Pentax Lenses

[rhiansmom]

Ok I know some of you are faithful Pentax users (you were the ones that talked me into my pentax a little over a year ago) so now I need your help once again.

Heading to Disney again and want to take only the perfect lenses (the ultimate goal of everyone). Thinking of purchasing a 50mm 1.4 but not sure if I should buy the pentax or if sigma would be ok? Reviews seem about 80% positive for both lenses..

Next, with about $800 left to spend what else would you recommend? I currrently have 18-55 3.5-5.6 and 50-200 4-5.6.

Thanks again!

 

[wkrider]

Let me start of by saying that I am by no means an expert. I have the K100D and the following lenses. We have some of the same lenses.

Kit 18-55
50-200
70-310 (older lens from my 35mm)
50mm 1.2 (older lens from my 35mm)

I recently took a trip to Alaska and found myself constantly changing back and forth between the 18-55 and the 50-200. If I had it to do over again I probably would have bought the 18-250 instead of the 50-200 to eliminate the constant switching issue. Now as far as a quality of lens issue I am not sure what the differences are other then what I have read on the Pentax site and review sites but for the convenience I would prefer the one lens.

I am sure you will get some more advice on the lenses but I thought I would throw in my opinion about the convenience issue. Good luck.

 

[Groucho]

Ok I know some of you are faithful Pentax users (you were the ones that talked me into my pentax a little over a year ago) so now I need your help once again.

Heading to Disney again and want to take only the perfect lenses (the ultimate goal of everyone). Thinking of purchasing a 50mm 1.4 but not sure if I should buy the pentax or if sigma would be ok? Reviews seem about 80% positive for both lenses..

Next, with about $800 left to spend what else would you recommend? I currrently have 18-55 3.5-5.6 and 50-200 4-5.6.

Thanks again!

I'm not sure which Sigma you're looking at. Sigma really doesn't have anything that can compete with the Pentax 50mm F1.4 - 50mm just don't get much better and it's a bargain for the quality that you get.

The only thing I can think of is, are you also looking at macro lenses? There's also a Pentax 50mm F2.8 macro, this is a good bit more expensive but can focus down to 1:1 magnification - basically, you can get really, really close to what you're shooting! I think Sigma may also have a macro in the same range.

I would definitely lean towards the non-macro 50mm F1.4 to start out with. In another thread, I recently posted my graph of focal length usage from my last WDW trip - I used my 50mm F1.4 for about 49% of the photos I took (around 2,500)! And that was with 5-6 lenses that I was switching between. WDW is so dark that the extra speed of the lens is really useful, and the sharpness and color are terrific. For the speed of the lens, the quality, and the price, it's pretty much a no-brainer IMHO.

 

[wkrider]

I'm not sure which Sigma you're looking at. Sigma really doesn't have anything that can compete with the Pentax 50mm F1.4 - 50mm just don't get much better and it's a bargain for the quality that you get.

The only thing I can think of is, are you also looking at macro lenses? There's also a Pentax 50mm F2.8 macro, this is a good bit more expensive but can focus down to 1:1 magnification - basically, you can get really, really close to what you're shooting! I think Sigma may also have a macro in the same range.

I would definitely lean towards the non-macro 50mm F1.4 to start out with. In another thread, I recently posted my graph of focal length usage from my last WDW trip - I used my 50mm F1.4 for about 49% of the photos I took (around 2,500)! And that was with 5-6 lenses that I was switching between. WDW is so dark that the extra speed of the lens is really useful, and the sharpness and color are terrific. For the speed of the lens, the quality, and the price, it's pretty much a no-brainer IMHO.

Groucho....is this the lens you are talking about?

If so, for $200.00 it looks like I am getting one.

 

[rhiansmom]

I'm not sure which Sigma you're looking at. Sigma really doesn't have anything that can compete with the Pentax 50mm F1.4 - 50mm just don't get much better and it's a bargain for the quality that you get.

The only thing I can think of is, are you also looking at macro lenses? There's also a Pentax 50mm F2.8 macro, this is a good bit more expensive but can focus down to 1:1 magnification - basically, you can get really, really close to what you're shooting! I think Sigma may also have a macro in the same range.

I would definitely lean towards the non-macro 50mm F1.4 to start out with. In another thread, I recently posted my graph of focal length usage from my last WDW trip - I used my 50mm F1.4 for about 49% of the photos I took (around 2,500)! And that was with 5-6 lenses that I was switching between. WDW is so dark that the extra speed of the lens is really useful, and the sharpness and color are terrific. For the speed of the lens, the quality, and the price, it's pretty much a no-brainer IMHO.

Thanks... I did the Pentax 50mm 1.4 and I'm now thinking about a Tamron 75-300 but it's an f4-5.6 but it's only $100 and I'm praying for a sunny day for my Animal Kingdom day (which is why I want it).

 

[Groucho]

Groucho....is this the lens you are talking about?

If so, for $200.00 it looks like I am getting one.

Yup, the 50mm F1.4. It's a beaut and a steal for under $200.

One thing you can't tell from the photo is that the focus ring is a nice grippy rubber, not plastic; it gives a good feel when manual focusing.

 

[rhiansmom]

That is the one I ordered and it should arrive tomorrow. I also got a 75-300 f4-5.6 and praying for at least one sunny day for AK!

Now I just need a backpack and a lightweight tripod and I'm good for this trip!