Lenses for a Pentax K100D

[DisneydaveCT]

As I have read through the various threads I have seen several requests for advice for lenses. So I hope you won't mind my adding another to the board.

Now that I have upgraded to my Pentax K100D, I am curious to read what advice more knowledgeable photographers would recommend for my collection.

Currently, I have a SMC-Pentax-M 50mm 2.0 (MF), Sigma 28-80mm 3.5-5.6 II Macro (AF), Sakar 70-210mm 4.0-5.6 (MF). I obtained these lenses during the many years I was using a Pentax K1000.

In addition to shooting photos of friends and family, I want to be able to shoot landscape photos while I am golfing, taking photos of the fireworks at WDW, as well as photos of lighthouses and covered bridges.

Thanks for your feedback.

 

[ukcatfan]

The SMC-DA Fish-Eye 10-17mm would be a fun lens to add and would give you some more range at the wide end. The SMC-FA 31mm f/1.8 Limited is a popular lens that is really nice. Then there are the popular "pancake" lenses like the SMC-DA 21mm F3.2 Limited, SMC-DA 40mm F2.8 Limited, and SMC-DA 70mm F2.4 Limited.

 

[handicap18]

You may want to consider a wider "kit" lens. 28mm on digital isn't very wide. Tamron makes a very nice 17-50mm f/2.8 or you could find a used Pentax 17-50mm kit lens. This would make a better landscape lens than the 28-80mm you currently have. Other Pentax lenses I might look at would be the 16-50mm f/2.8 and 17-70mm f/4. Obviously budget will be a big consideration, thus looking at the Tamron is also wise.

As for fireworks, it will depend on your location. I just use my "kit" lens. For Wishes at Disney the focal length I've used is usually between 26 and 35mm.

 

[wkrider]

I love my 50mm 1.4 for lowlight shots. I also have the 18-55 kit and the 50-200. I would love to have the 18-250 to eliminate switching lens'.

 

[WVDisGeek]

I currently have the same 50mm f/2.0 you have as well as the 18-55 kit lens and the 18-250. It does cut down on the switching of lenses and is reasonably sharp throughout its range. It only goes to F/3.5 at the wide end so low light is not its strong suit. I also have some other old glass from my film days. I am looking now for a low light option and the 50mm f/1.4 is in the lead right now. The new lenses that Pentax announced this week will be getting some consideration in the spring.

 

[gokenin]

well for the landscape you would probably want to wider than the 28 that you have. The fisheye is a fun lens to have and I own it but if you are looking for a normal wide you will want to look at the sigma 10-20 or the pentax 12-24 both are good lens. the pentax i believe is the more exspensive of the two. Tamron has also announced a 10-24 for pentax mount but it has no release date announced yet. not sure how it they would do with the fireworks shots but they should cover the other things you are looking at.
They probably would do fine for fireworks but you may have to do some cropping of the shots if taken with the extreme wide angle. You will also probably want to pick up a tripod for those shots

 

[DisneydaveCT]

Thanks for the advice. Right now I am thinking of the newer version of the Pentax 18-55. The reviews that I have read indicate that many of the problems with the earlier version of the 18-55 have been corrected. Next year, I may replace my MF 70-210 to an AF of similar length. But in the meantime, the MF works fine.

As far as a tripod, I already have two.

And then I need to get a new camera bag...backpacks style

 

[Groucho]

I haven't seen any problems with the original 18-55mm (it still is one of the highest-quality basic kit lenses ever), I can only assume that the updated one is even better. It's obviously no 16-50mm F2.8 but for what it is, it's very nice.

I would agree that a wider basic lens would be handy. My main wide non-fisheye lens is a Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 and it's just not wide enough for some situations. I'm planning on the Pentax 16-50mm F2.8 but it may be more than you want to spend. If you want something cost-wise inbetween the 18-55mm and the 16-50mm F2.8, they have a 16-45mm F4 that's highly regarded and about half the price of the faster one. There's also a 17-70mm F4 but I'm not familiar with the lens, and Sigma also has a 17-70 or similar focal length (the details slip my mind at the moment.) There's lots of options.

One thing, too, is that I'm guessing that your old manual-focus zooms don't relay focal length info to the camera - ie, you have to enter a focal length when you mount the lens on the camera. That means that you've got to pick a specific number rather than get image stabilization appropriate for each focal length. That is an advantage of going to a more modern zoom for both short and long zooms. The Pentax 50-200mm is pretty good on a budget, and the new 50-300mm is apparently slightly better (and more expensive.) The 50-200mm shows up fairly regularly on the "marketplace" section of pentaxforums.com, you may want to keep an eye over there to get one for cheap.