Don’t have enough money to buy new Pentax lenses? Thats ok. Pentax has been using the same lens mount for decades, meaning that you can buy old lenses at thrift stores, garage sales, and online for cheap and they work great!

My experience with old Pentax lenses

After purchasing my K-x I was almost immediately interested in purchasing more lenses to explore photography and really learn how a lens can change the entire look of your photograph. I asked around, and one of my good friends lent me an SMC Pentax-A 1:2 50mm lens from her old Pentax K1000 film camera. I was so excited to test another lens out on my K-x! But how would it work?

All you have to do is mount the old lens on the camera, change the aperture ring to the “A” setting, turn on your K-x and set the focal length (50mm in my case) and then begin shooting. I didn’t know it would be so easy to use an old 1970s era lens with a 2010 digital SLR. Since it is an older lens there is no autofocus of course, but using an old lens in manual focus is a good way to learn about why focus is important and how focal points can completely change your photographs.

The best part about using an old lens with your new camera is that they are more affordable and really easy to find. I borrowed mine from a friend, but I checked eBay and the same lens can be had for about $70. Not bad for a prime lens. It sure beats spending more than $500 on a new Pentax lens. Of course it doesn’t have all the high tech characteristics of contemporary lenses it does the job.

Learn from your lenses

With new lenses you learn what works and what doesn’t work. For example with the Pentax 50mm lens on my K-x I learned that without a zoom you have to move forward and backward to better frame your shots. Also with the manual focus you learn about focus points and depth of field. Now I frequently use the 50mm lens as an experimental lens and find it on my K-x quite a bit. Its fun to use, mostly because you are forced to set the Aperture, frame better shots without a zoom, and focus on subjects manually. For $70 I would recommend grabbing one and trying it out for yourself. Or if you are lucky you can find one at a thrift store / garage sale or street vendor for cheaper. I saw one from a street vendor two weeks ago and asked her how much she was selling it for… five bucks. Now thats a budget lens!

Some examples with the 50mm

Related posts:

1. Using older lenses with the Pentax K-x
2. Explaining the focus point setting
3. Looking for a new lens on a budget?
4. Affordable Pentax K-x kit lens alternative
5. Choosing your next lens