[Mach]

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I'm in the market for a landscape lens and I'm lost. I think $500 would be my limit. I will be on the go I.e. hiking traveling. If I could find one that does well in low light that would be awesome.

[Na Horuk]

For hiking and traveling you usually want a compact lens. A good focal length for landscapes is the DA 21mm, but it is compact instead of bright. So it is great for landscapes, but if you want indoor photos in low light, its not the best choice. But if you are a beginner, I think people would suggest you a Tamron 17-50mm f2.8. Fits the budget, fast for a zoom, good IQ, and comfortable zoom range. Significantly better than the 18-55mm kit lens!
You can also try the DA 35mm f2.4 - very sharp lens, fast AF, great bang per buck! But it is a "normal" lens, not wide angle, so it can be limiting for certain landscape photos. That being said, landscapes can be taken with telephoto lenses as well! It just depends on what you want to capture.
Another idea is the Samyang 16mm f2.0 lens. Manual focus, but very wide, fast aperture, affordable. On Pentax mount, it allows P and other modes.

Oh, and if your K-01 came with a DA 40mm XS, you can try using that one. It is very sharp, at f8 it is very good for landscapes. DA 40mm and DA 21mm would be a very nice kit, compact, sharp, contrasty lenses with fast AF.

[hcc]

I have a K-01 and I found that the camera like lenses with short focus screw range. I believe that a DA Ltd pancake with its short focus screw range will work best. The DA15mm Ltd comes in mind, although the DA21mm might also be suitable. It will come down to your prefered focal length, but ... I am biased because I love my DA15mm and let us remember "the DA15mm control my mind":
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/122-lens-clubs/86234-15mm-limited-controls-my-mind-club.html

My 5 cents.

[Mikesul]

The DA 21 is nearly perfect. It is compact, a good field of view and produces sharp, high contrast pictures. It is a great choice and well within your price limit.

[Sandy Hancock]

The DA21 is close to your budget limit but you won't get a better match for the K-01.

[robjmitchell]

I agree with getting a 15 or 21ltd to match the K-01, although budget wise the 16-45 f4 is probably a better way to go although you lose the compactness. Obviously you want something faster then the 17-50/2.8s from sigma and tamron will fit the bill nicely.

[lytrytyr]

I'm in the market for a landscape lens and I'm lost. I think $500 would be my limit. I will be on the go I.e. hiking traveling. If I could find one that does well in low light that would be awesome.

I'm going to suggest something a little different,
that has worked very well for me on the K-01.

It's the Voigtlaender Ultron 40/2 pancake.

With the K-01's focus peaking, and the f/2 aperture,
manual focus is very easy.

It's very sharp for landscape, and you can stitch for wide panoramas.
The f/2 is fully useable for low light.

The lens is discontinued for K-mount, but still available within your budget:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-USA-Voigtlander-Ultron-40mm-F-2-40-2-SL-II-Pentax-KA-/360644055514?pt=Camera_Lenses&hash=item53f80f91da

[airbass]

Samyang 14/2.8, it's great lens, very sharp and contrasty and you get special filter holder with three rectangular filters manufactured by Cokin. Great astonishing lens.

[Sandy Hancock]

Voigtlaender Ultron 40/2 pancake.

That looks AWESOME!!
LBA rears its ugly head yet again

[Na Horuk]

That looks AWESOME!! LBA rears its ugly head yet again

Yeah all those Voigtlanders look great, but they don't offer as much automation and they are very rare these days. Its a shame
Oh, just one more thing. If you only bought a K-01, make sure it is using the latest firmware. There are a couple threads and a PF blog post about how to check and update the firmware. But if you bought a new K-01 recently, it probably already has the latest one. I'm only saying because firmware 1.0 has very slow AF, and the subsequent updates improved it a lot.

[lytrytyr]

Yeah all those Voigtlanders look great, but they . . . are very rare these days. Its a shame

Amen to that!

If the unmentionable appears next year,
Cosina may be persuaded to start putting K mounts back on their lenses.

[richardwong]

The Voigtlander looks great and another cheap option because it's landscape is a 28mm lens. There's so many to choose from a K28mm f3.5 to a cheap M Pentax 28mm f2.8 lens as well as the Vivitars.

[ramseybuckeye]

I've used every lens I own for landscapes, from ultra wide angle 10mm to telephoto 300mm. Do you have ideas on what types of landscapes you plan on doing? You mention hiking, but hiking in a heavily wooded area is different than hiking in a non wooded area. And the normal look you get from a 28mm lens is totally different from the compressed look of 200mm, but neither is right or wrong, they are just different and can give a photo a different feel. I'm by no means a landscape expert, I'm just trying to point out that you need to give it a lot of thought as to what your need really is. Myself, I really want a DA 15, and I would intend to use it on landscapes, but not every landscape, and not just for landscapes.

And of course zooms give you versatility, and primes generally better IQ. I've got a couple of manual focus primes that I paid very little for, but with a tripod and focus peaking, wow.

My best tool for landscapes is a tripod, it nearly always improves a photo regardless of what the lens is.

[Mikesul]

I've used every lens I own for landscapes, from ultra wide angle 10mm to telephoto 300mm. Do you have ideas on what types of landscapes you plan on doing? You mention hiking, but hiking in a heavily wooded area is different than hiking in a non wooded area. And the normal look you get from a 28mm lens is totally different from the compressed look of 200mm, but neither is right or wrong, they are just different and can give a photo a different feel. I'm by no means a landscape expert, I'm just trying to point out that you need to give it a lot of thought as to what your need really is. Myself, I really want a DA 15, and I would intend to use it on landscapes, but not every landscape, and not just for landscapes.

And of course zooms give you versatility, and primes generally better IQ. I've got a couple of manual focus primes that I paid very little for, but with a tripod and focus peaking, wow.

My best tool for landscapes is a tripod, it nearly always improves a photo regardless of what the lens is.

This is a good point. Depending on where you are in relation to the area you want to photograph even a telephoto can produce stunning landscapes. There is more to a good landscape than just wide angle. The context you show or exclude can make all the difference. So you probably need a range of lenses from wide to telephoto. Pick what you will most likely in your photography and then see what will add to your ability after you have experience with one lens. Good luck.

[Mach]

Thanks everyone. I'm really blown away from the responses. I have a tripod. 50% are trail photos say waterfalls, city streets or gardens. 10% would be mountain ranges. 40% would be churches or other buildings of art , maybe some indoor events. I'll start researching more. Yeah it's hard to pin down one lens for all. I'm a weekend warrior.

I'll check for firmware.

Thanks again!