PhotographyBanzai.com

I received a message recently asking for some suggestions about a new lens to supplement his 18-55mm kit lens. Check out the conversation below because it might be helpful to you as well. I like helping people out, so feel free to send me messages if you have similar questions and think I would be able to help. I might feature it on the site as well. His initial message: Hello Scott Great reviews. I purchased the Kr Pentax and the 18-55 DAL lens came with it. Can you please recommend a lens for Portraits. I think taking portraits will help me make the money I would need for a better lens. Right now I would like to spend no more then 200.00 US Thanks again My first response: Are you only interested in new lenses? If so, you options are limited at $200. Pentax has a DA 35mm f2.4 AL around $200, but that is too wide angle to be considered a true portrait lens (zoom your current lens to 35mm to get a feel for the focal length). If that focal length agrees with you, the DA 35mm would...

I noticed people in general are interested in how each lens sounds (myself included), so I thought it would be helpful to put together a video demonstrating a set of lenses and how they sound when doing auto-focus (AF). This set is Pentax as it is the brand I use currently. The other benefits of this video is that you can get a feel for how the lens handles and what the focus travel is, if any (some lenses are internal focus). Here is the video on Youtube (720p version available): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3hOiOpCYsA The camera doing the auto-focus is a Pentax K-7 and the one taking the video is a Pentax K-5 using 720p 30fps video mode. The lenses included in the video: Pentax DA 14mm f/2.8 ED IF Digital Auto Focus Lens Pentax SMCP-DA 10mm-17mm f/3.5-4.5 (IF) Auto Focus Fisheye Zoom Lens Pentax D-FA 100mm f/2.8 Macro WR (Weather Resistant) Auto Focus Lens Pentax FA 31mm f/1.8 AL Wide Angle Auto Focus Limited Edition Lens Pentax DA 50-200mm f/4-5.6 ED WR Auto Focus Telephoto Zoom ...

Recently I had a question about the Kenko teleconverter about if it functions with SDM lenses and if the teleconverter hurts image quality. I thought this was a good request and warranted an article or two on the blog. If you are not familiar with teleconverters (TC for short), they attach between the camera and lens allowing you more reach, or rather more magnification. Some people feel they are not necessary and hurt image quality, but I personally feel they can be of use and some of the available teleconverters don’t cause large drops in image quality. Here is the Kenko teleconverter sandwiched between a DA* 300mm lens and K10D camera body: The lens, teleconverter, and camera. Pentax does not have any teleconverters available in the USA for sale, but private sellers at places like the pentaxforums.com marketplace have a few options available. The Kenko Pz-AF 1.5x Teleplus SHQ is an older teleconverter that is still available in Japan that is available here through those secondary me...