[Lowell Goudge]

You need to consider also the lens speed in my opinion

I have posted many many times now how to design your lens setup but will do so again least someone forget.

You need to consider, assuming a general interest in photography, how to cover allt he way from 10mm to 200mm, with (again my opinion) a large portion of this at F2.8.

For me, anf given the quality of today's zooms the basis for your line up should be 3-4 zooms to cover this range.

My own zoom line up is

sigma APO 10-20mm EX DC F4-5.6
Pentax FA-J 18-35mm F4-f5.6
Tamron XR Di 28-75 F2.8
Sigma APO 70-200 EX F2.8

Plus sigma 1.4x and 2X TC's for extra reach as I do shoot a lot of wild life.

Every one except the 10-20mm is a full frame lens as I still use also a PZ-1 from time to time

If wildlife is not your thing, and also if you are purely digital and full frame is not a necessity, you can perhaps cut the maximum focal length to 135/150 and go for a 3 zoom basic kit. i.e.
10-20 or 12-24 or 10-17 fisheye for the wide end
16-50mm F2.8 for nid range
50-135/150 for the tele

This will also cut your weightfor the lenses considerably.

THis gives a base kit, of good quality and relitively fast zooms. Then for specialty work you can go out and get primes, a macro (I prefer 100mm for working distance from subject) and FAST primes All of my primes, (manual focus ones) are faster than or as fast as my zooms. I like manual focus primes as I like low light photography, where AF is slow at best and MF is just as easy.

In my opinion, the all in one super zooms are not fast enough for my needs, and I would rather deal with multiple lenses than the loss of 1-2 F stops over the bulk of the range.

[wlachan]

If you really wish to have it simple and practical, selling all your lenses which are overlapping each other, buy the DA*16-50/2.8 + DA*50-135/2.8 and be happy. Now the problem is to seek for the perfect samples, then pray the SDM wouldn't die on you. I have gone through the same process when choosing the 40D kit which I made sure nothing got unused. I ended up with 3 zooms (10-22/3.5-4.5, 17-55/2.8 IS, 70-200/4L IS) and none are overlapping each other practically.

[soccerjoe5]

Like some people said here: it depends

For a lot of situations I just use the DA21. Sometimes I keep both the DA21 and DA40/DA35. Sometimes I just use the DA40/DA35. Sometimes I need my 16-50. Sometimes I want a 35/2.

I do want a DA* 11-16.

There are some situations when I just want a P&S.

I for one would like to get an LX3 and a 60-250 for those times I'm out watching/shooting football, ultimate frisbee. The LX3 for the wider shots and the 60-250 mounted on a K20D for the longer shots. Lighter than having 2 bodies.

[sterretje]

Shorter primes and tele zoom

Something in the 30mm to 35mm range as my universal lense (f/1.7 or faster)
Something around 16mm to 18mm for wide angle (f/2.8 or faster)
Telezoom starting at around 55-70mm and ending at around 250-300mm (f/4 or faster)

When doing wildlife photography, it's for several reasons not always possible to change your position (disturbing wildlife, endangering yourself) or switch lenses (time consuming, so missed opportunity) so I like to rely on a zoom for composition.

Note: above focal lengths are for APS-c format; if Pentax ever comes with a FF camera, the primes will change (50mm and 28 mm resp) and I will add a TC or a tele prime.

If I didn't have a single lens and was going to put together a kit, I'd pretty much go with what I alread have. I'd probably add one more prime like the 70 or 77.

[NaClH2O]

My travel bag has these lenses in it: Sigma 17-70; Pentax "A" 70-210 F4.0 and the FA 43 ltd. That covers almost all bases. If I think there will be ample opportunities for something wider than 17mm I throw in the Zenitar 16mm fisheye, it's much smaller than my Pentax DA 12-24, and with careful framing, you hardly know a fisheye has been used. But generally, when traveling light the Z stays home.

NaCl(it's the old weight-size vs flexibility trade off)H2O

[Jasvox]

I think I will post a poll such as...

If Superman was left handed but was missing 3 fingers, whom would he be most likely to beat in a hand to hand fight:

A, Batman
B, Capt America
C, Incredible Hulk
D, Spiderman
E, Spiderman and Batman
F, Batman and Capt. America
G, All four
H, None of the above

Adam, may I?

Jason

[SylBer]

Hi,

My perfect set up would be:

DA 12-24 for landscape (if too expensive, replace by 16-45)
DA 35 Macro Limited for street use
FA 50 for portrait
DA *50-135 for indoor sport/action and portrait
DA *300 + 1,4 TC for wildlife

If you plan to do more macro work, I would add a DFA 100 Macro. Finally, if you have more cash to spend, you could always throw in a DA* 200.

And don't forget to keep money for all the other accessories (flash, tripod, etc...)

[gkopeliadis]

...a. stop making these silly poles...

Why? They are so much fun I like them and they help me...

[gkopeliadis]

I think I will post a poll such as...

If Superman was left handed but was missing 3 fingers, whom would he be most likely to beat in a hand to hand fight:

A, Batman
B, Capt America
C, Incredible Hulk
D, Spiderman
E, Spiderman and Batman
F, Batman and Capt. America
G, All four
H, None of the above

Adam, may I?

Jason

It would be Spiderman and Hulk

[audiobomber]

PENTAX SMC DA 18-55mm /3.5~5.6, SIGMA MACRO 105mm F2.8 EX DG, PENTAX SMC DA 40mm /2.8 Limited

All you need is a DA 55-300mm and you have a kit I could live with.

For minimum bulk while traveling you could leave the 105 macro at home and use a Raynox DCR-150 on the 55-300mm.

[heatherslightbox]

All you need is a DA 55-300mm and you have a kit I could live with.

For minimum bulk while traveling you could leave the 105 macro at home and use a Raynox DCR-150 on the 55-300mm.

I've thought about getting a Raynox for that very reason; it would also come in handy for whenever I want closeup, but 100mm is too short. The 21, 55-300, and the Raynox--that's a pretty nice lightweight kit.

Heather

[gokenin]

I think I will post a poll such as...

If Superman was left handed but was missing 3 fingers, whom would he be most likely to beat in a hand to hand fight:

A, Batman
B, Capt America
C, Incredible Hulk
D, Spiderman
E, Spiderman and Batman
F, Batman and Capt. America
G, All four
H, None of the above

Adam, may I?

Jason

would the person have kryptonite if they did then any of them if they didnt them i think that you would have to go with superman unless the fight were under a red sun in which case my vote is for Batman

[gkopeliadis]

All you need is a DA 55-300mm and you have a kit I could live with.

The thing I need is an 70-200, f2,8 because I shoot Indoors sports (basketball, water polo) and the light is poor in there at night.
but for travelling 55-300 is a good choice.

[Mechan1k]

I like lenses all over the place ... I was going to try and get some order in my lens line-up .. but i FAILED miserably.

But put it this way ... there's nothing miserable about my lenses ... I love them .. and will probably make more of a mess of my lens line-up.