Some old glass is definely worth the trade offs you will face trying to retain it, but it may just not be with it. Pentax is good in that like Nikon, they have retained their old bayonet mount. However, with old lenses you will not generally get any new capabilities that newer technologies offer. For instance, if the old lens was manual focus on the old camera, it's not going to be auto focus on the new camera. It's also possible to lose features when trying to mount old lenses on newer bodies, but I have no experience with Pentax so I'm not sure what the capabilities are.

While the prospect of using dad's old glass might be enticing, the reality is you may have something good and you may not. Probably the best place to start is to check on eBay to see what those lenses are going for. If they are selling for $25 or so, you probably don't have much, but if the are selling in the $200+ range it probably means you have something worth further investigation.

What you have to ask yourself is if it's really worth it to possibly lock yourself into a camera body you might not otherwise want just to be able to retain lenses that just aren't that great and potentially limit you to things like manual focus and external metering. The alternative being for about the same investment you could potentially get better glass and a lot more features.

I'm not super worried about AF, I mostly want to do landscapes and stills.
I figure (unless I just buy the camera body) any DSLR I buy will probably
have a small AF capable lens on it for some more or less close action shots.

I'll definitely look at any suggestions, even ones that aren't compatible with
K-mount just to make sure it's not a bad decision. I think all the lenses and
optics I have tally up to about 250 in total for about 10 lenses and a handful
of filters and effects. Not sure when I'd ever need a 3-point star lens or
whatever it's called, but I guess i have the option
So none of them are too great, though I have an 80-200mm that looks like
it goes for about 70-80.

But yeah, so there's a nostalgia factor too. There's intangible value in
using my dad's old stuff. That doesn't stop me from adding newer lenses
to the collection either. Though, if there is non-Kmount camera that is
much better for the same or less price as what I'd consider getting, that
might change things.

screw and bayonet mounts. The lenses were among the best back then, and aren't shabby at all even compared with more modern lenses.

Pentax isn't as big as it used to be, though, and choices are limited. The big camera stores like Adorama and B&H will have the Pentax K-50 for around 6oo bucks that probably can use all of those old lenses. Talking to the Pentax guy at one of those stores might clear up what lenses are usable, what lenses won't focus to infinity, etc.

What none of them will do, unfortunately, is use the modern autofocus and exposure modes. If the lenses are the basic normal, 135mm telephoto, 28mm wide angle, etc. it might be better, and cheaper, to just get a modern camera and one or two of the excellent zoom lenses. If he's got a super-telephoto 800mm lens, that might take some thought...

I'm a Nikon guy, and my latest is the almost bottom of the line D3200, which came which I got with two zoom lenses taking me from 28 to 200mm and it cost me around $500 on a super sale. Canon, which many swear by, has similar cameras and deals. Either brand will take superb pictures, even at the lower end.

I will admit that the camera makers have gone completely over the top with all the different shooting modes, gadgets, and button sets on these things. No longer is it adjust exposure, focus, and shoot. But, once you get the thing set up you can ignore most of it.

is weather sealed. The K-30 is pretty good too, but JPEGS aren't as good as the K-5.




I'm a big mirrorless fan, but if you want a DSLR, go for it.

They're smaller, lighter and the image quality is as good as any full size DSLR. The best camera is the one you have with you and you're more likely to keep a compact camera with you.

Everybody here knows I'm dedicated to Olympus (insanely brand loyal-yeah, I need help). Check out the OM D EM10 or one of the Pen series.

Last edited Fri Mar 7, 2014, 01:32 PM - Edit history (1)

If any of the Pentax lenses are manual lenses, you can get an adaptor so you can use them on non Pentax cameras.

As far as I knew, they were K-mount compatible, though now looking
I'm not so sure, maybe I was looking at an older Q on ebay and not
the Pentax site.

Well, anyway, it's something to consider, and size is definitely a plus
for them.

it would be a good idea to take what you have to them and talk about your options. I did this years ago at a local store and found that they would even rent cameras, so I was able to try some different cameras before making any decisions. I do realize that there are fewer and fewer local shops anymore, but it is worth a try.

From a technology perspective, there is no bad options in DSLRs. Obviously, some are geared toward specific purposes and come with specialized prices, but they all take good pictures and will allow you to grow and learn. Ultimately, cameras come and go; you are buying into a lens system. Nikon and Canon have roughly the same offerings in lenses; everyone else tends to be smaller in their number of lenses.

Play with the various camera bodies. Check the size, weight, shape, button placement, etc. Get the one that feels best in YOUR hands.

I don't see any reason not to go the mirrorless route for most people getting into photography.

There are a lot of pluses, lightweight, same amount of control as a DSLR, you can use all that old glass with an adaptor and a lot of mirrorless are available with wifi connectivity so you can download to your phone, edit and post on the fly.

Well, they are using the same light sensors in some of them in any event.

Haha, wifi...then I'd have to get into the conversation of "What smartphone
do you guys suggest?" (Always off the grid cell-wise)

One piece of tech at a time I guess haha.

The 4/3 bodies use contrast detection for autofocus. The OMD 5 uses phase detection as do most other Oly M bodies. The older lenses tend to hunt and are quite slow to focus. The OMD 1 uses both but that's out of my price range.

I looked into this for you:

There are three brands of cameras that had good backwards compatibility on their glass: Pentax, Nikon and Contax. A-series lenses were current when this camera was in production, so (unless your dad bought his glass at pawn shops) the meter on a Pentax DSLR should work fine with your old lenses.