[tvdtvdtvd]

FA77
DA15
SMCA 50/2.8 Macro
Vivitar 90/2.5 Macro
SMCK 28/3.5

Those five have been the most persistently used over the past year. The Vivitar is curious addition to my current staple. I hadn't used it
for a long time but my current macro work has brought it ought from the stable. Still a stellar performer.

By the way.... how many lenses do you have to own to have 15 favorites?

At least one more than 14.

[Sir Nameless]

At least one more than 14.

That’s a good, practical answer.

[kiwi_jono]

Well my current favorite lenses are not necessarily the best as compact size is important to me. For FF:
1. FA 31 f1.8 Limited (awesome and relatively compact)
2. FA 43 f1.9 Limited (awesome and very compact)
3. DFA 28 - 105 (very good, WR and relatively compact)
4. Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 APO DG Macro (light weight, relatively compact, and very decent performance)
5. FA 77 f1.8 Limited (awesome, compact, but not used as often as my other lenses because I shoot mostly landscapes)

The glaring hole (especially given I shoot mostly landscapes) is a favorite lens wider than 28mm. This is because I don't really have an ideal fit (compact, wide enough, good IQ and relatively affordable) for me but on often carrying one of:
* Pentax K 17mm f4 fisheye (carry it quite a bit as its so small - and sometimes use then defish)
* Sigma EX 20mm DG f1.8 (a bit on the bulky and heavy side for me but still carry it quite often - IQ can be good if focused correctly)
* Cosinon 24mm f2.8 (small and compact but only "Ok" all round performance)

[ChristianRock]

I don't have the more expensive Pentax lenses obviously, and I'm only using APS-C. So in case anyone's interested, here's the ones I use the most...

SMC Pentax K 50mm f/1.2 - what a 50mm lens should be. Not that others aren't good and I'd be happy with pretty much any of the 50s I own. But this is just a delight to use, a delight to focus with, a delight to use the aperture ring, and a delight to see the pictures afterwards. Sometimes I can see some real magic coming from it...

Sigma 30mm f/1.4 - a great sharp lens that is optically as good as the best lenses... from the 70s-90s. Yes there's some PF wide open and it can get bad depending on the light, but that means - to me - that the lens isn't over-corrected and the bokeh is simply awesome.

SMC DA 16-45mm f4 - lots of people rave about their 24-70mm lenses on full frame yet complain the 16-45mm is just waaaay too short. I never understood that... Well, the short range is good for the optics and the 3x range is awesome. The pictures just have a great quality to them and it's the perfect one lens solution for me.

SMC M 200mm f4 - I'm surprised to put this here but the pictures I take with it are just nicer to look at than the ones I get from my other lenses in that range... even my SMC A 70-210mm f4 which has been my standard tele up to now. It's not a sharpness monster but I'm much more after how a lens renders and how the final pictures look and the colors and look of the pictures just look great to me. Even wide open where it's a bit soft the portraits look just beautiful with it.

For the 5th slot... between the Rikenon P 50mm f/1.4 and the SMC M 100mm f/2.8 I think I'll have to pick the 100mm lens just because I already picked another 50mm... but both lenses are incredible in the way they are sharp and render pictures nicely.

(see how I snuck 6 lenses in there while still making a top 5 list? ...)

[virusn3t]

I will say:

1.- DFA* 50mm: Bright, fast, sharp, Cons: Expensive, bulky
2.- DFA*70-200: Sharp, and same as 50, amazing image Cons: Heavy and Expensive

Those only two lenses are for me the best lenses and i could live with only those two

3.- FA77LTD: Small, bright, lots of pixie dust Cons: DFA50 have me spoiled here, i feel every lens like a slug on focusing matter, and no WR
4.- FA31LTD: Small, bright, pixie dust as same as 77ltd: Cons: Not WR, at 30mm is relatively fast with focus, maybe noise but its being picky
5.- DFA24-70 As good as it is, this lens dont have the same pixie dust as the other lenses, maybe im not "feeling it", maybe i just prefer prime lenses (notable exception the 70-200 is a stack of primes), i use it as a walkaround lens. Cons: for its size, and weight is lacking pixie dust

Dont get me wrong, theyre all awesome lenses, but im in love with the K1+fat fifty or the 70-200, i also own the DFA100, DFA50macro, DFA15-30, DA11-17 fisheye, 43ltd, 28-105, zeiss 85mm, but hand down those two are my absolute favorites

[Wasp]

I currently have over 30 K mount lenses. I imagine some people on this forum have many more.

Lemme check. In K mount and M42 I have the following:

1. 8mm fisheye
2. 20mm
3. 24mm
4. 28mm
5. 50mm (five of)
6. 50mm macro
7. 85mm
8. 100mm
9. 135mm (two of)
10. 200mm (two of)
11. 300mm
12. 400mm
13. 10-20mm
14. 18-55mm
15. 28-80mm (two of)
16. 35-80mm (two of)
17. 70-300mm (two of)
18. 100-300mm (two of, but one is broken)
19. 1.4x converter
20. 2x converter (two of)

That makes 30 in working order - you win!

The primes are all MF and the zooms are all AF, by the way.

[luftfluss]

Hmmm...

SMC Pentax-A 400mm F5.6 Reviews - A Prime Lenses - Pentax Lens Reviews & Lens Database - Probably my favorite lens, ever. Good sharpness, wonderful handling. I have faster/longer/sharper telephotos, but none of those are as versatile and as enjoyable to use.




HD Pentax-DA 21mm F3.2 Limited Reviews - DA Prime Lenses - Pentax Lens Reviews & Lens Database - Such an exuberant little jewel, and 21mm on APS-C feels quite "normal" to me.





SMC Pentax-DA 40mm F2.8 Limited Reviews - DA Prime Lenses - Pentax Lens Reviews & Lens Database - Another tiny Pentax jewel. Great on the K-01. Great for cats.




SMC Pentax-F 35-70mm F3.5-4.5 Reviews - F Zoom Lenses - Pentax Lens Reviews & Lens Database - Cheap and cheerful, lightweight and fast-focusing. Decent focal range with a useful close-up mode. Works great on the K-01. Ideal for when you need to reach through brush and do some one-handed shooting.





Raynox DCR-150 Snap-On Macro Lens - very good quality, not too expensive, and so convenient. DCR-150 + Tamron Adaptall-2 SP 90mm f/2.5 (52B/52BB) Lens Reviews - Tamron Adaptall Lenses - Pentax Lens Review Database

[Gary H Perth]

I have way too many, and my list will vary from week to week, biased to recent acquisitions.

Today, my unranked list of 5 favorites is:
1. Sigma EX DG 105mm macro
2. Pentax F 35-70mm (Strongly agree with Luftluss on this one, it is sharp at all focal lengths, and all focus distances including macro, with classic Pentax colours)
3. HD DA 21mm (again I agree with Luftluss, and it is so easy to carry around) First three days and I was hooked!
4. Tamron Adaptall 28mm with PKA mount - so sharp and with great colours.
5. Pentax 55-300mm PLM, just because it is the tele zoom that gives me most keepers and the autofocus is always spot on!

The ones that miss out, as alternatives to each of the five above are:
1- Pentax DFA 50mm macro, because I bought it yesterday and have not really tested it yet. I can feel the love at first sight.
2- Sigma EX DG 24-60mm, because it is heavier and less of an everyday member of my pack
3- Vivitar 24mm f2.8 PKA mount, or DA15mm Limited, depending on which side of 21mm I want to be
4- Pentax M 28mm f3.5, just because Tarmron is PKA mount so saves me from the green button
5- Tamron Adaptall SP 60-300mm, probably the sharpest lens I have at 300mm and with a really sharp "macro", but it is heavy and manual focus

[richfam]

My five favorite lenses on APS-C (K-70, K-S1):

1. SMC Pentax F* 300mm f/4.5
My best – and most used – and most expensive lens. Its incredible image quality made it my favorite lens almost from the day I bought it in 1988.

2. Rokinon 85mm f/1.4
Excellent image quality at a bargain price, and kudos to Samyang/Rokinon for having both an "A" setting on the aperture ring and a focusing ring that turns in the same direction as official Pentax lenses.

3. SMC Pentax FA 35mm f/2
An all-around do-everything lens. Better build quality than the 35/2.4 at a fraction of the price of the 31/1.8 Ltd. What's not to like?

4. SMC Pentax DA 18mm-135mm f/3.5-f/5.6 Zoom
I'm not a zoom guy, but this is one that I really like. Its 7.5x zoom range is much more useful than the 2x or 3x that many zooms use, and while it suffers from the image quality limitations that all superzooms have, its image quality – especially in the center – is good enough.

5. SMC Pentax F 50mm f/1.7
I have several lenses that could have claimed this 5th spot, so this isn't a real strong recommendation. That said, the F 50 is a fine lens that works well.

[Gary H Perth]

My five favorite lenses on APS-C (K-70, K-S1):



5. SMC Pentax F 50mm f/1.7
I have several lenses that could have claimed this 5th spot, so this isn't a real strong recommendation. That said, the F 50 is a fine lens that works well.

I struggled a bit with the fact that my list does not have a 50mm, even though I own seven 50mm lenses and Pentax has a deserved reputation for really good prime fifties. I rationalised that they steal points from each other, since I could take the A50mm/f1.7 out one day and love the results, but next time I may grab the M50mm/f1.4 or a 50mm macro.

[Sandy Hancock]

His top fifteen is very focussed on price, which is fine.

For what it's worth, these are mine. Listed in order of decreasing angle of view on their native format rather than favouritism, as I'd hate to offend any of them

HD Pentax-DA 10-17mm f/3.5-4.5 - versatile, fun, and now more than useful on Full Frame.
Laowa 12mm f/2.8 Zero-D - as wide as it gets and remarkably well corrected.
HD Pentax-DA* 11-18mm f/2.8 - as good as the DFA15-30 and far more practical.
HD Pentax-DFA 28-105 f/3.5-5.6 - compact, cheap, and over-delivering.
SMC Pentax-DA 21mm f/3.2 Limited - a tiny jewel in the Pentax crown. I prefer it to the DA15.
SMC Pentax-FA 31 f/1.8 Limited - compact for what it can do. Epitomises what makes Pentax special.
Sigma 35mm f/1.4 Art - just a fantastic optic.
HD Pentax-DFA* 50 f/1.4 - the best lens I've used.
SMC Pentax-FA 77 f/1.8 Limited - see what I said about the FA31, and double it.
SMC Pentax-DFA 100mm f/2.8 Macro WR - the honorary DFA Limited
SMC Pentax-FA 135mm f/2.8 - the smallest, fastest and closest focussing of the 135's.
HD Pentax-DFA* 70-200 f/2.8 - THE pro zoom.
HD Pentax-DA 55-300mm f/4.5-6.3 PLM - THE consumer zoom.
SMC Pentax-DA* 300mm f/4.0 - gob-smacking IQ dressed up with DA* class.
DFA 150-450 f/4.5-5.6 - too good to be believed until you've used it.

Warming the bench are the SMC Pentax-DA 15mm f/4.0 Limited, SMC Pentax 28mm f/2.0 and the SMC Pentax-FA 43mm f/1.9 Limited.

[manishved]

Ff:
Fa 31
fa 77
dfa 70-200
dfa 24-70
dfa 150-450

645:
Dfa 28-45
fa 150-300

aps-c
da 40
da 50-135
da 16-50

[Snapppy]

My 5 favorite lenses by length:
S-M-C 17mm fisheye takumar - With a lot of light so you can stop it down so it gets sharp it produces nice images and once you figure out how to use the distortion is is fun to play with
SMC A 50mm f/1.2 - This lens made me fall in love with 50s again even on crop sensors with how it renders texture even though I didn't like any of my other 50s on crop sensors. Even wide open it is fun with the softness and in hard lighting conditions the glowyness so why not own those aspects is such situations. When stopped down it has a rendering similar to the 77ltd.
SMC 77mm ltd - got it because initially I didn't have anything between 55 and 135 and figured why not get it instead of an 85mm. Again I like how it renders texture but the colors are also really nice and does give that nice subject/background separation for that 3D effect.
Sigma 300mm f/4 APO Macro - I used this lens for a long time as my goto deep sky object (DSO) astrophotography. It is sharp and has very low distortion plus doesn't fringe or halo. Add in that it is close focusing so it give a 1:3 macro and I still like it for flower closeups. I will often have it on my camera while walking through the forest.
SMC A* 400mm F/2.8 - If you have a need for a long lens at this length and the huge slab of glass in front will do more good than harm you can't go wrong. Here is a shot I took with this lens at its worst wide open and still coming down in temperature in the most punishing type of photography that shows all of a lenses defects. Waiting for it to come to temperature and stopping down 2/3 of a stop and it is perfect. For chasing DSOs it is ideal for the big ones. Things like Andromeda will fill the frame and you can get nice framings of others as well.

Your first three on in my top five of "Try next, I think I'll love them" lenses

I'm starting to try out more deep space objects, so I'll research that Sigma you like, thanks.

My top five based on use really:

Pentax 18-135mm - I just think it's a great versatile lens for landscape, love the WR and size of it. If I went back to one lens for everything this is it (because that's what it was for a loooonnng while :P)

Rokinon 14mm - Like Lee mentioned, I also like this one. I've taken a lot of nice landscapes on it and milkyway shots. Very sharp.

Pentax FA43mm - On my K-1 it brings the size and weight down while being a really nice environmental portrait/documentary/travel lens. Really like the look that comes out of it.

These next two are not as sure as my top three are, but they make it on the list for now at least:

Samyang 135mm f2 - One of the most impressive optics I've ever used. Super sharp. Beautiful for portraits/pano's/astro. Just not sold on the length for portraits, as I don't take much formal portraits of my family (sit here, wear this) but rather in the moment, which wider angle works better for me. Still really nice images though.

And then I do take a lot with my cheapo nifty fifties. I have a have the M 2 and 1.7 and a random sears 1.7, and honestly they just work great. Use them on film mostly.

[Sandy Hancock]

Oops! I just saw that we're after the top five, unlike the posted video. In that case:

DA*11-18
FA31 tied with the Sigma 35 Art
DFA*50
FA77
DFA150-450

[Cynog Ap Brychan]

Oops! I just saw that we're after the top five, unlike the posted video. In that case:

Top 15 is fine. Heck, top 50 would be great too