Lens question.

[steelwave42]

I just got a Ricoh 35mm camera and am looking for suggestions on a lens for it. After taking some shots this week I found out the zoom on it is nowhere near what I need to shoot from the shore. I've checked some out, but am looking for suggestions on one that works well for getting close enough for a decent shot from the shore. The lens is a K-mount.

Also, if anyone has a fish eye they're getting rid of that fits a K-mount I might be interested.

Thanks.

[turtletheshaper]

I would look for an extended with a 400x optical zoom. Not sure how much they are for that cam, but I got one for my olympus for $1200.

[MDSurfer]

If you're no where near close enough to the action, why would you want a Fish Eye lens? That's a wide angle, not a telephoto, unless you're planning on doing water shots, in which case the fish eye makes perfect sense. K- mount sounds like the old Pentax film cameras. Is this Ricoh a digital, or film camera? The reason I ask is that the new digital cameras also have a need for digital lenses, and old lenses and new cameras aren't always compatible, even if the lens fits. On Nikons, the lens has to have a "D" on it or an "E" for full functionality.

A 400mm Nikon digital telephoto runs around $1,500-$1,700 depending upon where you buy it, Zooms don't usually go that high, and their optics aren't generally as good as a fixed focal length lens. Price them on http://www.bhphotovideo.com and then shop for a similar lens on eBay to find a used bargain. Unless of course money is no object.

[steelwave42]

If you're no where near close enough to the action, why would you want a Fish Eye lens? That's a wide angle, not a telephoto, unless you're planning on doing water shots, in which case the fish eye makes perfect sense. K- mount sounds like the old Pentax film cameras. Is this Ricoh a digital, or film camera? The reason I ask is that the new digital cameras also have a need for digital lenses, and old lenses and new cameras aren't always compatible, even if the lens fits. On Nikons, the lens has to have a "D" on it or an "E" for full functionality.

A 400mm Nikon digital telephoto runs around $1,500-$1,700 depending upon where you buy it, Zooms don't usually go that high, and their optics aren't generally as good as a fixed focal length lens. Price them on http://www.bhphotovideo.com and then shop for a similar lens on eBay to find a used bargain. Unless of course money is no object.

Yeah, this is an old film camera that got passed down to me. Very interesting, takes a great shot and fully manual. And yes, the fish eye is for future plans in the water...

I'm new to this old technology, and had no idea on compatibility to the new lenses. I was wondering why I was having such a hard time searching parts out for it. You said the K-mount reminds you of old Pentax cameras, so I'm going to search out stuff by them also. The mount was one of the aspects confusing me, but since digitals have a need for digital lenses, that explains that. I didn't know any of this, thanks alot for the info.

[MDSurfer]

And good luck actually finding film for it. ha. The VERY popular camera back in the day that used a K-mount lens was the Pentax K-1000 camera. It too was a fully manual camera and it sold for $150 brand new. It was a great buy on a great camera. And it is also possible that that was the exact same camera that you have only it was re-branded by Ricoh for their purposes. Sort of like a Toyota Corolla being sold as a Geo Prizm or a Ford Taurus as a Mercury Sable, if you know what I mean. So you could also search for lenses that fit a Pentax K-1000, just confirm with the seller that it will indeed be compatible before you buy.

One other item to note: if a K-mount lens is identified as a "Quantaray" lens, it's actually sold by Ritz Camera which is headquartered in Maryland and who provides re-branded offshore merchandise as their own label. They don't have the top level optics, but the price is usually right.

http://search.ebay.com/search/search...000&category0=

http://search.ebay.com/search/search...p=1%26fsoo%3D1

http://search.ebay.com/search/search...fsoo%3D1&fgtp=