[travis_cooper]

either really good sarcasm or a really good guess, but yes, you are correct.

Considering I've only had the k10d a few months, I am on a really wicked pace in terms of LBA....at least, I think so.

I wasn't trying to be sarcastic, although I am a pretty sarcastic person. I think as I started writing my reply it kind of dawned on me what it could be. I have a similar condition, I have a LWA(lens wishing addiction). If I had money to throw at it I don't think I would stop buying equipment, especially lenses.

[roscot]

Yeah, the 60-250 is only a year late.

Last spring, I found myself needing a constant f2.8 normal zoom. So of course I was taking a close hard look at the DA*16-50. After analyzing 3 years worth of photos, I discovered that only about 2% of my shots were below 20mm (not including fish eye shots), but 19% were in the 50 - 70mm range. That made it a no brainer for me to go for the Tamron 28-75. It has been a perfect fit for my style of shooting. It would have been a lot harder to discover that, without Exposureplot. (And if I'd waited, well..... we all know when the 16-50 was finally delivered.)

Do the analysis, it will help more than you realize. It will also help analyze your exposure tendencies; a real nice touch.

[roscot]

LBA has been described as an offshoot of EBS (equipment buying syndrome)

[jmdeegan]

the tamron you mentioned is one that I am leaning toward-seems like a good bang for the buck, and my hunch as of now is that it would hit the sweet spot (again, not counting my fisheye shots, which I gotta say, I love that lens)

[TheWengler]

I will try that software-that was something I was trying to find before. My suspicion is that most are under 100mm--not that it will stop me from wanting the longer reach either. There were some I needed better than the 200 could give me.....

I will update my sig/profile....

As for the projected 60-250 da*, I guess based on other comments, I'll believe it when it gets to market...but I am not keen on waiting that long for a bigger budget lens, and isn't it somewhat odd that they just recently deliver a 50-135 da*, and not long after would release another * lens which overlaps a good portion of the range? seems kinda odd to me

the 50-135 is a portrait zoom with a constant f/2.8. i could also be used for indoor sports in decent lighting. the 60-250 is a constant f/4 which makes it more of a general purpose outdoor telephoto lens.

[TheWengler]

There is also the DA* 60-250 f4.0 coming out next spring. Should be a very good lens.

Have you sat and analyzed all your shots for most used FLs? If not, it would be a very useful exercise to help you narrow down your needs.

Try using Exposure plot. It is a free very useful bit of software.
You can get it here:
vAndel.nl - The Wega2 site

does this only work for jpegs? most of my shots are RAW

[roscot]

The Tamron 28-75 is one of the first 3rd party lenses I've used that, to my eye, has the image rendering qualities of a Pentax lens. I guess that is why I like it so much.

[roy]

i haven't even read this thread.
but all LBA offers is a very slim wallet..
you can take it from there...

[jmdeegan]

i haven't even read this thread.
but all LBA offers is a very slim wallet..
you can take it from there...

Kids, girlfriends and wives all present the same negative side effect.....

[jmdeegan]

not surprisingly, most of my pictures fell between 30-80mm. Almost every other focal length was under 2% of my total snapshots.

what did surprise me is that many-50% actually-were at 40mm, which is the limited lens I purchased, and have been considering selling because I haven't used it...and by sheer dumb luck, I could use it and be taking similar pics to what I have been, for the most part (albeit through much nicer glass).

And I believe someone else asked if it likes JPEGS or RAW only...maybe I need to configure something, but it appears to prefer JPEG, at least by default

[jmdeegan]

So here is a pretty good question....

if you had around 800 to spend...what would you do:

1-Buy the 16-50 da* lens

2-Buy the tamron 18-50 2.8 and the 70-300 or similar just-under 400 dollar lens covering the long end

3-ignore that most photos have been snapped with the kit 18-55, and buy the 50-135 da * instead.

?

these are my choices right now. there is definetly something appealing to me about owning a * lens, but I have heard great things about the tamrons, especially the 18-50 2.8.

And I think the chance to upgrade 2 lenses instead of one, for the cost of one * lens, is a smart move. I mean, is the IQ between the tamron and the pentax * that dramatic?