[connor.nolan]

Ok looks like the consensus is that an UWA lens is necessary. However I don't quite have the money for the Pentax 15mm or the 12-24. Would I be better served with something such as the tamron 10-24 or would the Pentax 35 2.4 be more useful?

[pathdoc]

STOP. Research is everything.

Check out the rules of photography if you're planning on going to particular historical places, especially if they are known to not be very well lit - some of them may prohibit flash and/or tripods. The internet should be able to clarify most of this for you - either on specific attractions' websites or by contacting them through e-mail or a site-based submission form.

If that's the case for a lot of your intended itinerary, a fast lens is possibly more important than the flexibility of the UWA zoom and you may even want to sacrifice field of view to get that f/1.8 aperture, which means the plastic 50mm. Once you get faster than that, I'm not sure there's anything which falls in your price bracket unless you stumble across a second-hand Sigma 30mm f/1.4 - not the current Art version; that one has AF issues - going REALLY cheap.

[GeneV]

STOP. Research is everything.

Check out the rules of photography if you're planning on going to particular historical places, especially if they are known to not be very well lit - some of them may prohibit flash and/or tripods. The internet should be able to clarify most of this for you - either on specific attractions' websites or by contacting them through e-mail or a site-based submission form.

If that's the case for a lot of your intended itinerary, a fast lens is possibly more important than the flexibility of the UWA zoom and you may even want to sacrifice field of view to get that f/1.8 aperture, which means the plastic 50mm. Once you get faster than that, I'm not sure there's anything which falls in your price bracket unless you stumble across a second-hand Sigma 30mm f/1.4 - not the current Art version; that one has AF issues - going REALLY cheap.

Agree. I don't thing the UWA was a consensus, though several did suggest it. I seldom took my UWA out of the bag last trip (though I used the 18mm end of the zoom a lot), but others live by it. Find out what you will be seeing.

[kh1234567890]

Which of these would be best for street and walk around photography? Feel free to suggest others too, as long as they're in the price range.

A second-hand DA21 is all that you need ...

[Macario]

Ok looks like the consensus is that an UWA lens is necessary. However I don't quite have the money for the Pentax 15mm or the 12-24. Would I be better served with something such as the tamron 10-24 or would the Pentax 35 2.4 be more useful?

eeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhh, an UWA lens is not necessary. It all depends what you want. If you like the look of UWA, then yes get one. if not, then there is no need. In the small crowed streets of Europe there really is no need for an UWA. Just adapt yourself to the lens you have, and you will get good shots. And if you want to emphasis the crowed small streets, an UWA is not the one you want, you really then want something longer. More in the line of 50-70mm

[GeneV]

FWIW I think the UWA requires more thought, skill and selectivity than just about any other class of lens. If you have developed the eye, then the shots can be stunning. However for travel, the temptation is to point at a building or a crowd and think, "there, I got it all in." The result is a bore. For just getting the whole thing in the shot, panorama software or even smartphone video may be an option. It is why my sub 16mm lenses come along but don't get used that often, and they would not be part of a budget-limited kit.

[Lowell Goudge]

having spent a lot of time in europe, france especially, i would add either the sigma 8-16 or 10-20 because you really will use an ultra wide in the cities.

add on top of that a relatively fast MF lens, from 24-50mm as you see fit. I personally like my 35F2 and 50/1.4 for night shots.

[mgvh]

Another vote for the DA 35 f2.4. The 50mm often was a bit long for indoors. If you can afford it the DA 21 f3.2 is great, but you're not really picking up a faster lens. When traveling, I tend to use the Sigma 10-20 f4-5.6 a lot, but that's a large lens and not particularly fast.

[krazykat]

My travel kit: Sigma 8-16 & DA 35/2.4 (and Q7 with 01, 02 & 06).

[shuttles12000]

My recommendation would be either the Sigma 10-20 for your UWA (Europe has a lot of cathedrals and lane ways) or the Sigma 30mm f1.4 For low light excellence.
The 18-135 is a great lens for travel by the way.
You may want to get a good monopod/ball head combo instead though. Lots of places won't let you set up a tripod. They have tripod nazis everywhere.