[duotone66]

Hi new to the forum,I switched from Nikon. If I could get some advice on lens purchases it would be great. I was thinking pentax 50-135,sigma 10-20 ex.and a 24-70 Pentax or ? I shoot outside in the PNW rainy dark I need fast focusing lens.Any help would be appreciated.

[lurchlarson]

50-135 da* and the 16-50 da* should be set. I'm not sure about the third lens.

[RBellavance]

You'd be doing yourself a disservice if you were to ignore the DA & FA Limited prime lenses. They are what makes Pentax really unique as a system. Which one to choose depens a lot on your shooting habits, but the selection is as follows:

15mm f/4
21mm f/3.2 ("pancake")
31mm f/1.8
35mm f/2.8 macro
40mm f/2.8 ("pancake")
43mm f/1.9
70mm f/2.4 ("pancake")
77mm f/1.8

The ones I labeled "pancake" are very small, no more than 1 inch thick when mounted on the camera. But none of the others are very large (the biggest being the 31mm f/1.8 - also the only one that does not take 49mm filters).

As for the zooms and overall lens selection, again it depends on your shooting habits. The 50-135/2.8 is very highly regarded, the16-50/2.8 less so. For ultra-wide, the Pentax DA12-24 is an excellent choice, but pricier than the Sigma.

If you don't need the f/2.8 aperture or weather-sealing, the Pentax DA17-70 f/4 is a cheaper alternative to the DA*16-50.

[Ratmagiclady]

Yeah, don't miss out on the prime lenses: you seem to be thinking only in terms of zooms.

Budget?

[Ash]

Welcome to the forum.
Interesting to hear of your switch from Nikon.
Looking for fast focusing and good quality lenses I too would encourage you to consider Pentax's limited range of prime lenses. They all offer larger apertures than their zoom counterparts and thus enables more reliable focusing under challenging conditions:

The triad of FA limiteds: 31mm f/1.8, 43mm f/1.9 (or FA 50mm f/1.4) and 77mm f/1.8
or the DA limiteds: 15mm f/4, 21mm f/3.2, 40mm f/2.8 (or FA 50 as above), 70mm f/2.4

Zooms are good, with their quite SDM function (have a read of SDM-related threads for more about the pros and cons about this), but f/2.8 may not be fast enough for you. The DA* range do offer the best in terms of image quality, so the 16-50 and 50-135 are essential in this regard. Your third lens choice may be the DA* 200 if you need a telephoto lens, or just stick with the DA 12-24, an excellent professional quality rectilinear ultra-wide lens, which is rated better than the Sigma 10-20.

[Ben_Edict]

Hi new to the forum,I switched from Nikon. If I could get some advice on lens purchases it would be great. I was thinking pentax 50-135,sigma 10-20 ex.and a 24-70 Pentax or ? I shoot outside in the PNW rainy dark I need fast focusing lens.Any help would be appreciated.

The choice depends wholly on your applications - and on Pentax lens line-up. There is currently nothing like a 24-70mm (except the one by Sigma). As other already noted: Pentax excells with prime lenses, though the new longer zoom lens (60-250/4) seems to be very nice, if you need to go that long.

If by 24-70 you meant the APS-C equivalent, the DA 16-50/2.8 would be the logical choice. A very nice lens.

Ben

[erickallemeyn]

My vote goes to the 16-50*, 50-135*, and 40mm prime.

[Deimo]

i think the zooms DA* 16-50, DA*50-135, should satisfy your needs.
they also resist the bad weather like your K7.
as for the ultrawide: go for the DA 12-24. This lens is great.

if you dont need f2,8, the 16-45 has good value for the money spent (almost none ;-) )

Moved to lens forum.

[asdf]

I'm just responding to "I need fast focusing lens".

I've handled both FA 50 f/1.4 and DA 40 f/2.8 and they're both very fast focusing on a K20D--FA 50 f/1.4 has very little trouble to lock on under dim lights, on account of the large aperture. On the uwa end, DA 12-24 f/4 is probably the sharpest lens across the frame and DA 14 f/2.8 is the brightest--I have the latter and K20D focuses with it fast (and internally). Tamron 90 f/2.8 is very good and with the focus limiter, hunting is very brief. (FA 100 f/2.8 had a focus limiter, DFA 100 f/2.8 does not.)

I haven't held it in my hands, but from youtube videos and comments on this forum, it seems DA* 50-135 is pretty slow to focus--especially if you let it hunt.

[Pentaxor]

lots of possible combo.

1.> DA14/2.8 , FA35/2, FA77/1.8
2.> DA15/4, DA40/2.8, DA70/2.4
3.> DA12-24, DA35, Tamron 90/2.8
4.> Sigma10-20, FA43, Sigma 70
5.> DA16-45, DA55 or FA50, Pentax 100/2.8

[RBellavance]

I'm just responding to "I need fast focusing lens".

I somehow missed this part of the OP's message. Forget the two DA* zooms if fast focusing is required.

[attack11]

50-135 da* and the 16-50 da* should be set. I'm not sure about the third lens.

a prime, the new 55 or the sigma 30mm f1.4.