Can I use any of this lot?

T

Twinsane

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Hello,

I apologise in advance for the daft question. I almost put this in the basics forum as it says there are no silly questions in that section but as this relates to equipment I thought it best here.

I'm a novice "photographer" but have always been interested. As such, over the years I've amassed a few items which sadly, I've not used as I just didn't have time or the knowledge - still don't! Now the kids are grown up and I'm not working the hours I was, my other half has treated me to a Canon EOS 600D with the 18-55mm kit lens.

My question is whether some of the items I have could be used with it. I have no idea of what these lenses (which were with a pentax me super) are best used for (see, daft!) but I don't want to sell them (if they'd sell) if I could use them. I'm not sure what I'm going to be shooting but am interested in wildlife, macro, special effects (time lapse etc), landscapes and family portraits. I would probaby want to invest in other lenses eventually as I progress but could any of this be used to cut costs at the beginning?

The items I was querying are:
a minolta 3600hs d flashgun, a sigma 2.8 f2.8 macro 52mm pro 1a, auto 2x teleconverter, 58mm suntec close up +4, sigma 52 mm achromatic macro, sigma high speed 80-200mm f3.5-4, and a pentax 50mm

I hope I've listed them properly; I've written what is on the lens.

Thanks for reading :)
 
The flash is safe to use and the 52mm Suntech filter will be okay if you end up with a lens with a 52mm thread on it but the other stuff isn't going to help you.

Bob
 
The Pentax ME Super used a PK mount, if I'm thinking rightly, which means that a cheap PK-Canon adapter would allow you to use all three lenses on your current camera.
 
I think you've read the filter sizes from the lenses, rather than the focal lengths (except the 80-200 and 50)
Either way, I agree with Bob, and I'm not sure they'll be of much use to you at this point.
The Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS is well priced and will cover a greater range than the 80-200. Granted, the 55-250 isn't the most brilliant lens but with good technique it's more than adequate. Damn good for the money!
Same with the 50, you've got that covered with your existing 18-55.
You'll need to buy an adapter anyway to use them on your 600D, money better used to go toward a new lens :)
Fair enough, the 50mm will be 'faster', probably f1.8 but the 18-55's Image Stabilisation will off-set that some. I have one and it's a lovely lens and you can get great shallow depth-of-field with it and it's tack-sharp stopped down a couple. But the same can be said for the Canon EF 50mm 1.8 (nifty-fifty) and it's auto-focus etc. Goes for about £50 used. You can probably get £25-£35 for the Pentax 50mm, especially if it's an 'A' series: the lens will say 'SMC-A' on it somewhere.
However.............
Old manual focus lenses are heavy, awkward and difficult to use on a dSLR.
Their optical quality is mythical, rather than legendary in a lot of cases, with some exceptions, of course. Metering will be manual or Av but you'll have to stop-down manually, and no auto-focus.
I'd say that for where you are right now, photographically, sell them and go for the 55-250.
*I have a shed-load of manual focus lenses, I like using them but I'm under no illusions about them :)
 
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Nuffles said:
The Pentax ME Super used a PK mount, if I'm thinking rightly
Click to expand...
:thumbs:
You're right, it does and was usually fitted with the 'M' series 50mm but a lot also had the later 'A' series retro-fitted, which are supposed to be optically better and attract a higher price. Same mechanical fitting for an adapter, just the 'A' series had an electrical contact for Pentax 35mm film cameras that could do a Program mode and was called PK-A.
 
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Canon Bob said:
The flash is safe to use
Click to expand...
except that it's iISO mount rather than ISO so you would need an adapter & it would be manual only.
I'm a bit confused why you would have a Minolta 3600HSD with a Pentax ME Super so are you sure that all the lenses are Pentax mount & there possibly aren't any Minolta mounts?
 
Thank you all for your replies. It's very probable that I may have misread the lenses lol, I'll get them back out for another look when I get time. For now, I'll put the lenses to one side and sell the flash and the rest of my stuff while I save. I'll keep an eye out for a 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS as you suggest, thanks Mike .

Scott, the reason I have a minolta flash is that I also have a dimage 2... and two pentax me's, a kodak 850, a sanyo point n shoot, zenith and now the canon - I think thats it! All except the canon will probably go on ebay.

Thanks again everyone for your time and advice :thumbs:
 
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