Must Have Lenses?

[Mechan1k]

Buying lenses is not a NEED ... it's a massive WANT more than anything ... LOL

so many lenses to choose from out there.

There's a large percentage that prefer AF ... and quite a number that love MF and Stop-down metering. I don't mind both .... but I love playing with old lenses now ... so much more interesting.

Seamuis and Bruloup prety much have it though ... for the old skool lenses ... the 55mm f/1.8 must be in there ... and if you can stretch it ... either an 85mm f/1.8 or 1.9 for good measure.

[Torphoto]

My list of must have lenses, well this is based on experience, all are DA/DA* lenses


35 or 40mm limited

70mm limited

50-135mm

300mm

as an option the Fa 35, 43 and 77mm to substitute from above.

I know shoot me

[roentarre]

Originally Posted by hwblanks

Never mind the FA50/1.4, if you've got the cash, then most definitely the FA43/1.9 Ltd--solid metal construction and very nice IQ. If you don't have the cash, then the FA50 is still an excellent lens, in it's own right, though.

Aggreed

Fa 50mm f1.4 is good for money when it was 80 US dollars for one few years ago. Now, I am not so sure. I would wait until I have enough money to buy a Fa 43mm ltd instead of snatching up Fa 50mm f1.4 quickly.

[philbaum]

My most frequently used lenses in order are:

FA 50 1.4
DA 300 F4
Tamron 18-250

[nostatic]

at least one of the FA ltd lenses. They just feel and look differently than any of the other ones.

Beyond that it depends what you shoot. I have a tough time finding fault with anything that comes out of the 50-135* even though I prefer primes.

[Mike Cash]

Originally Posted by Peter Zack

[B]

Or better yet get James King to adopt you.

The guy who had the Bible translated? He died in 1625.

[B Grace]

Originally Posted by Mike Cash

The guy who had the Bible translated? He died in 1625.

Funny. I thought of the same fellow.

I certainly gained a new level of control when I switched to a DSLR from film so I'm not sure it's that important to have a full kit of lenses anymore. A DSLR shooter really has no need for the complete 28-35-50 trio now.

Therefore, my vote for a must-have lens is for my A1.4x tele-converter. It's just enough to shake loose the cobwebs and offers a different net field of view for lenses I've become a little bored with using.

[farfisa]

Originally Posted by Mike Cash

The guy who had the Bible translated? He died in 1625.

Well, if the estate gets royalties from the Bible, I'd say that'd be a good family to be adopted into, no?

[m8o]

While there's some waffling on the "fast 50" variant as the FA 50/1.4 being a must have -- and I'm one of them now because of not having the greatest luck with AF wide or near wide open -- I do not waffle on the Pentax-A 50/1.4 or Pentax-A 50/1.7 MF lenses for $100 or well under given the luck I have had manually focusing wide or near wide open. With that said, I won't ever give-up my FA 50/1.4.

I want to also say "and the Voigtlander 125/2.5" but that would be like salt in a wound for those without one already. So any other similar focal length & aperture Macro lens that is also known to work great @ infinity... most all the Macro lenses around 90mm-135mm are insanely high resolution, most (perhaps moreso the MF ones?) with few lens artifacts or very well controlled, & a must have.

Given the cropped sensor, some wide angle is a must have, but I'm not about to say it needs to be the one I have, the 12-24/4. So a non-answer on that other than "one of them".

[NaClH2O]

But one of the very nice things about Pentax lenses is that they don't lose much value, so you can try out different ones and re-sell them for not much loss (or even some profit sometimes) and try something else.
Personally I think everyone should try:
Macro photography...as another poster said a true 1:1 macro lens in the 90 to 125mm range

Low light photography...a fast fifty or something like that. My personal choice would be the 43 ltd.

Wide or ultra wide...something wider than 16mm. I've got the pentax DA12-24

A good "walk around zoom" my personal choice is the Tamron 28-75 F2.8, but any in that range, 16-50, 17-70 etc even the not so lowly kit 18-55 I or II

mid tele photo my choice is the K 135 F2.5

Long range tele from 250 onwards.

You don't need to keep any of these lenses, but I think you should give them a tryout for at least a month or so. Then, if you don't like it, sell it. It's doubtful you'll lose much money, especially if you bought it second hand. A for instance is in order. After looking at a bunch of shots from the Zenitar fisheye, I said "that looks like fun, but I'm not a terrible big fan of FE, and I doubt I'd use the lens much. But people kept saying "Try it you'll like it" and after a year of hearing that I gave in and got one. Now I use it a lot. And have great fun doing it.

Maybe there is no ONE "must have" lens, but from where I sit anyway, there are a whole bunch of "must try" lenses

NaCl(try it, the worst that can happen is that you sell it)H2O

[Blue]

Originally Posted by roentarre

Aggreed

Fa 50mm f1.4 is good for money when it was 80 US dollars for one few years ago. Now, I am not so sure. I would wait until I have enough money to buy a Fa 43mm ltd instead of snatching up Fa 50mm f1.4 quickly.

I wouldn't mind having a FA 43mm. But at the end of the day or very early in the morning the FA 50mm f1.4 is the fastest lens in my bag (or on my camera). When the DA* 55 f1.4 comes out, that may be a different story.

Edit: Plus, I would cry a lot less if I had a fubar accident with the FA 50mm than I would the 43mm.

[Michaelina2]

Originally Posted by ChomickiP

...any must-have lenses that should be staples in everyone's Pentax collection.

If you are shooting a K20D, I would vote for... DA 35 Ltd, DA 55-300, DA70 Ltd and a Pentax M42 Adapter ring, then pick your poison...

Cheers...

[rfortson]

Well, the "must have" lenses seem to change with the tides for me.

Right now, the "must have" lenses seem to be the DA* lenses. I have the 16-50, the 50-135, the 200 and the 300. The FA50 is a great, fast lens for the money, and the 18-250 is the perfect travel companion when you're travelling light.

For wildlife, I'd say the "Bigma" (Sigma 50-500) is a "must have".

Ah, heck, just buy them all!

[monochrome]

You can use my "Must Keep" list for my recommendations, if you wish

FA35/2
FA501/4
DA55~300
A35~105/3.5 (poor man's 85)
K28/3.5 (poor man's 31Ltd.)
K35/3.5
K135/2.5 (poor man's 50~135)
Vivitar Series 1 105/2.5 Macro

I have sold or will list shortly everything else that I had accumulated in fits of LBA. I can highly recommend the buy it, try it and sell method for used lenses - just call it long-term lens rental.

My "Must Try" List includes

The 3 Amigos (FA Limiteds), although I probably can't afford to keep more than the 43.
Something fast and LONG

[axl]

Originally Posted by hwblanks

Never mind the FA50/1.4, if you've got the cash, then most definitely the FA43/1.9 Ltd--solid metal construction and very nice IQ. If you don't have the cash....

go for DA40ltd. you still get solid metal construction. You get outstanding IQ, portability and you save a lot!

Originally Posted by ChomickiP

.... As far as I'm aware, the 50mm 1.4 is definitely a must-have lens.

I don't have it, and I don't plan on buying it. I have F50/1.7 and DA40/2.8 and I'm not using 50 anywhere nearly as often as 40. I really wouldn't have use for 50/1.4...

BR
I'd love to try FA31 though to fill the gap in the linup....