[gnaztee]

Thought I had this figured out with a travel set up of:

DA 12-24
DA 35
DA 70

After a two-week trip to the East Coast, numerous lens changes, and equally numerous eye-rolls and heavy sighs from my wife while waiting for these lens changes, I've decided to go the zoom route So I'm back to figuring out my best fit. Long glass is on hold for the moment (possibilities are 55-300, Tam 70-200, or DA* 60-250...when it comes out in 2013). Anyway, here are the combos I'm looking at, let me know what you think:

1) Sell DA 70 (I'm doing this regardless, it's in the marketplace right now), and buy either Tamron 17-50 or 28-75 (which I previously owned), leaving me with:
DA 12-24
Tam 17-50 or 28-75
DA 35 Macro
Long glass later

2) Sell both DA 35 and DA 70, get DA* 16-50, giving me:
DA 12-24
DA* 16-50
Long glass later

3) Sell all three lenses and get:
DA* 16-50
Tamron 70-200 (or DA* 50-135, but this seems a bit short to me)


I'm hesitant to lose the DA 12-24 because it performed beautifully for me and I am primarily a landscape enthusiast. I'm also hesitant to lose the DA 35, as I would have no macro capability, and it also performed beautifully for me as a landscape lens. Should have said this sooner: I'm trying to "break even" cost wise with the buying and selling. If I have to kick in an extra $100-150, that's okay. Any thoughts are appreciated as I'm really stuck right now.

Todd

[alohadave]

After a two-week trip to the East Coast, numerous lens changes, and equally numerous eye-rolls and heavy sighs from my wife while waiting for these lens changes, I've decided to go the zoom route

Keep them all and practice speed changing your lenses. I can swap lenses in about 10 seconds and minimal disruption to the non-photogs I'm with.

[dkittle]

Haha, no offence but 10 seconds (is about my time) and drives my wife nuts! She has some faint memory of her grandfather being able to do it instantly :-)

Last fall and this summer I travelled with three lenses, DA 12-24, DA* 50-135 and my 31 ltd. I used the 31 ltd for indoor shots (at the restaurant and in natural light places like museums) and for shots of the two of us. Most of the time, though, I'm switching between the two zooms.

I find that only having two zooms (one long, one wide) is easy for my wife to understand and get engaged with - she'll occationally point at something and say which lens she wants me to use ("can you zoom in and get a shot of that", she'll say). She's even more apt to recognise the lens and she knows if she needs something different the odd time she grabs the camera. It's worked out great :-)

In your case, the 35mm would serve the same function as the 31mm I bring along.

When the 60-250mm is available, I'll like drag that along instead of the 50-135mm - longer will be better for vacations I think...
If that is too pricey for you (or if you can't wait), you might consider the 55-300mm or a 70-200mm.

[BBear]

After a two-week trip to the East Coast, numerous lens changes, and equally numerous eye-rolls and heavy sighs from my wife while waiting for these lens changes, I've decided to go the zoom route

Yes.. it is a PIA!! I can already see you trying to quickly swap lenses and she looking at you>



Somehow I tend to vote for option #3, which is more zoom lens.. but obviously igh quality zoom lenses.

[rfortson]

Well, this is one of the reasons I went with the 18-250, though that may not fit your IQ requirements. If I'm traveling with my family or other non-photographers, I'll use the 18-250 so I don't have to change lenses. If I'm traveling by myself, then I'll pack a wider range of lenses, though sometimes I'll stick with the 18-250.

It boils down to the purpose of your travels and what you're trying to accomplish with your shots. If you're documenting the travels (i.e. snapshots) then the 18-250 is more than equal to the task. If the goal is to create great images, then the 18-250 may not meet your need (though I'd still say you can get great images with it). Check out my Peru pictures on Flickr. They were all taken with the K100D and the Tamron 18-250. Many are "snapshots", but some are some of the better shots I've taken.

Anther option could be the Tamron 28-75. Less range, but very good IQ.

[augustmoon]

Thought I had this figured out with a travel set up of:

After a two-week trip to the East Coast, numerous lens changes, and equally numerous eye-rolls and heavy sighs from my wife while waiting for these lens changes, I've decided to go the zoom route

Todd

You're lucky you got off so easily.... On our last trip, I insisted on testing my 4 DA ltds. against the 3 FA ltds, against 5 zooms. My wife got mad at me for losing her voice for sighing so often and loudly. But I got some interesting shots of her being annoyed which the future kid will appreciate some day.

I discovered that the DA*50-135 was as good as my DA70 ltd. I also discovered that it was a bit short on the tele end.

I discovered that the DA*16-50 was almost as good but not as good as the DA40 at 40, but was closer to the DA21 at 21 than I thought it would be. Overall (and I got a good copy) The DA*16-50 performed better than I thought.

I found that I liked the DA*16-50 better than the Tamron 17-50, I liked the Tamron 28-75 better than the Tamron 17-50, and I liked the Sigma 24-60 EX 2.8 better than them all.

I almost went with keeping the Sigma 24-60 and adding the Pentax 12-24 to it and that would have been the best IQ for me.

But I went with convenience and sold all and kept the DA*16-50 as for me, that was wide enough, and it fit nicely with the 50-135.

If it were now or a month from now, I'd seriously be tempted by the DA17-70 along side of the Tamron 70-200 and then take the DA35 for closeups and interesting stuff like that.

I preferred the DA ltds to the FA Ltds outside, but outside I preferred the zooms as convenience and how it fits into my time spent outside.

So basically I kept the DA*Zooms, to be used both in studio and outside, the FA Ltds to be used in studio, and the only DA Ltd I kept was the DA35, and that is to do interesting POV shots up close, etc.. and I use it in the studio too. At infinity, the DA*16-50 is as good as the DA35 is.

For my next trip, I'll be picking up the Pentax DA 17-70 and the Tamron 70-200 and I'll take the DA35 for a 3-lens kit.

[jsherman999]

.


Find a way to end up with the DA* 50-135 and either your 12-24 or a new DA* 16-50.

I've taken several trips with different lens lineups now, and found that I used my 16-50 50% of the time, and my 50-135 45% of the time, and every other lens I happened to have along in my bag added up to the final 5%, including long glass.

16-50 & 50-135 are the ultimate travel combo, IMO. The IQ is just so good, and the convenience over primes when you have people waiting on you for the shot can't be overstated.

The 12-24 would be an excellent alternative to the 16-50 - I have not taken any trips since I bought the 12-24, otherwise it might have come along and be used as much as the 16-50. It's nearly as sharp as the 16-50, and it has the interesting characteristic of being sharpest at 12mm (as sharp as the 16-50 at any FL,) so that's fun. The 16-50 is probably a bit sharper at 20mm+.


.

[deudeu]

The DA 12-24 would match the tamron 28-75 or the sigma 24-60 pretty well in terms of focal length...

[heatherslightbox]

Have you seen this deal on Amazon?
Amazon.com: Sigma 24-60mm f/2.8 EX DG IF Aspherical Wide Angle Zoom Lens for Pentax and Samsung SLR Cameras: Electronics

If I weren't already in the process of saving up for the 12-24, I might would snatch one of these up at that price. At that price, I could afford to keep both it and the 17-70.

I would go with the 12-24/28-75 or 24-60/35 setup, myself. Since you prefer to shoot on the wider end, that's where I'd sink most of my lens budget, if I were you. Depending on how long you want to go, the 55-300 might be a better option down the road if you know that you won't be using it as much as the wider lenses.

HTH,
Heather

[icarus]

You are all killing me!

I thought I was set on picking up the 21 & 40 limited on my trip to NY, and attempting to do the trip with those and my 50. I just love shooting that 50 soooo much that I feel I could do the trip with 3 primes and start building my lens collection based on that. However, with the significant other along for the trip, I don't want to be causing any annoyances either....arghhh...why can't we all be photographers!

So....I might have to go the 16-50 route, which will expand my range down to 16mm...or even the 12-24 + the 50...I just don't know! There's just something about shooting with primes....I think i would miss that....

[deudeu]

You are all killing me!

I thought I was set on picking up the 21 & 40 limited on my trip to NY, and attempting to do the trip with those and my 50. I just love shooting that 50 soooo much that I feel I could do the trip with 3 primes and start building my lens collection based on that. However, with the significant other along for the trip, I don't want to be causing any annoyances either....arghhh...why can't we all be photographers!

So....I might have to go the 16-50 route, which will expand my range down to 16mm...or even the 12-24 + the 50...I just don't know! There's just something about shooting with primes....I think i would miss that....

I use primes only and ,when I am with my girlfriend, I just don't change the lens.
I guess I probably missed some shots because of that, but I didn't really notice it. Once I have a lens on, I get in the "28mm groove", or "50mm groove", or whatever, and I try to have that FOV in mind and not worry about what is outside of it.
In the end, I never change lenses more than twice a day. Once in the morning when I put on whatever lens i feel like playing around for that day, and once when the light becomes scarce and i need something fast.
I guess I am just a great boyfriend... my girlfriend should thank me more!

[jsherman999]

You are all killing me!

I thought I was set on picking up the 21 & 40 limited on my trip to NY, and attempting to do the trip with those and my 50. I just love shooting that 50 soooo much that I feel I could do the trip with 3 primes and start building my lens collection based on that. However, with the significant other along for the trip, I don't want to be causing any annoyances either....arghhh...why can't we all be photographers!

So....I might have to go the 16-50 route, which will expand my range down to 16mm...or even the 12-24 + the 50...I just don't know! There's just something about shooting with primes....I think i would miss that....

I'm in agreement about the lure of primes, but I found that the convenience of
the good zooms helped mitigate the hectic-ness of the travel.

Link: 50-135 on a trip

Link: 16-50 on a trip




.

[Kei]

In the end, I never change lenses more than twice a day. Once in the morning when I put on whatever lens i feel like playing around for that day, and once when the light becomes scarce and i need something fast.

I just started to build my kit and this is exactly what I am trying to do. One lens for daytime outdoor and something fast for night/indoor. Aiming to cover most situation while keeping a light load.

So far I have the 18-250mm f3.5-6.3 and the Sigma 24-60mm f2.8, plus a smc-a 50mm f2 get my feet wet in primes.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks.

[SpecialK]

Try a different approach. Perhaps get a second used body, and keep your most-used lens on one of them. Then you only have to swap one or two, not three lenses on the other body :-)

[heatherslightbox]

I think a great setup would be something like this:
DA12-24
DA35 macro or FA31
DA*50-135

If you think you're also going to be shooting in low light, then either adding a 50/1.4 or 1.7 or the 43, or even substituting the FA35/2 in place of the DA35 would be a good option, as well.

The 12-24 is my next purchase, but the 50-135 will have to wait until at least sometime next year.

Heather