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11-05-2017, 07:48 AM - 9 Likes   #601
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QuoteOriginally posted by edri Quote
I have a BF dilemma. to buy or not to buy this 20-40mm zoom..... lately the most used lens was the 18-135mm zoom.
I bought the 18-135 for our holiday to Jordan in 2011 - I was pleased with the results especially as I was still learning digital.
I continued to use it through to 2014 including a trip to Iceland and another to Rome; then the 20-40 arrived on the scene. There was a fair bit of wailing about the short range and the lack of constant aperture but it held my interest enough to order one after trying it at a show in Southampton.

Reasoning for buying:
  • Very pleased with 18-135 images but... all the good ones were from Jordan and Rome with some others in UK on Sunny days.
  • I was not at all happy with the images from Iceland - even those made with a tripod. None of my images at night (handheld) were up to much.
  • It was a limited lens and it handled like one ( I already had the 15/35/70) when I tried it, plus the weather sealing made it equivalent to the 18-135 on that basis.
  • Probably the reason with the most weight behind it came about after I made some smart collections in Lightroom based on focal lengths used for 18-135 images. It was then that I found over 60% of images were in the 18-40 range; a quarter of the remaining 40% were around the 70mm mark. This meant that I wasn't using the rest of the range much anyway. I recommend this step above all others.

After 3 and a half years now, the 20-40mm is my most used lens - a film equivalent of 30-60 is very handy for general shooting. It has done what I wanted it to do and as a bonus has beautiful colours and rendering (to my eye - I appreciate these things are subjective). I still have the 18-135 and take it out on nice days but when I get home and look at the images there are always one or two where the thought comes ... I wish I'd taken the 20-40.
I had initially thought to use the 20-40 with the 15 and 70 limiteds. It hasn't really worked out that way though; my favourite combo has become the 20-40 and the DFA100macro.
One last thing: I do not use the hood. Because of owning the 18-135 first I had 62mm filters. So, although I use a 55mm polariser, my "hood" (almost exactly the same) is a 55-58 plus 58-62 step up ring to use my existing ND filters.

Reasons for you not to buy:
  • The majority of your 18-135 images are taken between 40 and 135mm.
  • You're thinking about buying the K1



Below are two examples of what this lens does well, both handheld, that I, at least, struggle to do with the 18-135

Night:


Difficult Light:


Good luck thinking about it

11-05-2017, 05:26 PM - 1 Like   #602
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Santa Fe Cathedral





11-06-2017, 11:41 AM - 2 Likes   #603
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DA Limited by evening
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11-16-2017, 04:34 AM - 1 Like   #604
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K5 DA 20-40 Ltd @ 40mm/f5.6



01-08-2018, 02:09 PM - 6 Likes   #605
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I like this lens.



---------- Post added 01-08-18 at 03:09 PM ----------
01-08-2018, 03:40 PM - 6 Likes   #606
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I have a new love - and it's the 20-40
Makes wonderful B&W images.
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02-17-2018, 04:12 PM - 2 Likes   #607
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My newborn son Henry

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02-17-2018, 09:06 PM   #608
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I really need to post a few new images here. I’ve been playing with my 20-40 on the K-1 and was surprised by how little it vignettes, while it does, it’s not nearly as bad as the 50-135 and easily worked with in post.
02-17-2018, 11:35 PM - 4 Likes   #609
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First Haircut

02-19-2018, 07:08 PM - 2 Likes   #610
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Waterville plateau in WA state
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06-15-2018, 12:10 AM - 2 Likes   #611
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My son meeting his great grandfather for the first time.


07-08-2018, 05:29 AM - 1 Like   #612
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---------- Post added 07-08-18 at 08:31 AM ----------

I was tracking him in the air so everythings a bit OOF but still like it:



---------- Post added 07-08-18 at 08:33 AM ----------

And if anyone is curious, here is a horrible attempt at a reversed 20-40 on the tiny alpine flowers at the top of a mountain They are the size of my pinky fingernail. The wind was racing, and the youngest kid was "ready to go" so I didn't have more than a few seconds to try it out. The lens fits perfect over the mount on the K3 reversed to keep it flush.

08-28-2018, 12:14 PM - 5 Likes   #613
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Kebler Pass, Crested Butte CO


08-28-2018, 11:56 PM - 4 Likes   #614
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Surf fun with the DA limited zoom
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08-29-2018, 08:51 PM - 5 Likes   #615
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Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado

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