[shang]

hi, guys,

i was considering to upgrade my 18-55 kit lens. after a month's comparison among candidate lenses, i found myself still not willing to see a third party lens in front of the body. So, 17--70 f/4 SDM seems to be the only good choice for me.

I know there are "better" lenses such as the tamron 17--50, sigma 17--50 and tamron 28--75 which are cheaper or the same price, but I just cannot persuade myself to buy them... Is there a good reason for me to do this? Will I really lose the Pentax Flavor Images with the third party lenses? Are there people who face the same problem as me?

Suggestions Appreciated, thanks!

[Zav]

"Pentax Flavor" comes from Limited or * lenses, not really from the kit lens or a mid level zoom.

[Wheatfield]

If you aren't going to shoot Pentax glass, you've pretty much eliminated any reason to use their cameras.

[JohnBee]

Is there a good reason for me to do this? Will I really lose the Pentax Flavor Images with the third party lenses? Are there people who face the same problem as me?

Suggestions Appreciated, thanks!

There are a few good reasons to build a good lens collection, though I certainly don't think you should limit yourself to one brand either. There's a world of wealth out there waiting to be seen, and it knows no boundaries with regards to branding or marketing.

Okay that was probably a little over the top but you get the idea right? Incidentally my two favorite lenses(out of an embarrassingly large collection) are not Pentax. And that's the best part!

Have fun

[hcc]

A strength of Pentax dSLR is the range of excellent/superb prime lenses offered by Pentax:
- the pancakes lenses DA 15mm Ltd, DA40mm Ltd, DA 70mm ltd
- the DA* series
- the fast primes
...

The list of Pentax primes lenses is oustanding, and there is also a solid offer of 3rd party prime lenses (Carl Zeiss, Voigtlander) that shoul not be dismissed lightly.

Considering your existing kit lens, I would recommend you to try a prime lens,and test it. The image quality of the prime lenses is incredible and way better than most zom lenses.

Happy shooting...

[Pentaxor]

"Pentax Flavor" comes from Limited or * lenses, not really from the kit lens or a mid level zoom.

not necessarily LTD nor * lenses, but any Pentax lens that has earned a great reputation and strong cult following.

there are great reasons why one would consider some 3rd-party glasses.

1.> a few 3rd party glass are just as good or better than their pentax counterparts
2.> they can be cheaper
3.> 3rd party lenses can offer a focal length that pentax doesn't offer
4.> discontinued pentax lenses
5.> reliability and warranty concerns of the DA* zooms.

[summonbaka]

If you aren't going to shoot Pentax glass, you've pretty much eliminated any reason to use their cameras.

You use a camera because you like the camera, not the company behind it. The lenses you use are in the same line, you use a lens because you like the lens not because of a particular brand.

All in all, the tamron 28-75 is a beautiful lens. I have it and I can say that I thought something like that before, that you MUST use pentax if you bought pentax. That is never the case. Of course, the DA 40, FA 77 and other lenses are beautiful.

One thing I found out while shoothing longish exposures at night, the tammy 28-75 doesn't have nearly the flare/reflection resistance of the DA-L kit lens. But the bokeh is creamy and a sharp and beautiful lens if just a little heavy.

[frank]

If you aren't going to shoot Pentax glass, you've pretty much eliminated any reason to use their cameras.

Ditto that

[nulla]

Ditto that

And again

[Rondec]

Of course it isn't a problem to buy third party glass, but as others have said, why buy Pentax in the first place if you are going to stick Tamron and Sigma lenses on your camera. What makes Pentax cameras special is the fact that they can mount Pentax glass.

There is something quite special about the way that Pentax lenses render color and contrast that I don't see with other lenses. Sure, you can do anything you want in post processing, but I would rather not work to get that same effect.

[bdery]

If you aren't going to shoot Pentax glass, you've pretty much eliminated any reason to use their cameras.

Humm.. What about SR, weather resistance, Pentax colours, great body designs, great viewfinders, for starters?

To answer the original question, I have one lens that's not a Pentax. It's the Sigma 17-70. And it's my most used lens. I confess I try to look at Pentax first when selecting a lens, because I know I won't be disappointed, but a good lens made by anyone is a good lens. And the Siggy is an amazing lens.

When I bought my DA21, I could have gone with some of the wide Sigma primes (20, 30 mm etc) but I wanted, among other things, the small size of the DA21. Otherwise I would have gone with the best optically, whatever the brand.

[Lowell Goudge]

There are many reasons to purchase a camera, be it pentax nikon, canon or what ever...

One of these reasons is obviously the lenses, but there are other reasons,

- pentax cameras offer many times the best overall value for the money with the models they produce

- you are a long time film user of pentax cameras and have a large investment in pentax lenses

- or you just plain liked the camera when you bought it

you purchase lenses for the same reasons, and while pentax lenses, especially primes, are excellent in quality, not everyone is into prime lenses, and not all pentax zooms are the best value for the money or offer the ranges in focal lengths you want. There is no shame in purchasing non pentax lenses, the shame is making misinformed decisions.

I have a lot of pentax primes, but very few pentax zooms. In the kit I shoot presently, I usually take a Sigma APO 10-20F4-5.6 EX DC, a pentax FA-J 18-35 F4-5.6, a Tamron XR Di 28-75 F2.8 and a sigma APO70-200F2.8EX.

When I bought all but the pentax zoom (it came with my *istD) pentax did not offer lenses in this range, in fact they still don't have a 70-200 and while the 50-135 is an excellent lens, I use the reach of the 70-200, so I had to look elsewhere. Same with the 28-75 F2.8. The sigma 10-20 could have been replaced with the pentax 12-24, BUT I wanted a wider FOV than the 12mm would offer, and did not want a fisheye, so I bought the sigma.

There are people out there who will not buy anything but lenses made by their camera company, fine, it's their decision, but in the end, It's your camera, buy whatever lens you want and enjoy it.

[ivoire]

It's your camera, buy whatever lens you want and enjoy it.

Absolutely!

[wlachan]

I am not sure paying almost $500 for 1 stop faster at the long end and minor extension at both ends is worthwhile. Pentax is about Limited primes and compactness. If people want third party or big high performance zooms (not what you asked btw), Canon and Nikon excel. There must be better way to spend $500.

[DogLover]

Couldn't disagree more with all these folks saying that Pentax lenses are the only reason to use Pentax cameras. You guys are selling yourselves, and more importantly, Pentax short. That was only a small part of the reason that I originally chose Pentax. I did originally try to stay with "family" glass and worked my way from the kit lenses through the step-ups and on to the premium stuff. I sold off the ones that just didn't do it for me. A year or so ago I started considering third party lenses and it opened up a whole new world for me. I now have 4 Sigmas (plus the 85 1.4 on pre-order) and I love them all just as much as my DA*'s. I am convinced that most of the anti-Sigma bias from some on this site comes from years past when maybe Sigma's quality wasn't what it is now. I kinda feel like we Pentax people shouldn't be knocking anybody for their quality control. It also probably helps that I have only ever bought EX Sigmas. None of my Sigmas have a yellow cast to them, another myth I often read. Maybe that was true at one time, but it's just not true anymore (again, at least not in the EX line).

Look, I'm not trying to convert anybody here. If Pentax glass is all that makes you happy, then more power to you. I just feel like you're doing a dis-service to people that are newer to the brand by telling them that its "Pentax and nobody else". Buying lenses is just like buying anything else. Determine your needs. Do your research. Read reviews. Look at sample photos. Eventually there will be one that emerges as a leader. If it happens to say Pentax on it, then great. If it doesn't, then that's fine, too.

Photography is a hobby for me, but one that I'm pretty serious about. Probably most people on this site fall into this same category. I can tell you that, without a doubt, my hobby became that much more satisfying when I opened myself up to ALL the lenses that are available to me.