[dlopez6243]

Hello all, I recent bought the Pentax K-3 with the 18-55 WR lens. I recently switched over from Canon to Pentax and I am still learning the terminology. As far as the type of work I do, I mostly do landscapes and wildlife, with the occasional portraits. What lenses can you recommend to me to potentially purchase? I am currently look at the following:

Wide
Pentax 16-45mm f/4- heard really good things about this lens and super sharp images.
Pentax *16-50mm f/2.8- Tried this out when I bought the K-3 and love the fast, silent auto focus.

General Purpose
Pentax 18-135mm WR- love the focal range, covers most of my need when I need a walk around lens.

Zoom
Tamron 70-200 2.8-it's a fast zoom
Pentax *60-250 f/4- this one is the one I am leaning to due to the long focal range.

[timb64]

Welcome,have a good look on threads about 16-85 WR and 55-300 WR,then you are pretty much sorted for most eventualities in a manageable weather resistant package.

[blackcloudbrew]

In general, any Pentax * lens is going to be the best glass you can have. These lenses are like Canon L glass. For landscape work, my personal choice(s) would be the DA *16-50 or a couple of primes like the DA (or HD) 15 Limited and the DA (or HD) 35 Limited Macro. I wouldn't pass up the DA 12-24 f4 either for landscape. Not really a wild life shooter so it's hard to help there. I would not try to use the Tammy 70-200 for that though it's a fine lens but it's too short and a bit slow on the focusing for wild life. Never shot with the 60-250 but everyone who does tends to love it. Have a look at the HD 55-300 as well. If you have the money (and I don't) the FA 150-450 seems like the ticket for wild life. I've sort of settled on the little bigma - the Sigma 150-500 for long stuff.

General purpose covers a lot of ground and if the 18-135 does it for you fine. I don't know this lens but then again I'll take my DA*16-50 f2.8 and DA*50-135 f2.8 out for a walkabout any time.

[narual]

No 50-135? Same high quality as the 60-250 (I can't tell shots taken with mine apart); but light enough to hand hold for extended periods, and internal zoom as well as internal focus.

whatever you do, consider buying them used. You'll probably get twice as many lenses for your money.

[jatrax]

There are two pairs to cover your range:
First the DA*16-50 plus the DA*60-250 these are top of the line pro grade lenses, expensive, heavy and superb image quality
Second the DA 16-85 (or 18-135) plus the DA 55-300 not as expensive, image quality is close but the lenses are slower if that matters.

I prefer the 60-250 over the 55-300 but for walking around the 55-300 is hard to beat.

[blackcloudbrew]

As far as welcome to the forum goes and new to Pentax terminology, you might want to check out this tread for learning to speak Pentax lenses. DSLR Lens Terms and Abbreviations - Articles and Tips | PentaxForums.com

I have to say, that were I ever to convert to Canon or other brand, I'd have to learn to speak that way as well. Enjoy.

[dlopez6243]

Thank you all for the warm welcome. As far as the lenses that have SDM focusing, I've read that they've been prone to failure, has anyone had any issues with the SDM on the 16-50 and 50-135?

[jrpower10]

Thank you all for the warm welcome. As far as the lenses that have SDM focusing, I've read that they've been prone to failure, has anyone had any issues with the SDM on the 16-50 and 50-135?

I have the 16-50, 60-250, and the 300. All are SDM and I've never had an issue. I can'tspeak to failure rates, but generally you hear about them when they fail but you don't when they don't. All motors will fail at some frequency and my gut feel is the SDM motors, at least in older versions, were failing at a little higher rate than average but that in later versions it has improved.

As for lenses for landscapes (which is also what I mostly shoot), I have the DA 12-24, 16-50 and 60-250. I'm very happy with all. I just swapped my 50-135, which I really liked BTW, for a DA 20-40. I didn't use the 50-135 much after I got the 60-250 but both are terrific lenses. The 20-40 might replace my 16-50 given I have a wider option. Nothing wrong with the 16-50, also a terrific lens, but the 20-40 is more compact so I can lighten my travel kit a little (I also always throw in a fast 50). For the record, the 16-50 has been my most-used lens, more than the 12-24, so I'm hesitant to part with it, but we'll see.

[Na Horuk]

Samyang 16mm f2.0 (UWA, manual focus, good price tag, good for landscapes, astrophoto, indoor photo. See here: https://www.pentaxforums.com/userreviews/samyang-16mm-f2-ed-umc-cs.html )
Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 (general zoom, good low light, affordable. See here: https://www.pentaxforums.com/reviews/pentax-16-50-vs-sigma-tamron-17-50mm/introduction.html )
Pentax DA 18-135mm WR (WR zoom for everything, travel, times where you cannot change lenses easily)
Pentax DA 50-135mm (portraiture, general telephoto)
Tamron 70-200mm f2.8 (long telephoto, some potraiture) (The Pentax 60-250mm is a popular lens, as well, but see this: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/10-pentax-slr-lens-discussion/144003-lens...h-rip-off.html )
Pentax DA 50mm f1.8 or DA* 55mm f1.4 for low light (portraiture, bokeh photos, top notch quality. Good to have some fixed focal length aka prime lenses)
DFA 100mm WR macro for.. well, macro. (closeups, magnification, really great image quality at a good price)

Edit: Just search the forums, sample photo gallery, and user review lens database for each lens you are interested in. Some, especially third party lenses, have their own quirks.

[dlopez6243]

Thank you all so much for the quick and fast information, I really appreciate it.

[normhead]

My usual set up is the DA 18-135 for walking around, with the 60-250 for more reach and edge to edge sharpness from 60-135, where the 18-135 is only centre sharp. Those two lenses do a lot.

As well, we have the Tamron 17-50, Sigma 18-250, Sigma 70-300, F-70-210. FA 35-80 and FA-J 18-35. And they get used from time to time. All have their strengths and weaknesses that keep them on the shelf.

Then we have a tamron 90 Macro, a Sigma 70 macro, an FA 50 1.7, a DA 35 a 21 ltd. a DA 35 2.4 and a 40 XS, and I often bring one or two of those along.

Zooms to cover your range and primes for speed has al;ways been my way of going at it. And while I appreciate all those 2.8 zoom out there, compared to the 1.8 or 1.4 primes, they are kind of a compromise, if a wide aperture is what you are ofter.

[kh1234567890]

Wide
Pentax 16-45mm f/4- heard really good things about this lens and super sharp images.

I'd recommend this one, but no doubt others will talk you out of it

Flickriver: kh1234567890's photos tagged with smcpda1645mmf40edal

No primes in your list ? The DA21 is the one to get.

Flickriver: kh1234567890's photos tagged with smcpda21mmf32al

[ChatMechant]

16-85 would do 90% of your landscape needs, 60-250 for wildlife (except birds)
or for more coverage, 12-24 + 20-40 + 60-250

[jatrax]

Thank you all for the warm welcome. As far as the lenses that have SDM focusing, I've read that they've been prone to failure, has anyone had any issues with the SDM on the 16-50 and 50-135?

SDM had an (IMHO), unacceptable failure rate prior to 2012. Pentax never stated there was a problem but did state that new components were used after that date. So I would be confident buying a new one at this point, used should also be fine but would warrant some questions re manufacture or purchase date. This is on the 16-50 and 50-135. The other SDM lenses did not seem to have much of an issue.

That does not mean that a new SDM lens will not fail, only that it seems the failure rate is more in line with industry norms now. And if it does fail at least on the 16-50 and I believe the 50-135 it can be converted to screwdrive which is just as fast if not faster. My 16-50 is converted to screwdrive and works just fine.

[pathdoc]

In your situation, with a K-3 and a WR 18-55 kit, my next purchase would be the 55-300 (the HD WR version with quickshift). This would give you weather resistance from 18-300mm continuously with just two lenses, which is not to be passed over lightly. The only downside to this is that they're slower (5.6 and 5.8) at their zoom ends, and this may be TOO slow for the sort of shooting you want to do, unless you've got no hesitation about going to high ISO/shooting off a tripod. I would have no problem with the images those lenses deliver, but you may have more demanding requirements.

You need to consider:
- What focal lengths you were shooting at with your Canon gear.
- What apertures you were shooting at (e.g. can you get away with a slower lens, or do you need the f/2.8 the Tamron zoom offers you?).
- How often you need weather resistance (in which case the * lens wins over the Tamron AFAIK).

I know I'm seriously considering the 18-135 as my one lens for all inclement weather work, but this would not suit your wildlife shooting interests even though the focal length would probably be alright for landscapes at a pinch. Then again, the go-to Pentax lens for serious landscape shooters seems to be the DA 15mm Limited prime (which it must be noted is NOT a WR lens, so bear that in mind if things are usually rainy where you are). Again, consider what you need and buy your lenses to suit, weighing the pros and cons of each carefully.