Attention Pentax Fans: Questions

[Dis-obrn]

I am planning on ordering the Pentax k100D in the next day or two. There is a great rebate going on until the end of Sept. I plan on buying the kit which includes the 18-55 mm lens. I would also like to start with one additional lens and not sure which one. Either the 50-200mm f/4-5.6 ED, 75-300mm f/4.5-5.8 AL telephoto, or the FA 50mm f/1.4 , but I really am sooo new to all of this. I know I have a lot to learn, but any advice?

 

[gokenin]

I am planning on ordering the Pentax k100D in the next day or two. There is a great rebate going on until the end of Sept. I plan on buying the kit which includes the 18-55 mm lens. I would also like to start with one additional lens and not sure which one. Either the 50-200mm f/4-5.6 ED, 75-300mm f/4.5-5.8 AL telephoto, or the FA 50mm f/1.4 , but I really am sooo new to all of this. I know I have a lot to learn, but any advice?

just bought the K100 myself and am also thinking about the 50-200 lense but instead of the 50 prime was thinking of also getting the 10-20mm that sigma puts out that can be used on pentax SLR's but am also looking for any opinions as well

 

[Groucho]

For Disney use, I think the 50mm F1.4 is the way to go - I used mine at WDW a lot more than the 50-200mm, and on my Disneyland trip from last week, I never even put the 50-200mm on the camera. (My main lens was a 28-75mm.) This is because there's so much low-light stuff at Disney parks and the 50mm really excels at that. It is also going to be sharper and higher-quality than any other lens in its price range.

The 50-200mm is a nice complement to the kit lens and obviously gives you a bit more reach. I think the 70-300mm is not regarded as highly as the 50-200mm, but is passable and gives you that much more zoom, though you'll need fast shutter speeds to get a steady shot at full zoom.

Ultimately, the 50mm F1.4 and the 50-200mm are very different lenses for different needs... only you can decide which is the best choice for you at this point.

One other thing to remember - when switching lenses, try to minimize the time that the camera doesn't have a lens attached, to minimize dust getting inside! (And make sure the camera is off.) I usually had my second lens ready to mount in one hand while removing the mounted lens with the other, and popped on the new lens as soon as I removed the other. That seems to help a lot...

 

[Jeanne B]

That's a tough one to answer for the same reasons Groucho mentioned, the 50-200 and 50mm are two very different lenses.

I have the 18-55, 50-200 and the 50mm but I've been debating for months about replacing my 18-55 with either the Sigma 18-125 or the Tamron 28-75 (just can't decide which one to replace it with, I'm leaning towards the Sigma thinking it might be a better walkaround lens than the Tamron). I still want to keep my 50-200 for the longer reach. At the time when I purchased my K100 it was only $17 more to add the 18-55 kit lens so it was a no-brainer to buy it but of the three lenses I currently own, that's the one that I really want to replace since I find myself changing lenses more often than I would like.

My only concern if you went with the 50mm and not the 50-200 is that you wouldn't have enough reach with your only other lens being the 18-55...but the 50mm is a great lens. It's a tough choice but no matter which one you choose you'll probably end up buying the other one at some point anyway (that's what happened to me).

 

[Dis-obrn]

Thanks for the input. I went ahead this am and purchased the k100 with the kit lens and also bit the bullet and ordered the 50mm and the 50-200mm. Groucho reminded me that so much of wdw is low light so I "need" the 50mm but I also felt like I "needed" some zoom that the kit lens will not provide. All of the above should be here by the end of next week, and I can't wait!

 

[Groucho]

Nice, those three lenses are a very complete "starter" set of lenses, and you'll never outgrow the 50mm. Enjoy!

(Starter meaning that they'll probably fulfill all your needs until you perhaps find some specific need that requires a more unique lens, not that they're subpar or beginner-only or anything like that.)

 

[gokenin]

Nice, those three lenses are a very complete "starter" set of lenses, and you'll never outgrow the 50mm. Enjoy!

(Starter meaning that they'll probably fulfill all your needs until you perhaps find some specific need that requires a more unique lens, not that they're subpar or beginner-only or anything like that.)

dont you just hate when you have to be p.c. with a statement these days. bought the 50-200mm lense myself but still looking at either the sigma 10-20mm or the 10-17mm from pentax to finish my lense buying for now looking at the wide shots and starting to think i may want to get a superwide to supplement my zoom lenses

 

[Golf4food]

We use the Sigma 18-125 as our walk around and it gets pretty much everything at WDW that we could need. It's nice not having to change lenses.