Originally posted by Docrwm Mine is in great shape and is very sharp, good colors, a bit noisy, and versatile. They sell for next to nothing and are FF too. I think a good cooy is a no brainer.
I've been pretty happy so far with the F35-70 I picked up on the suggestions here.
That said, what do you use most often when you need something wider?
Just took my K-01 on its first museum shoot at the World War I museum under Liberty Memorial, with the F35-70, a 40xs, and an old DA 18-55 kit lens that I picked up cheap. 40mm was definitely too tight for most of the shots, and even the 35 low end was too tight too much of the time, so I ended up using the 18-55 for almost everything. Unfortunately, the lighting was so dim that it was very hard to work with in several spots - too-long exposures, focus hunting, and sometimes a complete inability to lock focus.
I also had the Q with 01 lens with me, and it could get a shot in just about every case where the K-01 couldn't (although the 01 was also too tight for good framing). I'm pretty sure the big difference was the f/1.9 aperture, especially given the smaller Q sensor.
So I'm thinking I need a faster wide-angle for that kind of indoor museum shooting, since the 18-55 couldn't cut it. I've been getting tempted by the DA 21 Limited, but from the reviews it sounds like it's still somewhat slow for that environment - and it's honestly more than I ought to be spending right now anyway, even if I can snag one of the under-$400 ones on fleaBay. I'm going up to Michigan with some friends in a week and a half, and we're planning on hitting the Kalamazoo Air Zoo and the Henry Ford Museum, so I'd like to have something better by then... but the trip is also absorbing a lot of my spare cash for the next month or two. <wry grin>
I was watching 28mm's from both Kiron and Sigma (Mini-Wide) on fleaBay, missed bidding on both because something came up right as the auctions were closing, and both ended up going for around $20; I'm really kicking myself for that.
The Pentax-A 28mm is quite a bit more expensive.
Any recommendations?