I have a pentax ist DL, 6.1 megapixel. Shop'n 4 lenses. What's a K-mount and is it compatible with my cam

Question

I want to take portraits and full body shots in my home studio. But also weddings and club photos away. Any suggestions with this camera. I see some cheap lenses on Ebay but some have "k" mount. Also, good resource for lens would be nice

Answer 1

K Mount refers to the mounting system that was developed by Pentax about 30 years ago. Due to the popularity (at the time) of Pentax cameras such as the K1000, ME, ME Super a number of other manufacturers adopted the K-Mount for their bodies as well (Ricoh, early Sigma film cameras, etc.).

Pentax has maintained this mount since it's inception which means that in theory you can use both manual and autofocus lenses offered by any manufacturer as long as it has the K Mount.

Your DL is designed to provide autofocus and aperture priority modes. If you use a manual lens you will give up this functionality, but you will still be able to use these lenses.

I have only found one manufacturer (Craig Optics) that made manual K-Mount lenses that didn't fit on a Pentax dSLR body. So the selection is very good on the used market.

eBay, B&H Photo, and KEH all have good selections of new/used K Mount lenses so they are worth looking into for a good deal.

Pentax's line of lenses (IMO) provide some of the best optics available (even when compared to Canon & Nikon), but they don't offer the selection of the "Big 2".

If you want to take good portraiture then look into the Pentax Limited 77mm which is a stunning lens with great bokeh and is at a very good focal length for portrait work.

The Pentax 100mm macro lens is also a great choice for portrait work (as well as it's intended up close macro work) with very crisp lines.

The "kit" zoom (18-55mm) is an OK lens but you'll do better with their 28-90mm DA zoom. The kit lens is less expensive but the results (to my eye) not as pleasing.

Early Vivitar Series 1 zooms are highly sought after (and actually demand a good price on eBay) but are very excellent lenses. They are manual focus and rather hefty but are well made and optically sharp.

Both Sigma and Tokina make a nice line of Pro lenses (DX and ATX respectively) that can represent a nice compromise of performance and affordability. A great resource for lens reviews in Popular Photography (www.popphoto.com) which will give you test results and price.

Digital Photo Review (www.dpreview.com) has some great boards that discuss the merits of a number of Pentax lens offerings as well as photo tips and picture examples.

Good luck in your search!

Answer 2

If that Vivitar has a K-mount, it will fit the K-7 but depending on it's features, some automatic functions may be disabled. You may still use it manually or at aperture priority. If what you have is an old Vivitar lens that comes with it's own T-mount, you can have the T-mount replaced to a K-mount if it's not. Yes, there was a time that T-mounts made it easier for thrid party lens manufacturers before to switch mounts from Pentax, Canon, Nikon, telescopes, microscopes and other brands with ease.

Answer 3

All K mount lenses are compatible with all Pentax digital SLRs. If it is not autofocus then obviously you will lose that capability, but it should still meter and confirm when you are in focus. There should be a setting in the custom fuction menu that allows you to use manual focus K mount lenses or screw-mount lenses with a K-mount adaptor.

Answer 4

Yes, K mount lenses are compatible with your *istDL. You will loose the autofocus capability, however, and possibly some other automatic functions - the camera may not be able to set the aperture. But you should be able to do all these things for yourself, in view of the type of photography you go in for, the answer which suggests manual focus lenses are no compatible is wrong.

Answer 5

K-mount is a Pentax lens mount. If your camera has auto focus, you want to be certain that the lens that you purchase is also auto-focus. Manuel focus lenses are not compatible with an auto-focus camera. If in doubt, call a camera shop and ask.