Forgot Password
Pentax Camera Forums Home
 

Reply
Show Printable Version Search this Thread
07-09-2012, 08:44 PM   #1
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
Bear's Avatar

Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Orange Park, FL
Photos: Albums
Posts: 158
New lens help.?!

Hey guys, I run a K-5 with a Metz 50 and usually use my Tamron 28-75mm 2.8 but also use my Pentax 50mm 1.4. I have an m42 135mm 2.(?) that at I really like, but not a fan of manual, I usually use it to experiment..Im looking for a longer lens, around 100-135mm but fast 2.8 or so. I mainly do outside portraits and the occasional indoor wedding where available light is at a moderately minimum. I'm searching the interwebs and cannot come up with any decent fairly inexpense lenses...I've even thought of buying a Vivtar 2x teleconverter for $100 and run that with my 50mm... But I don't know if the AF will be fast enough to capture those candid moments or not. Any and all advice is welcome (seriously, good or bad, I don't take offense)

07-09-2012, 08:48 PM   #2
Veteran Member
LeDave's Avatar

Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Minneapolis - St. Paul
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 3,067
Dfa 100 wr
07-09-2012, 08:55 PM   #3
hcc
Pentaxian
hcc's Avatar

Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Brisbane, Australia
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 3,999
A TC will not help because the TC degrades the IQ. Your should consider other lenses instead.

It is difficult to give you detailed advice without much more info, but a few suggestions come to mind:

- Among the primes, the DAF100mm WR, the DA*200mm, DA*300mm could be nice addition.

- Among the zoom lenses, there are the DA55-300mm, DA*60-250mm, Sigma 50-500mm...

You coud look at the in-depth reviews for some solid data on these lenses:
Pentax Lens Reviews | Pentax in-depth reviews | PentaxForums.com
Sigma & Tamron Lens Reviews - PentaxForums.com

You could also look at an series of lens reviews at Welcome to Photozone!.

Hope that the suggestions will help.
07-09-2012, 09:04 PM   #4
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
jatrax's Avatar

Join Date: May 2010
Location: Washington Cascades
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 12,991
+1 on the DFA 100mm WR f/2.8 just about the only game in town in that range

You could also look for the F 135mm f/2.8 used of course but shows occasionally.

07-09-2012, 09:05 PM   #5
Loyal Site Supporter
Loyal Site Supporter
kiwi_jono's Avatar

Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Christchurch, New Zealand
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 2,437
DAF100mm WR if you want weather resistance.
Alternatively you could look for a used FA 100 f2.8 macro. I have one and love it - it has a focus limiter knob which later lenses don't have (end result - focussing is faster when not used for macro) and its performance is outstanding (mine is already pretty sharp at f2.8).

Last edited by kiwi_jono; 07-09-2012 at 09:10 PM.
07-09-2012, 09:17 PM   #6
Veteran Member




Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Sydney, Australia
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 1,637
AF zooms
1. Pentax DA*50-135 f2.8 Pros: classic portrait FL, sharp, silent focusing, weather sealed, not as bulky and heavy as 70-200 f2.8s, cons: focus not the fastest, SDM got a bad rep for reliability.
2. Sigma 50-150 f2.8 HSM Pros: again great portrait range, reported faster silent focusing than Pentax offering, some report suggest even sharper than Pentax DA* Cons: discontinued, hens hard to find, and a bit pricey in the used market, not weather sealed.
3. 70-200 f2.8s, Tamron/ several versions of Sigma offering, general consensus is that they are pro quality optics , a bit more reach, but bigger and heavier, you may miss the 50-70mm range.

Note none of these is cheap, in the sense that you have to spend over $600 for one even if you buy one used.

AF primes
Tamron 90mm f2.8 / Sigma 105mm f2.8(non OS) / Pentax DFA 100mm, these are all dedicated macro lenses which can also double as portrait lenses. there are older version of each of these lenses which you can pick up for less from the used market, and not suffer much in terms of IQ, Tamron got the older non-Di version, Sigma got the pre DG version, Pentax got pre-digital F/FA version
07-09-2012, 11:04 PM   #7
Senior Member
simbon4o's Avatar

Join Date: Jan 2011
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 258
Sigma 70-300 APO is the most inexpensive and great for portrait work!



It can do macro too with great for the money performance. And it is light and small or the range.

PS I preffer it over manual 135s because it is sharper and better then almost every of them on 135mm plus AF. And the apertura is constant 4.0 from 70mm to 135-150mm, on 200mm it is 4.5. In the range 200-300 the performance drops but it is still usable.

07-10-2012, 12:58 AM   #8
Pentaxian
calsan's Avatar

Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Perth, Australia
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 1,543
I would have thought for weddings you would want a zoom, rather than a macro lens?
So I second this:
QuoteOriginally posted by elpolodiablo Quote
1. Pentax DA*50-135 f2.8 Pros: classic portrait FL, sharp, silent focusing, weather sealed, not as bulky and heavy as 70-200 f2.8s, cons: focus not the fastest, SDM got a bad rep for reliability.
07-10-2012, 01:18 AM   #9
Veteran Member
twitch's Avatar

Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 4,571
If you have a Tam 28-75 then the Tam 70-200/2.8 would be a good fit.
07-10-2012, 06:37 PM   #10
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
Bear's Avatar

Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Orange Park, FL
Photos: Albums
Posts: 158
Original Poster
Ok guys thanks so much for all the insight with the lens choices. It's like walking into a shoe store with only left footed shoes and I have two right feet, I just don't know what to do, haha, too many choices! Yeah I understood I was going to be over the $500 range but, I know for a fact (im a sad panda) that I can't afford the greater than the $1000 bill. I will check back and post my results in what I've purchased.
Reply

Bookmarks
  • Submit Thread to Facebook Facebook
  • Submit Thread to Twitter Twitter
  • Submit Thread to Digg Digg
Tags - Make this thread easier to find by adding keywords to it!
k-mount, lens, pentax lens, slr lens
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Keep K-x buy premium lens, get K-r and get good lens, get the K-7 w/ lens or K-5? crossover37 Pentax DSLR Discussion 19 02-06-2011 10:38 PM



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 12:39 PM. | See also: NikonForums.com, CanonForums.com part of our network of photo forums!
  • Red (Default)
  • Green
  • Gray
  • Dark
  • Dark Yellow
  • Dark Blue
  • Old Red
  • Old Green
  • Old Gray
  • Dial-Up Style
Hello! It's great to see you back on the forum! Have you considered joining the community?
register
Creating a FREE ACCOUNT takes under a minute, removes ads, and lets you post! [Dismiss]
Top