[DavidSKAF3]

12mm Beauty Pool hot spring and 500mm Grizzly bear both from Yellowstone national Park. Need I say more?

Thanks so much for all this info. Now I'm totally unsure which lens to buy!

[jatrax]

Now I'm totally unsure which lens to buy!

Start with a good zoom (like the 18-135 or even the kit 18-55) and track what focal lengths you use the most. Some software will do this for you, Lightroom for example. Once you have an idea what you like to shoot then you can start building a collection of lenses that suit what you like to shoot.

[savoche]

Thanks so much for all this info. Now I'm totally unsure which lens to buy!

What @jatrax said above. And after having shot for a while you will start to get a feeling for what that zoom can't do for you, and then try to find a lens that will scratch that itch (be it too short, too long, too slow, not close enough...).

Using lenses in unconventional ways can be very rewarding as well, and help creativity along.

Enjoy, it will be an interesting journey! And potentially quite expensive, too

[DavidSKAF3]

Thank you again.

I have a 16-45 f/4 now. Got it used a few days ago. Figured it'll be a decent step up from the kit lens. Good for landscapes and the train pics I like to take.

Really thinking more about the airliner photos I like to take. Specifically, to begin using a Pentax prime instead of an el-cheapo 70-300 or whatever.

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Last edited by DavidSKAF3; 12-03-2013 at 09:23 AM.

[savoche]

I think one reason why a lot of us like primes is that being "locked" to one focal length forces you to think, to look for ways to find a good framing and composition for the FL, rather than simply zooming to get a framing that might work. Zoom lenses tend to make me lazy, and maybe less creative.

I think

[dtmateojr]

I think one reason why a lot of us like primes is that being "locked" to one focal length forces you to think, to look for ways to find a good framing and composition for the FL, rather than simply zooming to get a framing that might work. Zoom lenses tend to make me lazy, and maybe less creative.

I think

Zoom lenses actually make me think because they are infinitely flexible. Compression control is something you can't do with prime lenses. Give me a good zoom anytime.

[WPRESTO]

Unfortunately there aren't many autofocus K-mount primes in the 100-250mm range after the 100~105mm macros. However, there are many very good manual focus SMCA 135 & 200mm primes, and with a little searching you might find the rarer 150mm prime. I have an SMCA 200mm f4 and it's a lovely lightweight, compact lens that gives very good result F5.6~f11 and cost less than $150 in near mint condition. There are some FA 135mm autofocus lenses on the used market, but they commonly go for around $350. Don't overlook the bargain priced 50-200 or better quality 55-300 Pentax zooms. The latter has really good IQ in the 100-200 range.

[WPRESTO]

Thank you again.

I have a 16-45 f/4 now. Got it used a few days ago. Figured it'll be a decent step up from the kit lens. Good for landscapes and the train pics I like to take.

Really thinking more about the airliner photos I like to take. Specifically, to begin using a Pentax prime instead of an el-cheapo 70-300 or whatever. The best lens I ever used for airliners was an old Nikon 70-210 f/4. Couldn't afford one of the latest Nikon lenses, but that heavy old Nikon was pretty good for me nevertheless. I hardly knew what I was doing, and it still delivered results with a D70 that made me happy. None of the big airliner photo websites ever took my pics, but I liked them well enough.

So I'm thinking maybe shots with the K-5 and a decent prime will get my airliner pics in those sites. And instead of doing what I've been doing and machine gunning pictures in auto mode, I should be more like a calculating image hunter and take just one deliberate shot of my subject with a prime, since I figure I won't be able to recompose my photo using a fixed focal length when the plane zooms by. Maybe I'll get better at it, and maybe I'd get sharper more likeable shots that those airliner.com editor guys might actually like. So I'll have to figure out what the right fixed length for me. Primes seem so restrictive to me but so many of you guys seem to swear by them, and your pictures back up what you say. I been checking out your pics and they are really good! So maybe I should follow suit and find an older long prime for cheap and give it a go!

If you want something longer for airliner picts, go to page 6 of the "for sale" section her on PF. Someone is offering a new, unused 50-200 Pentax for $110. That's almost a give-away. The lens is ultra light for its range, and for midday airliner shots you certainty don't need f2.8.

[savoche]

Zoom lenses actually make me think because they are infinitely flexible. Compression control is something you can't do with prime lenses. Give me a good zoom anytime.

That is actually a good point, about compression control. Of course, you do have compression control with primes in the sense that you can change lenses, but "zooming with your feet" is not equivalent to zooming optically. Sometimes you want one, sometimes the other (and zooms give you both in one package).

The bit about creativeness also works both ways. For me limiting my options will most of the time make me look for alternative solutions, and I often end up with pictures I wouldn't have thought of with a zoom in my hands. On the other hand, after having used only primes for a while, a zoom can give me a feeling of freedom and let me explore different focal lengths at ease.

Oh, one more point; for maximum flexibility you want, as you say, a good zoom. Good zooms tend to be big and heavy. Good primes can be very small. I don't like big and heavy, so I combine small zooms (i.e. not that good) with good primes. I prefer primes if I have the time. I mostly save the zooms for holidays with family.

And no matter what you choose, good quality is expensive

[DavidSKAF3]

Do they ever have special giveaways at photo conventions and stuff, where you get to reach in a big barrel or some big box or whatever, and pull out as many lenses as you can with just your two hands, in like ten or 15 seconds, or whatever, while they play kooky music and clowns jump around singing and tossing Hoya filters into the crowd and whatnot, and you get to keep what you pull out for free, and then this cheesy, loud emcee with a booming voice and super bright white teeth shakes your hand and slaps you on the back real vigorously as a comely vixen in a bikini poses beside you for publicity pictures, and a whole bunch of helium balloons rise into the air, and everybody sings, "For He's A Jolly Good Fellow" and waiters in tuxedos pop open a whole bunch of champagne bottles at the same time, you know, as a sort of goodwill gesture by the kind folks at Pentax Ricoh, and so on, and so forth?

[dansamy]

Do they ever have special giveaways at photo conventions and stuff, where you get to reach in a big barrel or some big box or whatever, and pull out as many lenses as you can with just your two hands, in like ten or 15 seconds, or whatever, while they play kooky music and clowns jump around singing and tossing Hoya filters into the crowd and whatnot, and you get to keep what you pull out for free, and then this cheesy, loud emcee with a booming voice and super bright white teeth shakes your hand and slaps you on the back real vigorously as a comely vixen in a bikini poses beside you for publicity pictures, and a whole bunch of helium balloons rise into the air, and everybody sings, "For He's A Jolly Good Fellow" and waiters in tuxedos pop open a whole bunch of champagne bottles at the same time, you know, as a sort of goodwill gesture by the kind folks at Pentax Ricoh, and so on, and so forth?

I want some of whatever he's on.

[DavidSKAF3]

I'm not on anything! This is bonafide dain bramage! LOL

[DavidSKAF3]

Hmmm!

I guess I bombed on that joke attempt!

Anyway, so if you're using primes a lot do you ever bring along more than one camera body and lens combo, in order to be able to quickly respond to any given photo opportunity?

[WPRESTO]

Not two Pentax bodies, although I now own three. BUT, sometimes I bring along a little shirt-pocket Panasonic P&S. More likely to bring a mixture of lenses anticipating what I might photograph;
1) for trip to Greece & Istanbul, on a tour: 18-250mm Sigma; 8-16mm Sigma; 8mm Bower; 40mm DA; 70mm DA. No tripod.
2) for trip to Florida: 17-70mm Sigma; 8-16mm Sigma; 60-250mm DA; 300mm DA. Compact travel tripod.
3) for local late summer morning outings: 17-70mm Sigma; 90mm Tokina macro; 200mm Takumar macro; and sometimes 60-250mm DA. Commonly use my old Slik 444 or the much bigger Gitzo 1228.
4) lenses rarely or never used outside the basement "studio:" 20mm Zeiss Luminar; 50mm APO Rodagon; 50mm SMCA macro; 100mm bellows Takumar; 200mm SMCA

For an upcoming tour in Kenya, my initial choices would be: 10-17mm Pentax; 17-70mm Sigma; 50-500mm Sigma; and one macro, probably the 90 Tokina.

FYI: The Bower 8mm is being replaced by the smaller, more versatile, autofocus 10-17mm Pentax

[DavidSKAF3]

Not two Pentax bodies, although I now own three. BUT, sometimes I bring along a little shirt-pocket Panasonic P&S. More likely to bring a mixture of lenses anticipating what I might photograph;
1) for trip to Greece & Istanbul, on a tour: 18-250mm Sigma; 8-16mm Sigma; 8mm Bower; 40mm DA; 70mm DA. No tripod.
2) for trip to Florida: 17-70mm Sigma; 8-16mm Sigma; 60-250mm DA; 300mm DA. Compact travel tripod.
3) for local late summer morning outings: 17-70mm Sigma; 90mm Tokina macro; 200mm Takumar macro; and sometimes 60-250mm DA. Commonly use my old Slik 444 or the much bigger Gitzo 1228.
4) lenses rarely or never used outside the basement "studio:" 20mm Zeiss Luminar; 50mm APO Rodagon; 50mm SMCA macro; 100mm bellows Takumar; 200mm SMCA

For an upcoming tour in Kenya, my initial choices would be: 10-17mm Pentax; 17-70mm Sigma; 50-500mm Sigma; and one macro, probably the 90 Tokina.

FYI: The Bower 8mm is being replaced by the smaller, more versatile, autofocus 10-17mm Pentax

How about filters for your lenses? Do you like to use them? Do people really use those pink and blue and yellow filters the stores throw in as freebies sometimes?