[roberts_camera]

I have some decent primes, the DA 35mm 2.4 (my favorite), the DA 50mm 1.8, and the Limited 15mm 4.0. I'm considering saving up to buy a real nice prime, maybe the Limited 31 or 55 1.4, but I'm wondering what your favorite lenses are. Not necessarily limited to the Pentax line.

I'm not necessarily looking for advice on what to choose, I just want to know what you all enjoy using and for what situations!

[dbs]

Hi Robert

My most used prime (s) are a F 135 / 2.8 and a smc DA 21 ,and the DA 10 - 17 fisheye zoom.

Dave

[ismaelg]

Hello,

I absolutely love and can't live without my M50 f1.7. Second will be my F50 f1.7 followed by my A50 f1.7
See a pattern here?

Thanks,

[kiwi_jono]

My current favourite is the FA31 f1.8 Limited - love the colours and rendering (yet still in a relatively compact package). However that said my most used prime at the moment is the FA 43 f1.8 Limited as its such a general purpose focal length for me on the K-1.
Runners up is a bit more difficult as I still have a soft spot for the FA35 f2 (slightly more useful focal length for me, very compact and performance not much worse than the FA31) and I now have a FA 77 f1.8 (its lovely, apart from some fringing, but don't use that focal length as often).

[Paul the Sunman]

On APS-C, the DA 15 Limited, with the DA 40 and DA 70 Limiteds also highly favoured. On full frame, the DFA* 50 f/1.4 and Sigma Art 35 f/1.4 are excellent, but the modern Pentax FF zooms are so good, I don't feel I am missing anything using them instead of primes (the DFA* 70-200 f/2.8 especially).

[ramseybuckeye]

I ranked all of my primes, but there's not much difference between 1 and 2.

1 HD Pentax DA 1:4 15mm ED AL Limited Silver, such great color, contrast, and good looking too.
2 Pentax SMCP-DA* 300mm f/4 ED (IF), amazingly sharp, but I wish it focused faster..
3 Pentax-F 1:1.7 50mm Lens, special rendering.
4 Tamron SP AF Di 90mm f2.8 macro 1:1 lens, I haven't used it that much yet, but very nice.
5 Sigma Macro 50mm 2.8, a 1:1 great performer, even though it's missing the zoom ring cover.
6 Pentax DA 35mm F2.4 AL Lens, super sharp, but an awkward length for me and just don't use it enough.

[Aaron28]

sears 135/f2.8 macro all time favorite.....but lately the fa35/f2

[tokyoscape]

It is very hard to say between SMC 21 and 55*

DA21 “SMC” is a very good walk around daytime and extremely good urban street and landscape by night. I would give this lens the #1 of all time for me if it is a WR lens.

DA*55: If a lens is too big too heavy, I might hesitate to take it out. That defeats the hold point of buying a good lens in the first place. The 55* size and weight are there. I just don’t like its flare control. Not a big problem if you don’t point it directly at the light.

[baro-nite]

Here's a recent and quite active thread along similar lines:

One K-Mount PRIME to rule them all 2019 - PentaxForums.com

[northcoastgreg]

HD DA 21 for APS-C:



DA* 300 for FF:

[selfnoise]

My current most used primes are the 35mm 2.8 Macro Limited and the 70mm 2.4 Limited. Both green-ring versions. The 35 because I find that focal length really versatile on a crop sensor (pentax KP), it's a very sharp lens with great contrast, and the macro function makes it even more flexible. The 70 because it's the perfect small but long lens to take pictures of my kids and family without feeling obtrusive.

In particular, I really think people sleep on the 70. It's such a fantastic and unique lens, and I really like the pleasingly neutral and flexible way it renders images. And when have you ever seen a lens that long in focal length but tiny in size? It's wonderful.

I also use the 15 Limited but I don't think I need to add to that particular fanclub.

Here's two very different examples of the different shots you can get with the 35mm:







And here's a shot with the 70. This shot demonstrates one of the things I really like about the 70mm: calm, smooth bokeh that doesn't call attention to itself.

[DWS1]

Without a doubt for me it's the DA* 300mm. Amazingly sharp.

[pres589]

On crop, aside from the DA 15, a good 28mm can be very nice, like the old Sigma 28 f1.8. Nice normal field of view, nice rendering, not small or light though.

[blackcloudbrew]

The short answer for me is...the one I'm currently using. However, lately it's a toss up between the DFA*50 f1.4 and the Venus Optics Laowa 12mm f2.8.

[ChristianRock]

Probably the Sigma 30mm f1.4 Art.

Though the SMC-M 50 1.7 does have some magic to it... And so does the SMC-M 28mm f3.5.

Edit: just after I said that, I had to turn to an old favorite, my Rikenon 50 1.4 (P version, optically different from XR version, which I also own).
I can't really leave it out... but I think if I can have just one, it has to be the Sigma.