[Gooshin]

Yikes! First I found out that my DA35 'has no soul', and now my DA21 is useless too! I guess I can only shoot with my DA70, until someone starts a thread about THAT lens

Seriously, I just got back from a trip using only these three DA primes, and they performed brilliantly for me. To each their own, I guess.

do you own a sigma 10-20? a sigma 12-24, a petax 12-24 or any of the 16-50 re-iterations?

[Alfisti]

But we're going in circles here, owning and carrying are two different things.

If you're shooting long and don't want to carry another half kilo worth of lens then the 21 comes into play.

[rparmar]

Nice set of images and a good write-up. I was outshooting with my FA77 today as I'm thinking of selling it to fund a K20D purchase.

That would really hurt though.

Thing is, I use my Vivi 105mm macro so much and have the DA35 on its way... I like close focus. That's one thing the FA Limiteds really lack... magnification. I'm forever finding myself too close and getting the no focus indicator. Just my style perhaps.

[k100d]

So......if all you packed were three limiteds, longest being 70 or 77....do you (or any limited/prime shooters) find yourself wanting the longer reach or the flexibility of a zoom? Yes, I know there are primes over 70, this is just kind of trying to see how best to balance the bag...I love what I have, but realize that in many cases, the 40 will do most of what I shoot with the 16-45...not everything, but most. And obviously, in a heckuva lot smaller footprint....

Just trying to see if maybe its worth dropping some lenses to go with a few limiteds/primes, and keep say, the 55-300 as the long reach lens I won't use much but is nice to have. Still searching for that happy medium lol

and by the way...love the shots

thanks for the comments. as for reach, 77 for me is long enough. but i don't think this is an answer that any of us can answer for you. in terms of the flexibility of the zoom, i didn't miss it that much. with primes i had to be more careful about the composition if i didn't have too many situations where i had to use two lenses in one spot. but when i did, i'd make two passes, like a photo going up a hill and one when going down. obviously this isn't always possible.
even when i had to change lenses, i got pretty good at changing lenses and got my brother to help me, it wasn't a big deal.

Wow what a great original post, thanks a million.

I have been torn as to what to do myself, I do have an 18-250 which i was going to take with me on a trip to Malta and Croatia but after using it and the two kit lenses this week i realise I am getting a little too fussy for this approach. It is hard though as it is unfair on my wife to keep stopping in order to change lenses, so I need to be careful.

My plan is to start with the 12-24 and the 77 (both arriving this week, the 77 is your fault ya bastard ), which I think will cover quite a bit of what I need. The 24mm is actually quite useful compared to the 20mm of the Sigma IMHO. If I can handle the weight i'll cart the 50-200 as well. If this proves cumbersome I'll just live with the blasted 18-250

muahahaha . thanks alfisti, just involve your wife in helping you change lenses . what are you going to use to fill in the gap between 24 and 77? so you think the two kits are better than the 18-250? i always believed the superzoom was better :/

see, my photography approach is slap on the 50mm and go

if i cant make a shot, i cant make a shot.

that's exactly my philsophy. if i miss a shot, so what, there are many others. and plus someone's probably covered the garden variety shots anyways.

Aden's is where I've been buying most of my lenses this summer while in Toronto. I found them just by walking by, as no one had mentioned them to me. I got my really good copy of the 16-50 there, as well as my FA43 and FA77. Best prices in town so far, as good or better than prodigital, and they've let me take my time trying various lenses out.

As a comparison, Henry's offer was $1,800. I literally laughed at them. They took like $15 off lenses listed at $800.

i checked the prices yesterday for the DA* 16-50. Prodigital 750, Henrys 800, Aden 820, but with henry's i can return easily if faulty.

[k100d]

Yikes! First I found out that my DA35 'has no soul', and now my DA21 is useless too! I guess I can only shoot with my DA70, until someone starts a thread about THAT lens

Seriously, I just got back from a trip using only these three DA primes, and they performed brilliantly for me. To each their own, I guess.

good to hear you had a good experience w/ 3 primes as well.

Nice set of images and a good write-up. I was outshooting with my FA77 today as I'm thinking of selling it to fund a K20D purchase.

That would really hurt though.

Thing is, I use my Vivi 105mm macro so much and have the DA35 on its way... I like close focus. That's one thing the FA Limiteds really lack... magnification. I'm forever finding myself too close and getting the no focus indicator. Just my style perhaps.

i agree, too bad pentax won't give their lenses a bit more close focusing ability, maybe they're worried it would cut into their macro lens sales? it would help me a lot with food photos if i want a higher angle.

[k100d]

i think i'll stick w/ the DA21 for now.

i don't really want to buy a flash and don't want a lens which interferes with the built-in flash. plus i'd lose a bunch of money and the DA* 16-50 is quite expensive even after discount. i have a wedding i'm going as a guest next month, so it should be handy for group photos. it is only 3.2 (the kit is 3.5 at 18mm :/) but it's very usable at that aperture. the k100d+da21 should smoke most of the P&S people will most likely bring by being wider, higher iso, better iq.

the FA31 isn't really that handy if taking pictures of more than 3 people . if somehow the FA31 gets used more at the wedding, then the DA21 will be put up for sale.

[Alfisti]

muahahaha . thanks alfisti, just involve your wife in helping you change lenses . what are you going to use to fill in the gap between 24 and 77? so you think the two kits are better than the 18-250? i always believed the superzoom was better :/

i checked the prices yesterday for the DA* 16-50. Prodigital 750, Henrys 800, Aden 820, but with henry's i can return easily if faulty.

I don't use that 24-77 range often, if i can handle the weight i'll throw the 50-200 in the bag.

The 18-250 is sharper than the kit lens but shows more abberations and distortion. it's about as sharp as the 50-200 but the 50-200 is a far nicer lens in terms of rendering highlights, ghosting of highlights 9the 18-250 ghosts more than the 50-200) and it's far, far longer than the 18-250 at anything other than infinity.

Ring Aden or e-mail them, I bet pounds for peanuts they get REAL close to prodigital.