[LonelyStar]

Hi.

I'm looking for a wide angle lens for landscape and stars photography. I see that there are many options, ¿Could you recommend one?. My budget is 400 $.
The lens I currently use is Pentax smc DA 50mm f/1.8

thanks.

Hi.

I'm looking for a wide angle lens for landscape and stars photography. I see that there are many options, ¿Could you recommend one?. My budget is 400 $.
The lens I currently use is Pentax smc DA 50mm f/1.8

thanks.

Perhaps the Pentax SMC DA 50mm F1.8's Big Brother: the Pentax SMC DA 35mm F2.4? For the money it is outstanding. As a lens it is outstanding too! It is one of two sharpest lenses I own, the other one is the DA* 55mm F1.4. The 35mm gives very detailed results and it is light. Never mind the "plastic" mount, when you attach it, you will notice just like the 50mm you own it is a very smooth mount not likely to damage the camera mount. And the optics are excellent.

[Adam]

Hi.

I'm looking for a wide angle lens for landscape and stars photography. I see that there are many options, ¿Could you recommend one?. My budget is 400 $.
The lens I currently use is Pentax smc DA 50mm f/1.8

thanks.

You may want to explore our lens search tool, which covers all Pentax lenses as well as recent third-party lenses:
Pentax Lens Search | PentaxForums.com

My go-to recommendation is generally the DA 15mm, which will give you phenomenal image quality is currently priced below your budget. That said, it is a bit slow, so if you're looking for something faster that's still affordable, then check out third-party manual focus primes around that range, such as the Samyang 14mm F2.8 or the 16mm F2.

You could also go for a zoom lens such as a 17-50mm F2.8 or the 12-24mm F4.

[NoCo Pentaxian]

Having owned a couple in this category, let me tell you about the variables that affected me the most: speed and auto-focus. In your budget - and honestly, that's where my budget has been, too -- I have had the Sigma 10-20 mm F 4-5.6, which is a fun autofocus lens for daytime use not only for landscape but for capturing fun wide images in the city. For stars, though, speed is important to me, and the Sigma is slow. So I've had the 24mm F 1.4 from Samyang, which is a manual focus. Love it for astro and landscapes when I'm using a tripod. As a walk-around lens, not so much. I dabbled with a Sigma 30mm F1.4 autofocus purchased from a forum member, but it just wasn't wide enough or fast enough in its autofocus for my tastes. I think when you start looking for that lens that does both autofocus and speed, the cost goes beyond the listed budget. If I had to have only one, I'd choose the wide, fast manual focus, and recognize its limitations and keep the other lens on the camera for walking around. Hope this helps.

[myrdinn]

Hi.

I'm looking for a wide angle lens for landscape and stars photography. I see that there are many options, ¿Could you recommend one?. My budget is 400 $.
The lens I currently use is Pentax smc DA 50mm f/1.8

thanks.

Ik think the dffrence between the 50mm lens that you already own, and a 35 mm lens is not big enough. Once I had both together and it was disappointing.
I should go a wider lens. The Sigma 10-20 mm is really great: sharp photos, nice colours; At least as long as you use it on a aps-c, it is my favourite lens. But on the K1 the results with the Sigma are disappointing. Then the cheapest version of the Irix 15 mm is an alternatieve then. You can it find for around 400. It's a bulky lens, I know, But anyway. It is sharp, nice colours, not to much distortion. It is a manual focus lens but with such a wide angle lens that doesn't matter. The sharness depth of field is big enough.

[ChatMechant]

On apsc if you don't want the 15mm Ltd there's the DA14/2.8 which is very good as you said for landscape and astro.

[aslyfox]

. . .
I should go a wider lens. The Sigma 10-20 mm is really great: sharp photos, nice colours; At least as long as you use it on a aps-c, it is my favourite lens. . . .

another vote for the Sigma

Description:
This is a super-wide angle lens with a relatively bright F3.5 maximum aperture throughout its zoom range. The lens is in particular suitable for indoor shooting and landscapes. The image format is APS-C and it has a wide angle diagonal viewing range of 102.4-63.8°. The lens has a built-in HSM autofocus motor and offers no provision for screw-drive autofocus.

The lens incorporates an inner focusing system and is constructed with two ELD (Extraordinary Low Dispersion) glass elements and an SLD (Special Low Dispersion) glass element. Further more it has four aspherical lens elements to help correct for distortions.
The minimum focusing distance is 9.4" (24cm) throughout the entire zoom range, which yields a maximum magnification ratio of 1:6.6.
Judging from the field of view specified by Sigma this lens is closer to being a 12-23mm lens than being a true 10-20mm lens. . . .

Read more at: Sigma 10-20mm F3.5 EX DC HSM Lens Reviews - Sigma Lenses - Pentax Lens Review Database

Sigma 10-20mm F3.5 vs F4.0-5.6
Introduction
Have you ever wished for a do-over on a project? Sometimes you finish up a project and realize that maybe you should have done something a little different. Well, this one of those situations. After completing the comparative review of the Pentax 12-24mm, Sigma 12-24mm, and the Tamron 10-24mm, a lot of forum members said that we should have selected the Sigma 10-20mm, instead of the Sigma 12-24mm. Well you can’t rewrite history, but you can to listen to your forum members. We listened!

In this comparative review, we will take a detailed look at the two Sigma 10-20mm lenses that are currently available. The Sigma lenses are considered ultra-wide angle lenses. A wide-angle lens, by definition, has a focal length shorter than the long side of the camera sensor. The APS-C sensor, used in all Pentax DSLR’s, is approximately 24 mm x 16 mm. This means that any lens with a focal length between 24mm and 16mm is considered wide angle. An ultra-wide angle lens has a focal length less than the short side of the camera sensor. All ultra-wide angle lenses provide the photographer a wider view, with some distortion, which is the appeal of the ultra-wide angle lens. . . .

Read more at: Sigma 10-20mm F3.5 vs F4.0-5.6 Review - Introduction | PentaxForums.com Reviews

[mikesbike]

Hi.

I'm looking for a wide angle lens for landscape and stars photography. I see that there are many options, ¿Could you recommend one?. My budget is 400 $.
The lens I currently use is Pentax smc DA 50mm f/1.8

thanks.

Where are you located? Texas? Your budget looks to be stated in USD. 35mm is not wide angle at all on APS-C. I just checked and noticed B&H has a great price on the Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 EX DC HSM that is well within your budget. I have had the excellent Pentax DA 12-24mm f/4 for more than 10 years, a very well-performing lens, but due to this exceptional deal, not long ago I bought this Sigma as well, and have found it to be a terrific ultra-wide choice. I've been using it mainly on my KP, occasionally on my K-5 IIs.

About 1/2 stop faster than my Pentax 12-24mm and its 10mm setting can deliver phenomenal wide angle shots with APS-C bodies. It also sports silent AF and no exterior part of its body moves during AF, and with minimal change of length during zoom, balance remains the same and stable. It features a very handy AF/MF control located near your thumb during holding. It is very well built and very well engineered. I highly recommended it, and the price for what you get can't be beat.

I don't agree with the rating in the link supplied above. I consider this Sigma lens to be at least the equal of the Pentax 12-24mm in sharpness. In fact, in lab tests by OpticalLimits, the Sigma lens actually surpassed the fine Pentax lens in sharpness except for just in the corners at 10mm, while the edge of frame sharpness tested fine. Far corners performance is not generally considered all that important in an ultra-wide shot, and not to forget- the Pentax lens does not even have a 10mm ultra-wide setting. The Pentax lens also exhibits far more CA issues. OpticalLimits sometimes makes too much of a very minor matter, of practically no real importance.

My finding is also that the Sigma at 10mm is VERY noticeably wider-angle than the Pentax is at its 12mm widest setting. I just checked both in the KP for an indoor room comparison. When getting down to such short focal lengths, only 2 mm makes a lot more difference than at FL's not as short. This evidently confirms the Sigma is indeed a 10-20mm lens, NOT mis-stated by Sigma and really 12-23mm as the above-supplied link indicates.

And welcome to the forum!

[Aaron28]

what body are you using?

full frame I would recommend the FA35 as it is great all around.....

on crop the 21ltd is purdy nice...…

you have nice budget to work with.....there are several other options bower/Samyang 14/f2.8.....just about any 28mm

good luck and happy shooting!

[aslyfox]

what body are you using?. . . !

His profile indicates a K 70

[splash_fr]

Howdy.

For landscapes and stars you don't need autofocus, for stars you do not want any coma.
Therefore I would recommend any of the manual Samyang lenses.

On m K3 I used the 16/2, now on my K1 I use the 20/1.8

Rgds,
Gerd.

[Wasp]

I haven't done much astro but I like my Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5. Another one that I have used with some success is the Samyang 8mm f/2.8 fisheye.

[house]

Howdy.

For landscapes and stars you don't need autofocus, for stars you do not want any coma.
Therefore I would recommend any of the manual Samyang lenses.

On m K3 I used the 16/2, now on my K1 I use the 20/1.8

Rgds,
Gerd.

Hi Gerd. What's your view of the Samyang? The 20 seems to be one of the less common Samyang lenses and I've read some reviews suggesting corner performance isn't as good as other Samyangs. Thing is I don't know if they compare to the 135mm or the 14mm . Not alot of info on this lens available.

[LonelyStar]

what body are you using?

full frame I would recommend the FA35 as it is great all around.....

on crop the 21ltd is purdy nice...…

you have nice budget to work with.....there are several other options bower/Samyang 14/f2.8.....just about any 28mm

good luck and happy shooting!

Hi.

The body of my dslr is Pentax K-70

[bertwert]

I couldn't necessarily recommend it for star photos - as I haven't done any with it myself, but if the field of view is roughly what you're looking for, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the 21 Limited for landscapes. It makes quite a nice compact package on the body too, and is quite good as a walk around/street lens if you're into that. A picture speaks a thousand words (so they say), so here's a few shots with it on my K-50...