Tamron 70-300mm lens incompatible with Pentax K 5?

[John H White]

Around 4 years ago I purchased a Pentax K5 and shortly afterwards obtained a 70-300mm Tamron lens to go with it. Since then I have only used the camera with its standard 18-55 mm lens on special occasions, due to its bulk and weight, preferring to take lighter gear with me for everyday use. I cannot even remember having tried out the Tamron lens before, but I decided to use it with my heavyweight tripod the other day to get pictures of a local yacht race. Sadly, I was able to press the shutter button half way down to focus but it would not go right down to take the picture. Changing back to the standard lens enabled me to start shooting but the boats were too far out to sea to get any close up views. Is there anything I can do about this problem please? I'm wondering if this Tamron lens might work with any other K mount Pentax cameras.
Cheers,
John.

 

[Derrel]

It's been a while since I shot a Pentax, but my first question would be: was the lens aperture control ring set all the way to the A setting, down by f/22 on the lens?

 

[pez]

Yes, as Derrel said, set the aperture ring to the "A" setting. Always a good idea to make some practice shots with a new lens before you actually need it. Go to Pentax Forums for an answer to all your questions about your Pentax system and any K-mount lens. The Tamron 70-300 is an OK lens, especially from 70-200mm, and the "macro" function is very useful.