[timw4mail]

There are many, many bargain lenses on the market. It is very enticing to buy a $70 lens or a $50 lens. But after a while you add them up and find you spent maybe $500 on 'bargains'. Which would have easily bought you a brand new, modern zoom that is better quality than all your 'bargains'.

Hey, now, I'm sampling the past, not wasting money on 'bargains'

[AlexBW]

Personally, I would buy a prime lens with autofocus as your next lens. The DA 35mm F2.4 is a relatively cheap lens that delivers great results. I don't know much about your photography, but I found that after acquiring a prime lens, i really improved my fundamental photography skills such as composition, depth of field and exposure. As someone else suggested, try using your current zoom lens as a prime. Leave it at a fixed focal length for several hours and force yourself to take interesting photos at that focal length to get an idea about the field of view you'd like for your next lens (be it prime or zoom).

[pepperberry farm]

my preferences:

all around: DA 18-135mm, or a DA 55-300mm

landscape: DA14mm

weddings: personal preference, depending upon whether you like zooms or primes, but a DA70 Limited could be the best for APS-C (just my opinion)...

[boriscleto]

Over the last 7.5 years I've accumulated a large number of lenses, mostly manual focus. But my primary kit at the moment is a Sigma 150-500/5-6.3, Sigma 10-20/3.5, Pentax DA 18-135/3.5-5.6, Pentax FA 50/1.7, and Phoenix 100/3.5 macro. All auto focus lenses...three of them with HSM/DC motors...

The 18-135 is a much better fit for my needs than the 18-55 ever was. But the 18-55 was still a good lens...

If you are interested in doing weddings I would suggest a Tamron/Sigma 17-50/2.8 (or Sigma 18-50/2.8) or DA* 16-50/2.8, and then adding a DA* 50-135 or a less expensive Tamron/Sigma 70-200/2.8. They aren't inexpensive, but they will outlast any body you would attach them to...

[Skodadriver]

If you are prepared for "green button metering" and using a Pentax M42 to K adapter there are many legacy lenses to explore at budget prices. I used a Helios -44M to take some images at a wedding (the official photographer had a Canon full frame with a huge pro lens) and came up with some images that were liked by some of the guests, enough for them to ask for copies to be sent to them.
I have a couple of old 135mms that provide sharp or interesting bokeh headshots. Can be a nice prime for candid photos.
As and when I have the cash, I am looking for a Pentax 55-300mm for my long zoom and a Pentax 16-85mm to compliment it but in the meantime I keep buying the cheap lenses....I figure I might get most of my money back if not all when I sell them..... if I am sensible with what I buy.
If you have the time and patience, read the lens reviews on the forums that score 9 or above, then the ones that score 8 to 9. They might help you to target specific lenses to investigate further.

[rr1736]

On a budget then the DA 50 F1.8 standard lens is Fantastic plastic new from around 120 dollars

[kh1234567890]

The DA 16-45 you have is also well regarded but it duplicates the 18-55 in many ways, without adding a lot. It is slightly faster and slightly wider but not sure that is enough to have both 18-55 and 16-45.

Hmm. I have both the DA18-55WR and the DA16-45. I find that the extra 2mm on the wide end makes a lot of difference, my DA16-45 is also a fair bit sharper. But it is not WR and the build is a bit more fragile than the DA18-55WR. Otherwise it is definitely a step up from the kit lens.

Flickriver: kh1234567890's photos tagged with smcpda1645mmf40edal
Flickriver: kh1234567890's photos tagged with smcpda1855mmf3556alwr

[bob5050]

One thing to add to hcc's excellent response.
In addition to pondering your own character as a photographer by reviewing your photos, consider carefully the shots that aren't there because you couldn't get the shot.
The question for me is never what type of lens I need next because lenses are tools--not ends in themselves. The question rather is what specific kind(s) of shooting issues I'm trying to solve, and whether a different lens is the most likely way to solve it. You could say that buying a lens is like scratching an itch--what to get depends on where the itch is. If you don't have a specific, localizable itch, don't come up with the scratch <g>.
bobD

[AquaDome]

First, get all of the DA Limiteds. Then get the DA*50-135, followed by the DA*16-50. If you need longer than 135mm, the DFA150-450 is very nice, but heavy. If you need wider, the DA10-17 Fisheye is my pick. If you're on a budget, the Plastic Fantastic Duo, DA35/2.4 and DA50/1.8 are a great introduction to prime lenses. Also budget-friendly are the Sigma 10-20/4-5.6 and Sigma 17-50/2.8. They aren't as magical as the Pentax DA* zooms, but they are excellent optically.

[ramseybuckeye]

I recently bought my Pentax K-50 camera with kit 18-55mm lens. This is my first Pentax camera ever and i love it. As everyone elase (i guess) i started to search for lenses that are in my budget. I found on ebay few of them at really god price: Pentax SMC 50mm f/1.7, Vivitar 28mm f/2.8 and Tokina AF 100-300mm and Pentax DA 16-45mm f/4.
Any sugestions for some other lens? allround? landscape? for weddings?

Congratulation on getting the K-50. You've gotten a lot of good suggestions already, one thing you'll find on this forum is that everybody loves to help you spend your money, LOL. Really everybody here is helpful and there are a lot of ways to go about this, and they all have merit. I like to shoot a lot of nature and landscapes, but I like street shooting too, just don't get to do as much of it. I assume your 18-55 is a WR version so keep it, it won't sell for much anyway and you should have at least one WR lens. My two most used zooms are the DA 18-135 WR and the Sigma 17-50 2.8. The 18-135 has a great range and is my go to bad weather lens. The 18-50 is fast and has a little better IQ. There are two older zooms I can recommend too, that you can fond cheap. One is the Pentax FA/Tamron AF/Promaster 28-105mm 1:4-5.6 (IF)and the other is the Pentax-F 35-70 F3.5-4.5. The 28-105 is actually a Tameon but can be found as a Pentax or Promaster too. It's a relatively sharp lens with a nice range, I used it quite a lot before getting the 18-135. The 35-70 is a nice lens with a pretty short zoom range, it has a nice "macro" feature that actually lets it focus very close at 70mm. It's nice and compact, a nice street lens if the 35mm end is wide enough. I wonder how it performs on the K-1. Of course all of theses autofocus zooms can be used for landscapes or street shooting. Then there are also primes which generally will give you better IQ. I have a 15mm, 28mm, 35mm, and 50mm prime and they all have there own strength. The HD DA 15 produces great colors and is outstanding lens, the ultrawide view doesn't work for everything, but when it does it can give awesome results. I have a manual focus Cosmicar-A 28mm 2.8 lens. You can find many 28/2.8 lens for good prices under a lot of manufacturers. If you get one try to get one with the "A" setting on the aperture ring, that will make things a lot easier. MF primes are great for landscape shooting with a tripod, you can use focus peaking and a wireless remote and nail the focus every time. I have a DA 35/2.4, which is a nice compact prime that is real sharp and pretty fast. Nice for streets and landscapes. I have two old 50s, a Pentax-A 1.7 and Pentax-F 50/1.7, both are fine lenses that can be obtained pretty cheaply. But I think the DA50/1.8 is probably just as good and pretty cheap for a new lens. Theses are lenses that I have and can recommend, there's others that may be better, but I have these and know them. I had a DA 55-300 (it's still in the family) which produced some excellent landscapes. It's got to be that much better with WR and PLM fast focusing.

Some points to remember, manual focus is easy and accurate with focus peaking while using a tripod. landscape lenses don't need to be fast if you are using a tripod. You can shoot landscapes with any focal length, in fact shooting the same place with different focal lengths can really be interesting. Don't worry about what lenses you don't have, have fun with what you do have.

[GUB]

Easy - the Pentax SMC 50mm f/1.7. It will be cheap as chips for starters. It will have image quality that can stand up to modern lens. Being a prime lens it will bring its own discipline and let you know whether this is a path to go down. It is proficient as a portrait lens , landscape lens and budding macro lens. Being basically manual everything it will challenge you to operate and teach you heaps and perhaps show you this is a path forward in your evolution of photography. All for little cost..

[automorphism]

There are few lenses that I think are really great and low-budget at the same time, but the SMC-A 50mm f/1.7 was my second lens and still one of my favourite, and one of the sharpest.