[Bob 256]

If you need to have a spreadsheet for your lenses - you don't have enough!

[turbo_bird]

I don't have as many lenses as a lot of people do, but I've got a few. Back in the early days of digital I took a lot of shots with my K10D and M28 f2.8. it was probably my favourite prime if I'd have to pick one, so now that I've got a K1, I almost think I should look for a 43 limited to get pretty much the same field of view as the 28mm on APSC. It seems I've turned into something of a zoom shooter though, and the lens that is most often on my K1 is an old F35-105.
Kristian

[biz-engineer]

This is a classic Goldilocks problem.

I searched "Goldilocks" in google , and it came up with Disney's definition of Goldilocks personality:

Goldilocks claims to be a "cute, adorable and innocent little girl"; in actuality she is very obnoxious, rude, and has little regard for people's personal belongings [think bank account] and homes [camera and lenses closet]. She is notorious for breaking into people's homes without permission [LBA..]. Contrary to the fairy tale, Goldilocks is manipulative and has no shame when it comes to playing on the people who are the kindest toward her [the nature of LBA again].

So yeah, lenses could easily be qualified as Goldilocks, as per Disney's definition.

[Wheatfield]

Gloomy with threatening rain so I came up with this bit of nonsense.

Considering only prime lenses made for the 35mm format, over the years Pentax has made, in Screw Mount, lenses with the following focal lengths:

15, 17, 18, 20, 24, 28, 35, 50, 55, 58, 83, 85, 100, 105, 120, 135, 150, 200, 300, 400, 500 and 1000mm, many available with different apertures and some also came in various body incarnations.

moving on now to those for the K mount we have:

15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 24, 28, 30, 31, 35, 40, 43, 50, 55, 70, 77, 85, 100, 120, 135, 150, 200, 300, 400, 560, 600, 1200 and 2000mm, again many come with an assortment of apertures, and in various incarnations.

I suppose somewhere out there in the vastness of the internet there might be a collector who has one of every lens Pentax has ever made, so which one does he/she put in their gadget bag for their afternoon walk and do they combine it with the appropriate camera for which it was made.

Perhaps we could narrow down the choice for APS-C with the DA21, 35 or 40 and 70mm which would make a nice lightweight set though there would have to be one or two extras for the specialist photographer.

For years most of us got by with the single 50/55mm lens that came with their camera, you could probably still do it if you really put your mind to it.

While I have every focal length from 15mm to 600mm, my go to lens is still the 50mm. It's what I used exclusively for the better part if a decade, so it is what I am most comfortable with.

Often though, I will take a lens at random and go off with just it. I find it to be a good exercise to force myself to see things as a particular focal length sees things.
It sort of expands the mind and all that.

[ramseybuckeye]

YouTube vlogger James Popsys talk about something similar. He suggested inventorying your best photos to determine a pattern of using particular focal lengths. Who knows, it might work and save money, time, and space

The "Exposure Plot" program searches through the directories you tell it to, and plots out results of all you focal lengths that you've used. But most of us who have used that have done so to BUY more lenses. I'm pretty happy with the lenses that I have, but that doesn't mean I might be happier with others that I don't have, it's only fair to try them when you can.

[gump]

The "Exposure Plot" program searches through the directories you tell it to, and plots out results of all you focal lengths that you've used. But most of us who have used that have done so to BUY more lenses. I'm pretty happy with the lenses that I have, but that doesn't mean I might be happier with others that I don't have, it's only fair to try them when you can.

Interesting. Seems I need an 85mm prime. Why does in say I have shot at ISO 75 and 25? Do I not understand the capabilities of the K-70 and KP?

[garywakeling]

I have to admit to having too many lenses, but this is my current afternoon walk kit when I try to limit myself

[wadge22]

I'm kind of starting to settle on 50, 150, and 300. These are the three I'm looking to bag with weather resistance (I'm 2/3 of the way there, and have a no w.r. 300 as a stand in for the other one). These are the three that I know I will always have with me on any vacation. On a car based vacation, I will also bring a wider than 50 option (currently 24) even though I won't use it much, and a supertelephoto setup (currently 300 with 1.4x and 2x, or 400 with 1.4x).
When I go for a hike, I generally only bring one with me, and that's the one for that day.

At one point, I thought I wanted a ton of mostly primes for just about every length, something like 14, 20, 24, 28, 31, 35, 43, 50, 50, 50, 58, 77, 85, 100, 135, 180, 200, 300, 300, 400, 600, 24-70, and 70-200. Now I think that's a bit too much, would be too big of an investment, too many totes in the closet, too many choices before going on vacation, too many lenses I don't really care about, etc.
I'd rather have a nice little selection that I'm very familiar with and can be very proud of each one.

[Sandy Hancock]

I have to admit to having too many lenses, but this is my current afternoon walk kit when I try to limit myself

I like your use of the word "limit"

I currently have the same items (without the battery grip mounted) in a small brown leather Ona shoulder bag. It makes a remarkably capable walk-around kit.

For the record, I currently have full frame (or nearly) K mount primes (including a handful of third party offerings) in these focal lengths:
12, 15, 20, 21, 24, 28, 30, 31, 32, 35, 40, 43, 50, 55, 64, 70, 77, 85, 100, 135, 200 and 300

I keep thinking I should sell some, but so far that hasn't been very successful

[ramseybuckeye]

Interesting. Seems I need an 85mm prime. Why does in say I have shot at ISO 75 and 25? Do I not understand the capabilities of the K-70 and KP?

LOL, That's impressive! Possibly you've shot got some photos without exif and it's usaing an average? I haven't use the program for a long time, it seems like there were some quirks.

[Paul the Sunman]

I'm not too fussed about filling in every focal length gap. That's what zooms and legs are for.

For FF I have 21, 35 (Sigma), 50 and 90 (Tamron), with 40 and 70 crop lenses also being useable. With the 15-30, 28-105, 70-200 and 150-450 zooms, I feel well covered. The DFA* 70-200 in particular is a bag-of-primes from my point of view. There is nothing else I covet, apart perhaps from the ~65-300 FF zoom on the roadmap.

[kypfer]

Of my "several" bodies, two have a 28mm fitted "as standard" and another a 30mm.
If I'm going for a stroll to "look for photographs" I'll often grab one of these … I do enjoy a bit of a challenge and I need the exercise
If I'm going for a stroll for another reason, walking my sister's dog or whatever, it'll usually be an 18-50mm or thereabouts or my 18-200mm, depending on where we're going.
Beyond that, I've my "bigma" for the jobs it's good at, a couple of macro lenses for the other extreme and a fairly comprehensive range of primes and zooms from 8mm to 800mm to cover most other circumstances
The rest of the 130+ are for "artistic license"!
Not too many … but probably nearly enough

[cowlitzJim]

Every brand has this. Micro43 has been out 10 years, but good luck counting the number of 42.5+45mm offerings.

[MikeStnly]

I have 29 lenses but generally carry the DA 15, FA 31 and FA 77 Limiteds and the DA* 300mm with the 1.4x TC. I figure it covers wide, normal, short telephoto and long telephoto. I can go to the DA 10-17mm fisheye if necessary and if I want to travel light and inconspicuous I have the 40mm pancake Limited. Guess I never really got into zooms. Using a K-3iii.

[UncleVanya]

My Pentax and third party focal lengths in K mount (many are apsc only)

Primes:
8, 14, 15, 21, 31, 35, 40, ((43 sold)), 50, 55, 70, 77, 100, 135, 200, 300