus
2: half press shutter button to start meter
3: press AE-L button to set exposure ( the shutter speed gets underlined in viewfinder)
4: press shutter button
I own the *ist DS (dont use it much anymore) and if i remember correctly the only way to use the old manual lenses was on the manual Setting. Also you need to go into a menu to allow you to do so. I thought it was quite odd....
In anycase, read the manual because it is fairly explicit on how to use old manual lenses.
One final question, Can I leave these settings alone once I have them set? Or will I need to change everything back, when I go back to my af lens? Thanks again for all the help, I could not have figured this out on my own. ( I knew there was a reason I pay $25 for this site, LOL !!)
One final question, Can I leave these settings alone once I have them set? Or will I need to change everything back, when I go back to my af lens? Thanks again for all the help, I could not have figured this out on my own. ( I knew there was a reason I pay $25 for this site, LOL !!)
Yes, once set all you need to do is turn the mode selection dial thingy (Thats the technical term) to go back to Av, Tv, P, or whatever. You wont have to turn off the menu thing either.
