[hadi]

im in a weird situation right now, and could use some advice.
i love traveling (who doesn't), and i want to travel more extensively with my lenses and camera.
here is my current kit:
body: pentax k1
lenses:
1) rokinon 14mm 2.8
2) pentax 24-70mm 2.8
3) pentax 50mm 1.4
4) tamron 70-200mm 2.8
5) rokinon 85mm 1.4
6) pentax 100mm 2.8
7) pentax 18-135 (i rather keep this behind as its too slow for my liking)

in my last trip to scotland and ireland, i took the 24-70mm and the 14mm along with the 50mm. the weight of the 24-70 was heavy, especially for hiking back and forth quiet a lot. though the 24mm was great for landscape and 70 was great for portraits.
my goto lens is usually the 70-200, but that thing weighs a lot and takes up too much room in my camera bag. the 85 is my goto for studio, but i HATE it wide open as its super soft/blury and not really usable. in outdoor situations, i dont have enough time to focus manually all the time.

i love the 100mm and 50mm due to their size. the 100 gives me more of a piece of mind as its WR as well. plus, image quality is superb there.

so i got to thinking, is it foolish of me to want smaller prime lenses? ie, buy a 77mm 1.8 as my portrait, buy a 31mm or something wider/smaller for landscape, and keep my 50mm and/or 100mm with me?

reason why i ask is i'm planning on doing a 1 year travel plan that will take me into the cold environment of Tibet, the deserts of Mongolia, Jordan, Uzbekistan and Sahara, the waters of thailand/vietnam/cambodia/bangladesh area and i will be greeted with lots of landscape stuff and lots of portraits situations.

alternatively speaking, i can just take my 24-70mm with me and a 50mm as a backup? will save me money. but the 24-70 is just a heavy beast and doesn't help with the k1 being heavy too.

and as much as i know the pentax 85mm will be a brilliant lens, it will be heavy and big, thus useless for my trip.

what would you suggest?

[D1N0]

Take the DA 35mm F2.4 as a prime next to the 50mm 1.4. It is light, cheap, sharp and covers the full frame image circle and being a 35 it is great for street and reportage but will also do landscapes well.
The DA 18-135 is not a full frame lens. I would recommend the D FA 28-105 F3.5-5.6 It is great for landscapes and you can take portraits if necessary. The FA 77mm F1.8 would be a very good option as a dedicated portrait lens. You could also get the more affordable DA 70mm F2.4, which also covers full frame and is very compact and light.

The 35+50+70+28-105 would weigh 913 grams together. +1010 for the K-1 keeps it under 2 kg. If you need something wider for Landscape you could consider to also take the Pentax-m 20mm F4 Very small and just 150 grams.

[jatrax]

Just get the DFA 28-105. Take whatever primes you need to supplement that and have fun. I have and really like the DFA 24-70 but for travel and hiking I use the 28-105 and the 24-70 is not used nearly as much as I thought it would. I would probably take the 14mm and the 50mm as they have characteristics not covered by the 28-105 but that would be a fairly light kit for travel.

[aleonx3]

I agree with Jatrax, just take the DFA 28-105 plus a couple of small primes. For me I would take the FA43 or FA77 or FA31.

[ChatMechant]

The 28-105 is great for travel. If you want just primes I would take a 31 and the 100, or if you're into portraits 31/77 is a great duo. On my recent travel to India I brought the M-20 along but ended up cropping all my shots with it. I used the 28-105 85% of the time and the 31 was nice for low light. YMMV of course as I was just doing lazy vacation snapshots mostly.

[robgski]

What kind of shooter are you? Do you move along at a pace, taking in whatever you see near or far?, take the DFA 28-105.
Are you more of a slow shooter, taking time to survey a scene and move close or stand back to compose the shot, change lenses, maybe do some portraits? take a wide angle prime, and one other medium prime, and to my mind there is no better prime for the K-1 than the FA-77.
FWIW, I find the Da 40mm xs to work very well on the K-1 in FF mode, and it is so compact and light that it makes a DSLR handle like a point and shoot. It is a wonder of a lens, IMO.

[UncleVanya]

Why do you feel the 18-135 is too slow? Is that based on K-1 use or previous cropped camera use?

I ask because higher ISO on the K-1 seems to be fabulous from the shots I am seeing others take. But assuming it doesn't agree with your desired properties then the 28-105 isn't likely better for your needs.

The environments you mention seem wet windy and dusty (some perhaps all at once lol). The peace of mind a weather sealed lens gives seems important but you may not be worried. In weather sealed primes, I think the 100 WR is the only choice.

I have traveled with the Panasonic LX-7 when space and weight were key considerations and found it acceptable. However I've also traveled with the apsc and m43 systems. So I get your problem.

As I see it the options are:
1) carry the load: Take the 24-70, and perhaps the 100 macro and a small prime like a 40mm just for those times you want to pack lighter.

2) deal with slow: buy a 28-105, take a manual focus wide angle like a 20-24mm.

3) prime yourself:
Buy the FA 31 OR FA 35 F2 (Much smaller than the 31) and an FA 77. Toss in an HD DA 1.4 Teleconverter and maybe a really wide manual focus prime like a 20mm.

The FA 35 is a nice walk about lens and inexpensive compared to the FA 31. I have tried it and the 31 and the DA 35 f2.4 and while the 31 is nicer but the FA 35 is the next best thing.

[Saltwater Images]

I don't have a K1. APS-C shooter here. When travelling light the HD DA 21 Limited is my go-to glass. I can travel with just this one lens and be satisfied. With the crop factor in mind it would be similar to the FA 31 Limited on a K-1.

[UncleVanya]

I don't have a K1. APS-C shooter here. When travelling light the HD DA 21 Limited is my go-to glass. I can travel with just this one lens and be satisfied. With the crop factor in mind it would be similar to the FA 31 Limited on a K-1.

A whole lot of film rangefinders were built on that very model. Many many fast 35mm & 40mm rangefinders were used over the years by travel photogs. I can't fault that approach. I suggested the FA 35 f/2 for that very reason.

[clackers]

I'm sure you'll figure it out, Hadi.

Without buying another lens, you could take the Samyang 14mm, FA50 and FA135. The 14 is actually small compared to say, the Irix 15mm.

Pinholecam has done cycle touring with the K-1, M20, FA31 and FA77, for instance.

Another forum member travelled several continents with the K-1, DA12-24, DFA28-105 and I think the DFA50 Macro.

[JensE]

Where you're going, I'd still want to build my kit around a WR zoom in order to avoid too frequent lens changes, rather than (non-WR) primes. Dust or sand are especially critical, so an internal AW zoom would be even better, just not available. And if you don't have time to focus manually, you'll have even less to change lenses. The 28-105mm is about the only other viable match to the K-1 apart from the 24-70mm.. And an excellent one for travel. I use mine for portraits when travelling light, maybe check you portraits with the 24-70mm for actually used f-stops, the 28-105mm shows f/4.5 at 70mm.

On the long end you can't beat physics and have to sacrifice something: light weight, reach or brightness. Primes don't help much here: Your Tamron is already the optimum if the last two are a must, any combination of even the smallish DA*200mm with another 2.8 prime will be heavier. For my (rare) use, I just pack an A200mm f/4, or the DA55-300WR slightly cropped when I need restrict weight. If I had a decent TC, I'd likely bring that plus the DFA 100mm WR to have a macro option.

At the wide end, your 24-70mm (74° horizontal) covers a lot more than the 28-100mm (65° horizontal), so you'll need more, or more flexibility, with the later. I get along fine with the really small 20mm/3.5 Voigtländer as my widest rectangular option, an FA20mm 2.8 would be even brighter and still very compact and lightweight. I do often add the 12mm Samyang fish-eye to my hiking kit (same size as the 14mm), but that's jut my love for F-E shots.

I conclusion, I'd recommend to still keep the 24-70mm, add one of the tiny 20mm FF primes, and maybe the DA100WR and an AF-TC. Covers landscape, portrait, details, mostly WR. A 35mm weighs next to nothing (DA35mm) or very little (FA35mm) and would give you something discrete in the street.

[cdurfor]

Just finished a 3 week trip to Japan with my K1. 95% of my images were taken with: 1) UWA (8mm), 2) FA31mm or 3) FA77mm.

What else do you need (or want?)...

[bassek]

Would you consider the F35-70? It was my only zoom in Bali last week, because it's a small lens.
Anyway, it did not see that much action on my K30. I used the HD DA21 mostly.

Seb

[hadi]

The issue i have with the 18-135 is that it only works for me in day light or well lit situations. Since i wont be carrying my lighting equipment, i really wont be able to use it much in low light situations. Even if i boost iso, slow the shutter, its still not usable much. Plus, lack of DOP at 5.6 doesnt really work for me. Same issue ill have with the 28-105.

I usually shoot wide open for portrsits. Unless im using my lighting equipment, then i shoot around f8-11ish range.

I wont really have an issue with changing lenses vs using a manual lens and focus as i can always zoom in with my feet and compose accordingly. Though if its manual, im focusing with my feet, then holding my breath, focusing, using live view, then chimping and praying its in focus, and realizing its not and taking another shot and repeating. If im doing portraits, i dont want to waste the time of those who i am working with. Especially if i have languge or culture barrier.

The pros for the 24-70 are that its very versatile. Its great in low light. I already have a big nd filter for with which i use extensively for landscape and cloud trails. The cons to it are that its a heavy beast. I could take that with me, as it will give me landscape, environmental portraits, and portraits all in one.

But with primes, i could always blend images together to stich a larger shot.


Another option im toying with is to getting a sony a7ii as a backup to my k1. But on my trip, take that with me as it is smaller, lighter, and i can use almost any lens on it. Though the WR option is not available on it. So its a trade off...


I wont do the 1 year travel till at least 2019. So i still have plenty of time.

[aslyfox]

. . .

Another option im toying with is to getting a sony a7ii as a backup to my k1. But on my trip, take that with me as it is smaller, lighter, and i can use almost any lens on it. Though the WR option is not available on it. So its a trade off...


I wont do the 1 year travel till at least 2019. So i still have plenty of time.

you are planning ahead that is good

do your research, make selections, keep your eye open for deals from marketers as well as check out the Market Place here at the forum


does the Sony accept Pentax lenses???