Sigma Super Wide II at long last

[guardian]

I have wanted a Sigma Super Wide II lens for a very long time. They always seemed out of reach. But today I bought one:

Click here to see on Ebay

It was costly as you can see, but I believe the price of these lenses has declined in the last year.

As is my wont on occasion, I went forward with the purchase absent a full understanding of what I was buying. My hope is to use this lens with my Pentax K-01 camera body. Here is a photo of the mount, provided me by the seller after special request:





My best understanding is that this is a MF lens notwithstanding the visible electrical contacts. The lens sends the camera body aperture information, but will not autofocus? Is that right? I'm really not clear how it all works.

This lens appears unmodified. As a result there exists the very unwanted "Ricoh pin", standing tall and proud, visible in the photo bottom left. I understand this pin is best removed. Just hope I'm able to do so without too much difficulty.

Anyway, bottom line, this lens looks to be a decent copy of one I long have wanted, so am happy camper.

[Oldhand]

Looks good and a good price
Tom

[marcusBMG]

Yep that's the MF superwide II. Very decent price for a good boxed PKA example - on the occasion I sell one I ask and usually get ~100$. Full auto aperture on pentax dslr's. I'm sure you'll like it. I have some comparison pics against a tamron 01B I haven't done anything with yet. The superwide II has better edges/corners (even on apsc! ) and I prefer its cooler rendering for landscape.
Don't worry about the ricoh pin, it's a harmless rounded one.

[guardian]

[guardian]

The lens arrived today. It is just like a brand new lens. I love it.

And it is instantly one of the coolest MF lenses I've ever owned. The camera body actually does control the aperture when the lens's aperture is set to "A". This must be some sort of holdover feature from the days of Pentax film cameras. I never used Pentax film cameras in bygone years. But apparently they decided to build this capability into their digital camera bodies as well. I mated the lens with my Pentax K-01. It remains necessary, of course, to focus the lens manually.

I need to buy more of these kinds of lenses. They are really neat.

Oh, and finally, marcusBMG was right. The Ricoh pin is not troublesome.

Bottom line I am pleased as a puppy dog with this new lens!

[D1N0]

It is part of the Pentax K-mount specification. Modern Pentax lenses still use the same protocol to control aperture (if not always the physical aperture lever any more , but that is a pretty recent development).

[John Shriver]

You got a great deal because the seller didn't know to do anything to make it clear what mount the lens had.

Sigma later made an autofocus Super Wide II (24/2.8) in Pentax AF mount. I got one for $195.

Sometimes a non-photography seller on eBay can give you a great deal. I bought an "Kodak Instamatic 33" that was a Kodak (Nagel) Recomar 33 for $5.50 plus $13.00 shipping. Of course, you have to be lucky enough to stumble upon the listing...

[Minolfan]