Originally posted by PenPusher 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.
Comes down to your choice and mood no?
APSC = DA*16-50 + DA*50-135 & say a 100Macro to cover vast majority of photo opportunities (hail, rain, shine
)
Or as you say, go lighter with a set of 3 DA Limited's (15, 35, 70)
FF, you can now go 21, 43, 77 or 21, 50, 100 or 21, 50, 70-200 (hail, rain & shine setup).
Ne plus ultra for absolute quality = DFA*50 + 70-200, Ne plus ultra for images with character = FA31, 43 & 77, Ne plus ultra for getting close the (D)FA50/2.8 & 100/2.8, take a K-1 series and K-3 series along with the TC1. 4 and melt your brain with the potential close up focal opportunities
If you forced me to 1 lens for a week, month, year - I'd probably select my FA50/2.8 Macro with the DFA*70-200 coming in 2nd place.