[ChristianRock]

- What's your most used focal length
- Do you use your primes more than your zoom? (i.e. are you a zoom or a prime type person)
- What do you like to take pictures of?
- What is it about your photography that you are currently not satisfied with?

That's the kind of questions that must be asked, otherwise, all you'll get is everyone telling you what *their* favorite lens is.

[redrockcoulee]

There is no such thing as an odd size focal length, they are just numbers and would change if we went back to other labelling systems such as inches that was used for large format Americian lenses such as 10 1/2 inch lens. Do not expect any of the lenses you mentioned to take you to the next level of photography. Buy lenses when the ones you have do not do what you need them to do such as cover focal length, speed or size. I generally walk about with a three lens system, two DA limiteds the 15 and 70 plus the plastic fantastic 35 2.4. My wife is happy with her 16-45/10-20 and 90 macro trio and we make do with a trio of lenses for the Hasselblad and large format systems. ChristianRock asked the questions that you need to ask yourself and then the forum members could offer more useful advise. As important as lenses are in photography I do not think the ones you have limit your ability to produce good photographs. There might be a limitiation in your field of views, speed or as some suggested a macro need. Address the shortcomings in the coverage of your lenses and the moving up to the next level in your learning more about photography itself unless the lenses you have are of poor quality. Silver bullets are elusive and expensive.

[shaX 07]

Thanks for the responses so far everyone, this is great information.... Let me expand a little more....

I am not unhappy with my current lens lineup, I think they are all very good lenses.... I just feel like I can do more by expanding, and getting something that my current lineup cannot (Perhaps the SMC 77mm wasn't the right example to convey this).

As far answering the questions of "What do I shoot" or "What focal lengths do I use most" I think i'll just post a link to my Flickr and you'll get quick overview of what I consider to be my "best" work from the last year or so (I haven't shot much this year so it's really not a lot).

https://www.flickr.com/photos/101261725@N05/with/11552198564/

Basically from the top all the way to the christmas tree photos is what I would call my best stuff from the past 10 months.

I do go to local short track racing events and have brought my camera along a few times to try to get some good shots, and I feel that a longer reach lens would be very helpful for that purpose. I haven't really nailed down my exact needs there because usually when i'm at the race track, i'm wrenching on a race car and not taking pictures :P But perhaps the HD DA 55-300mm WR would be a good lens for this?

Additionally, i've always been intrigued by Fisheye photography, and thought it would be fun to explore this myself.... I don't consider myself a creative or artistic type of person by nature, and I feel the Fisheye would help challenge me and get me to explore and engage in some creativity... I was thinking maybe the DA 10-17mm fisheye lens could be a possibility.

[normhead]

Your DA 18-135 WR is a good place to begin looking for what you need next. If you are zooming in to 135 all the time and the subject of your photo ends up as a small dot in the center, you probably want something longer, like the DA 55-300. If you find yourself zooming out to 18 and then walking backwards most of the time, you probably want something wider, perhaps the DA 15 Limited. It doesn't sound like you are doing macro, but your 18-135 can already get pretty close.

Most people in your position would go for a longer lens before a wider lens. One way of doing this on a budget would be to purchase an older, used, 2x teleconverter from ebay. For less than $20, you can test-drive your primes as 70mm and 100mm. If one of those is really working well for you, then invest in a full-time prime.

And, like someone else already said, consider a flash and a tripod. These tools add a great amount of versatility to your kit.

What he said. ^

Go thorough your 18-135 images.
If the majority of your images are at the 18-end look at a DA 15.
If the majority of your images are at 135 then look for a longer lens. Possibly the DA* 200 2.8, which is a nice incremental up from the 18-135, plus will take the 1.4 TC if you need longer, and will give you 280mm @ ƒ4.
The 18-135 is not that strong on the edges after 60mm, you might want to look at a Tamron 90 macro, or 100 Macro, for landscape (and macro). The 18-135 is great for wildlife and snapshots that only require centre sharpness.

I'd do a real count on say 100 representative images and get exact numbers. My PP software allows me to create smart folders of just one lens for this purpose.

But first things first, find out where you like to shoot the 18-135, that will tell you where you might find a lens you'd like.

[mikeodial]

Hey everyone... I feel that I am ready to purchase my next lens, but I need your help in choosing which lens to get... This is my current lineup:

DA 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 WR
DA 35mm f/2.4
DA 50mm f/1.8

I love all of these lenses and am happy with the quality and results I get from them. I am anticipating another Black Friday sale to happen for the bulk of Pentax lenses and I feel this will be the best time to pick one up...

The plastic fantastics are awesome lenses, but I am ready to take it to the next level... I want to add a serious lens to my collection.. Something that can help me take my photography to the next level... This is where I need help from you all.

I suppose you all need to know what I shoot in order to make a proper recommendation... It's pretty varied... Recently i've been shooting my 3 year old son more than anything (at the playground, the beach, outside, etc.) I also shoot outdoors, nature, really anything that catches my eye... I know this is fairly non specific in terms of narrowing down a good lens to recommend...

Ultimately I want to take it up a notch and get a lens that can outshine what I already have and produce sharper images...

I was thinking about the SMCP FA 77mm f/1.8 lens... It seems to be one of the best K mount Pentax lenses that exists today, and from what i've read on here it sounds like one of the sharpest as well.

My only concern with this lens is the limiting focal length... Certainly I know that this focal length only has so many uses, and all of them will be outdoors and of moderate distance from the subject... Are there other options that are just as sharp/good as this lens, but of other focal lengths that are more useful?

I would prefer my new lens compliment my existing collection, unless this new lens could replace something I have due to the closeness in focal length and betterment in quality ( SMCP FA 31mm f/1.8 perhaps?)

Any constructive input is greatly appreciated

Aside from the other excellent advice, you might want to consider the Rokinon 14mm. It's a manual lens, but then again, most landscape pics are done slowly and gently. It is very sharp, good for night photography and very sharp. Usually sells for around $300 new!

If you are comparing this to Limited lens this is no pancake lens, it's big, but sits nicely on K body camera.