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Tokina lens and Pentax K20D (1 Viewer)

TTT

Active member
I have an 20 years (or so) old (but hardly ever used) Tokina SD 400 mm lens with Pentax mount. Now I'm thinking of buying a Pentax camera, preferably the K20D, to attach the lens to. I realize I don't will be able to use the auto focus on the camera while the old lens is attached?

I also have a Canon S3 IS super-zoom camera (with a 1,5x tele converter). I use it very often and I am very pleased with it, but have no trouble admitting it is not really up DSLRs regarding image quality.

Now the question is: Will the image quality of the combo Tokina SD 400 mm/Pentax K20D outperform the Canon S3 IS by a considerable margin or just marginally, perhaps not at all? I realize a Pentax K20D with a new Pentax lens will be a different beast, but...
 
I don't know the lens you're describing but I'd say that it on a K20D would seriously beat-up your Canon (although I also don't know the Canon you describe). If it was originally AF for Pentax in the late '80s I think it should still be AF although slow and noisy, but DSLR start-up speed alone is better for me. I have an ill Pentax 400mm prime that got sick last year and have recently got out an old Sigma 170-500mm zoom that I got 10 years ago and it works fine on my K10. -I'd take the lens to a store and see if they'd let you try it on a display camera before you buy. A K20D body is still fairly expensive if the glass quality doesn't do it justice. Maybe worth checking out the costs and specs of various new brands lenses and thinking your way backwards to a camera body.
Happy birds!
 
Thanks! Good idea to take the lens to a store and try it on a K20D (or perhaps K200D). Must admit the K20D looks very tempting.
 
Yes, it sounds like the same lens, mine is a SD 400mm 5.6.

Very interesting - he even managed to take a picture of a flying warbler using manual focus!

Hmm... even more tempted...
 
Yes, it sounds like the same lens, mine is a SD 400mm 5.6.

Very interesting - he even managed to take a picture of a flying warbler using manual focus!

Hmm... even more tempted...
Hi I have a sigma 50-500 and honestly use manual focus alot of the time for birds in trees as you can bet the camera will focus on a small branch in front or behind ;)I must admit that I learned photography on a total manual camera so it was all manual focus ;)http://www.birdforum.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/176984/ppuser/55187
 
I know what you mean, small birds in dense forest tend to confuse the auto focus. The Powershot S3 IS doesn't have a focus ring, but instead you have to hold down a button which makes a second, enlarged image appear in the electronic viewer. A pretty awkward and slow solution and the image in the viewer is so poor you really can't be sure you got it right. Much prefer a dedicated focus ring for the manual focus.
 
I know what you mean, small birds in dense forest tend to confuse the auto focus. The Powershot S3 IS doesn't have a focus ring, but instead you have to hold down a button which makes a second, enlarged image appear in the electronic viewer. A pretty awkward and slow solution and the image in the viewer is so poor you really can't be sure you got it right. Much prefer a dedicated focus ring for the manual focus.
The pentaxes are well know for their very good viewfinders and I have taken it a step further by fitting a split screen in my K10. The biggest advantage I find with DSLR is there is almost no delay once you have pressed the shutter to the photo being taken;)
 
Some excellent pictures there, Nick! Handheld at (more or less) full zoom?

That is one of the things that makes the Pentax DSLRs so tempting; the IS technology in the body, which means that even old lenses benefits from this.
 
Some excellent pictures there, Nick! Handheld at (more or less) full zoom?

That is one of the things that makes the Pentax DSLRs so tempting; the IS technology in the body, which means that even old lenses benefits from this.
Thankyou for about half of my shots I use a monopod ;) the rest are handheld;) The lens rarely zooms less than 400 especially with the fairy wrens as they are so small ;) The shake reduction works very well at slow shutter speeds but I'm unsure how well it works at high shutter speeds which i find I need to to stop movement with the birds ;)
 
split image for k20d?

The pentaxes are well know for their very good viewfinders and I have taken it a step further by fitting a split screen in my K10. The biggest advantage I find with DSLR is there is almost no delay once you have pressed the shutter to the photo being taken;)

Who makes a split screen that fits the k10d? Does it also fit a k20d? Where might I find more information regarding split screens for those camers? I would very much like to use a split image viewfinder screen like the one in my old Pentax super-program.

I use both cameras with a ca-35 adapter and pf65-ed and pf100-ed spotting scopes -- focusing on the ground glass is a bit of a challenge at f12 and f12.6 respectively. Recently I found references to the O-ME53 1.2x viewfinder loupe which is supposed to be a great aid for manually focusing on ground glass, "almost as good as split image."

happy trails
 
Who makes a split screen that fits the k10d? Does it also fit a k20d? Where might I find more information regarding split screens for those camers? I would very much like to use a split image viewfinder screen like the one in my old Pentax super-program.

I use both cameras with a ca-35 adapter and pf65-ed and pf100-ed spotting scopes -- focusing on the ground glass is a bit of a challenge at f12 and f12.6 respectively. Recently I found references to the O-ME53 1.2x viewfinder loupe which is supposed to be a great aid for manually focusing on ground glass, "almost as good as split image."

happy trails
Hi Sorry its taken so long to reply forgot to subscribe to the thread :eek!: like you I came from a pentax Super A and really missed the split screen. My split screen came from Katzeye http://www.katzeyeoptics.com/item--Katz-Eye-Focusing-Screen-for-the-Pentax-K10D--prod_K10D.html they list the k20d ;) The only problem you may find is the blackout problem where one half dims @ higher f stops I have found it happens a little at f6.7 with my bigma but it is still very usable .I found Katzeye very helpful if you email them ;) There are other cheap screens on ebay but they are modified from old screens |8(| you pays your money and takes your pick :-O
 
My split screen came from Katzeye http://www.katzeyeoptics.com/item--Katz-Eye-Focusing-Screen-for-the-Pentax-K10D--prod_K10D.html they list the k20d ;) The only problem you may find is the blackout problem where one half dims @ higher f stops I have found it happens a little at f6.7 with my bigma but it is still very usable :-O

Split image ring blackout:I was not sure whether this happened in digital cameras as well. Now thanks to your post I know it's carried over into digital as well. I use two Pentax MX bodies with the SMCP-M 400mm F5.6. One uses the all-matte screen and the other the split image ring. I prefer the matte for long lenses but the split image is useful for the SMCP-M 35mm f2.0 where the matte is practically useless for indoor subjects.

My question: since I find the blackout disturbing, can I get at least 75% of the brightness of an MX with a matte screen on a K10D with a matte screen? I don't hold out much hope of my being able to use the K200D with the 400mm given the absence of a glass pentaprism. A real pity. Welcome advice from all quarters.
 
Split image ring blackout:I was not sure whether this happened in digital cameras as well. Now thanks to your post I know it's carried over into digital as well. I use two Pentax MX bodies with the SMCP-M 400mm F5.6. One uses the all-matte screen and the other the split image ring. I prefer the matte for long lenses but the split image is useful for the SMCP-M 35mm f2.0 where the matte is practically useless for indoor subjects.

My question: since I find the blackout disturbing, can I get at least 75% of the brightness of an MX with a matte screen on a K10D with a matte screen? I don't hold out much hope of my being able to use the K200D with the 400mm given the absence of a glass pentaprism. A real pity. Welcome advice from all quarters.
Hi I found the K10 matte screen pretty good ;) There is one advantage over the mx in that there is an (infocus) indicator which works well. I can't speak for the K200 the best option is to take your 400mm and try it on both. The katzeye screen for pentax is a PLUS screen which is better than the old pentax version but may not be as good as claimed.I found at 5.6 there is minimal shading ;)tested on my 50-500 at 290mm @f5.6
Katzeye PLUS >>http://www.katzeyeoptics.com/page--Katz-Eye-Plus--plus.html
 
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