Pentax DSLR Dilemma

[ukcatfan]

I have pretty much decided that I am going to buy a Pentax DSLR, but I cannot make up my mind on which one.

Here are my options:

K100D with kit lens and no money for anything else

K110D body only, Sigma 24-135mm F2.8-4.5, and a few dollars for a larger memory card (i.e. 2 GB)

K110D body only, Sigma Sigma 28-80mm f3.5-5.6 & Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6, and a few less dollars for a larger memory card (i.e. 1 GB)

Other things to consider are that I have a decent enough SD card (512 MB) to get me by for a little while. I could buy a new one around X-mas. It may be a year before I can upgrade the lens.

I am torn about getting more lens power but giving up the SR. But, I do not know if I can live with the kit lens for very long coming from a 10X S1 IS. I will still have it around if there is a long shot to take. Anyone else have to make a similar decision? Also, does anyone have experience with these lenses?

Thank you,

Kevin

 

[Anewman]

Where are you purchasing?

On buydig the difference in price between the K100D kit($590) and the k110D body only($440) is $150, can you really buy all that extra stuff with $150?

I would get the K100D either way, ALL of your lenses in the future will have SR.

 

[Master Mason]

the kit lens choice certainly seams like the worst one to me.... the others are presonal preference

 

[handicap18]

with the 1.5x crop factor, will 24mm be wide enough for you? That is the equivilent of 36mm. Have you thought about the Sigma 18-125mm and the 70-300 APO?

Granted the 18-125 starts at f/3.5, but it is nice having 18mm as a starting point (equivilent of 27mm). Both are f/5.6 at the long end. I haven't read reviews of the 28-135 so I don't know anything about it.

SD memory can be had VERY inexpensively. Buy.com recently had a deal for 2 1gig Kingston cards for like $25. I've also seen 2 gigs as low as $30.

 

[ukcatfan]

I found the 24-135mm for $99 and the two lens set for $129. The 24mm does seem wide enough, but the 28mm is getting a little too much. I analyzed my shots with Smart Photo Statistics and I believe that the 28mm might cramp my normal use. The 24mm will be 36mm, which is about the same as my S1 IS. I almost never find myself not able to get wide enough with it. There do not seem to be any reviews of the 24-135mm, but there are a few posts mentioning it at Steve's I think. There have been a couple complaints about it, but if you look hard enough, you can find complaints on anything.

The 18-125 is out of my price range, but I would be getting it if I could. I cannot put even one more penny into my budget.

The extra memory is not too much of an issue as it is always coming down in price. I usually buy from Newegg for it. I am just thinking about getting more if I have money left in the budget.

I am a little late checking back on this thread because I was watching Louisville bury the Hurricanes!!!

 

[ukcatfan]

I just found one thing that could push me towards the kit. It is a 52mm thread and that will save me around $50 in not having to buy new filters.

 

[mhutchinson]

I wouldn't let a filter I have now sway my decision on what is the right lens that you should have. The 52mm filter will find some more shooting time in the future, especially if you start picking up a couple faster primes. If I left my filters I had in my old bag drive my lens choice, I don't know what I would have ended up with. That 42mm is still in the bag

And for my shooting style 24mm is wide enough on my 1.6X crop body.

Mike

 

[ukcatfan]

Thank you all for the help. I think I am going to go with the K100D with kit lens at this point. I have found that the 24-135mm lenses that have problems tend to mostly be coming from Cameta Camera, which is where I found the $99 price. I think the 28mm starting point is just not wide enough on the other option. I also have more room to grow with the SR on the K100D. (i.e. I will not be trying to convince my DW that I need a new camera a year from now )

 

[Jeanne B]

Thank you all for the help. I think I am going to go with the K100D with kit lens at this point. I have found that the 24-135mm lenses that have problems tend to mostly be coming from Cameta Camera, which is where I found the $99 price. I think the 28mm starting point is just not wide enough on the other option. I also have more room to grow with the SR on the K100D. (i.e. I will not be trying to convince my DW that I need a new camera a year from now )

My new K100D arrived yesterday and I'm looking forward to try it out today!! I got the kit lens ($587 from beachcamera) but I'm pretty sure I'm going to add the Pentax DA50-200 also. It's $175 after rebate so that might be something to consider if you're going to have the kit lens.

 

[Groucho]

I'd definetely go with the K100D one way or the other. You can add more lenses in the future, but you'll never add IS to the 110D!

The kit lens is perfectly acceptable, certainly not the finest in the world, but far from an abomination - and with the K100D, it only seems to add about $16-20 to the price from what I've seen. It's surely worth it for that, and is nice and small and light.

As for filters, you really don't need any filters unless you are doing special effects. I haven't seen any convincing arguements for putting a UV filter on a DSLR lens.

 

[Master Mason]

the kit lens choice certainly seams like the worst one to me.... the others are presonal preference

Doh.... Looking at this I now realize that the kit option had a different body... sorry... that changes my answer to don't have a clue sorry.

 

[ukcatfan]

I'd definetely go with the K100D one way or the other. You can add more lenses in the future, but you'll never add IS to the 110D!

The kit lens is perfectly acceptable, certainly not the finest in the world, but far from an abomination - and with the K100D, it only seems to add about $16-20 to the price from what I've seen. It's surely worth it for that, and is nice and small and light.

As for filters, you really don't need any filters unless you are doing special effects. I haven't seen any convincing arguements for putting a UV filter on a DSLR lens.

Well... There are no more questions to ask now. The K100D is on its way!!! Also, Beach Camera dropped the price another $5-6 since the last time I checked it. It isn't much, but any savings is better than nothing.

I have to give credit to Beach at this point, my CC company held up the charge as possible fraud which I got straightened up around 4:45. By 6:00 it had left their building. Also, there were no high pressure sales tactics like some companies use. I have bought from their sister company, Buydig, before and had a great experience.

The filter issue is for my polarizer. I decent new one at a larger size is probably around $50-60. I also prefer a UV just for protection.

Kevin

 

[Groucho]

Great, you should love the K100D.

Beach Camera was great for me as well... I ordered early afternoon the day before a holiday (July 3rd) and they still packaged and shipped it before the day was out.

Now if only they carried more lenses...