Stupid employee discount!

Dubious Drewski · Jun 17, 2008

It's created one hell of a conundrum for me. Maybe you guys can help.

So today at work, we received our very first Pentax 50mm 1.4. I saw it on the truck sheet(The list of what has been shipped to our store) and immediately started digging for it in our giant plastic crates. I spotted that green and black box and tore it open right there (Edit: it's a gray and red box, hehe). I was thinking "What's this thing going to feel like?" and "Is it going to be any good compared to my vintage 50mm?".

I was surprised. Pleasantly. It has fantastic build quality for a modern lens and is far more sturdy than any of the other 50mm or 18-55 lenses from the other brands. And this is the kicker: it's half the cost of the other 50mm primes.

I usually avoid fanboyism on the internet and while selling cameras, but I can't help but wonder why people shoot other brands when Pentax lenses are always of such great quality at such ridiculous low prices. The reviews for this lens confirm it; the optics are great too and it's a wonderful piece of glass.

And here's the double kicker: With my employee discount, this thing will cost me $140 brand new. I'm thinking awful things. I'm thinking of replacing my cherished old 50mm with this newer autofocus model. Should I?

Battou · Jun 17, 2008

I'm sure that manual one won't be completely useless....but, It's your call

Senor Hound · Jun 17, 2008

Unfortunately no one can make this decision for you. Obviously if you follow your brain you should go with the new one, but if you follow your heart you'll stay with "your baby" as you put in your signature.

I know this didn't help, but I'm being serious. In the end, an emotional decision is a decision made alone.

Dubious Drewski · Jun 17, 2008

Oh my, and people have nothing but good things to say about it. Oh I think I know how this is going to end. I know how many shots I lose during photoshoots as I poke around for my focal point. Due to the autofocus alone, this lens would triple my efficiency in the studio.

King Mango · Jun 17, 2008

If you can afford it then by all means. Just make sure to have a talk with your old lens first.

Maybe ask how it feels about "experimenting" with another piece of glass?

lostprophet · Jun 17, 2008

Dubious Drewski said:
It has fantastic build quality for a modern lens and is far more sturdy than any of the other 50mm or 18-55 lenses from the other brands.

Must be good if its better built than the Canon 50mm F1.2, that thing feels like its carved out of rock

just buy it!!

jwkwd · Jun 17, 2008

As a consumer, I am curious about how many times boxes are opened just so employees can handle new products?....and how many are damaged in the process.

JerryPH · Jun 17, 2008

jwkwd said:
As a consumer, I am curious about how many times boxes are opened just so employees can handle new products?....and how many are damaged in the process.

The number of people who work in the industry and trying/testing things out? All the time. The number that damage something? VERY low.

It is one of the perks of any business (how many car sales people take a different car home every night?), and I for one would not begrudge anyone doing it.

deudeu · Jun 17, 2008

Go and shoot and compare.
The SMCs are different on all the different make of pentax lenses. What is your vintage 50? Is it a M, K, A, M42? You will notice that the colors are different from one generation to the other.

If the 50mm you have is one of the "Special f1.4", the K, or the A, keep them! If the focusing is a problem, just use your employee discount to get a split screen!

Also, if you like the built of the FAs you might want to consider the FA 35mm f2 which is also highly reviewed, same built at the 50, but at least it's a focal length that you don't have, and with the crop factor it's a good focal length to have!

deudeu · Jun 17, 2008

Also, if sharpness is your top priority, the FA 50mm f1.7 tends to be sharper than the f1.4.
The f1.4 is faster and has better bokeh!

Dao · Jun 17, 2008

It looks like by the time you finished creating this thread, you already knew the answer to your questions ....

Bifurcator · Jun 17, 2008

Dubious Drewski said:
Should I?

DON'T DO IT!!!! IT'S A TRICK!!! :lmao:

--
I liked King Mango's comment best so far, a piece of what??? Hehehhee!

Dubious Drewski · Jun 17, 2008

I bought it!

jwkwd said:
As a consumer, I am curious about how many times boxes are opened just so employees can handle new products?....and how many are damaged in the process.

Your concern is definitely a valid one. Though in my case, I had been seriously considering getting this lens for a while, so I opened it with strong intention to buy. I just held off and asked you guys about it first.

That's not to say we don't often open up boxes when some new cool new lens or miscellaneous device comes in. That's the best perk; management not only allows us to explore new devices, they encourage it; so that we learn about it and can better inform customers about it when they ask.

And we've only ever broke one item that I know of. My friend dropped a D200 once from waist level. The camera wasn't very happy about that and retorted with a large crack along its body. Of course we didn't try to sell it, we just returned it to warehouse as "defective". Whoops!

deudeu said:
Go and shoot and compare.
The SMCs are different on all the different make of pentax lenses. What is your vintage 50? Is it a M, K, A, M42? You will notice that the colors are different from one generation to the other.

It's the M lens. And I think it's a great idea to set up a tripod and a scene to compare both lenses at equal aperture and lighting. Would be very interesting to see the results. I expect the modern FA to be not quite as sharp. But the benefit of autofocus is worth it to me.

deudeu said:
If the focusing is a problem, just use your employee discount to get a split screen!

Bought one of those long ago. It works, but it's still slower than autofocus, especially in low light.

Dao said:
It looks like by the time you finished creating this thread, you already knew the answer to your questions ....

Yeah, I suppose I just wanted confirmation that I wasn't making a huge mistake.

Senor Hound · Jun 17, 2008

Dubious Drewski said:
Yeah, I suppose I just wanted confirmation that I wasn't making a huge mistake.

From my uneducated opinion, I think it would be difficult to be making a HUGE mistake by buying a f/1.4 50mm brand new autofocus for $140. Even if you had one just like it, its still not a huge mistake. Worse case scenario is you don't like it, and you sell it on e-Bay for probably MORE than you paid for it.

Congrats. Please make sure and resurrect this thread in a few weeks with some examples of your new lens.

mrodgers · Jun 17, 2008

JerryPH said:
It is one of the perks of any business (how many car sales people take a different car home every night?), and I for one would not begrudge anyone doing it.

As for the car thing? Really? I would very much advise against purchasing any car that my brother-in-law has taken home over night from the dealership he worked at. I have been in the majority of them with him and I sure wouldn't buy it the next day.....

It was fun though, until he moved and relocated to a dealer much further from me.

And we've only ever broke one item that I know of. My friend dropped a D200 once from waist level. The camera wasn't very happy about that and retorted with a large crack along its body. Of course we didn't try to sell it, we just returned it to warehouse as "defective". Whoops!

Thus which is why we consumers pay the prices that we pay, and why I am not a dSLR owner, but only a cheap superzoom owner.