[civiletti]

What is holy to one photographer may be blasphemy to another.

---------- Post added 09-09-14 at 10:04 AM ----------

My trinity on Pentax:


sigma 8-16
tamron 17-50
DA70

[Parallax]

With Pentax you only need the DA21, DA40 and DA70 Limiteds. And a good pair of shoes.

You're exactly right. (but just to be safe I got the 15Ltd as well)

[jimr-pdx]

My era-spanning trinity is the K17 fisheye, DA40, M85 - or is the middle one the A50 macro?
Zooms would be 16-45 (50 prime) 55-300 on a budget, 12-24 mumble 60-250 if budget is for camera gear only

[mariakruse]

So that you can zoom with your feet ...

Have to admit, I like zooming with feet. Like filling frame, but sometimes need zoom for shooting across river to try and get eagles.
maria

[Parallax]

And a good pair of shoes.

Have good shoes, working on lenses.
thank you,
maria

So that you can zoom with your feet ...

............I like zooming with feet. Like filling frame, but sometimes need zoom for shooting across river .........................
maria

Okay, a good pair swim fins instead of shoes.

[mariakruse]

The lenses you refer to are for a FF camera. The APS-C equivalent would be about 10-16, 16-50 and 50-135. So Pentax has the DA*16-50 and the DA*50-135 which match the angle of view of the FF 24-70 and 70-200. On the wide end the closest you can get is the Sigma 10-20. In Pentax brand the DA 12-24 is the widest. Pentax also has a 60-250 f/4 which works out to 90-375. I carry the 12-24, 16-50 and 60-250.

But as noted above if you are a true Pentaxian, you eschew such pedestrian things as zooms and use the three Amigos (FA31, FA43 & FA77) or the three Amigas (DA21, DA40, DA70)

Thank you, I am learning.
maria

---------- Post added 09-09-14 at 11:27 AM ----------

Try swim fins instead of shoes.

No need for fins, have wide feet. Born in southern Florida, in ocean at 3 days old. Miss it.
maria

[RonHendriks1966]

Holy you say? Pentaxians are iconoclasts.

The usual triumvirate consists of the SMCP-FA31mm f/1.8 ASPH limited - the SMCP-FA43mm f1.9 Limited - the SMCP-FA77mm f/1.8 Limited.

not all of these lenses are equal, but they are all special in their own way - and they are sharp as the aroma of burning of sulfur in hell at f/5.6.

Well I have a little difference in this trio, but basicly working on the same. So for me they are:

• Pentax FA 31mm/f1.8 Ltd.
• Pentax DA*55mm/f1.4
• Pentax FA*85mm/f1.4

Basicly all you need.

[mariakruse]

What is holy to one photographer may be blasphemy to another.

---------- Post added 09-09-14 at 10:04 AM ----------

My trinity on Pentax:


sigma 8-16
tamron 17-50
DA70

Thank you.
maria

[RonHendriks1966]

For zooms, I have 10-17 fisheye zoom, 16-50/2.8, and 50-135/2.8

Never been a fan for the middle, so I would suggest then the 10-17mm, 20-40mm Ltd and the 60-250mm. You can do about anything you need with those.

[mariakruse]

Well I have a little difference in this trio, but basicly working on the same. So for me they are:

• Pentax FA 31mm/f1.8 Ltd.
• Pentax DA*55mm/f1.4
• Pentax FA*85mm/f1.4

Basicly all you need.

Glad I have birthday and then Christmas coming up. I may need a bigger lens drawer. I will study and see what fits my shooting.
thank you,
maria

---------- Post added 09-09-14 at 11:33 AM ----------

Never been a fan for the middle, so I would suggest then the 10-17mm, 20-40mm Ltd and the 60-250mm. You can do about anything you need with those.

Thank you, those look good.
maria

[stevebrot]

But as noted above if you are a true Pentaxian, you eschew such pedestrian things as zooms

So that you can zoom with your feet ...

It would seem that the primes are the more pedestrian choice.

This is the part where I insert my standard "zoom with your feet is a nice idea but..." rant. You can use your feet to get closer to or further away from the subject (assuming there is not a cliff or highway or something else in the way), but that is not the same as using a zoom. Consider the following:

• You are walking down a path and see a real cool composition of three loaves of bread at about 20' (6 meters) distance
• You stop in your tracks and put your K-3 to eye only to be reminded that the DA 15/4 Limited is mounted. The cool composition is visible in the viewfinder, but it is tiny...oh, so tiny.
• You set down your camera bag and creep up close, crouching low to keep the angle the same only to discover when you are at about 18" (0.5 meter) distance that the cool composition doesn't look the same from so close.
• You return to your camera bag and look back to confirm that the cool composition is still there (the loaves apparently don't have feet)
• You reach into your bag to extract the FA 77/1.8 Limited, change lenses, and take the photo. Mission accomplished! Time for lunch!
• I come up the same path a few minutes later and see the same cool composition (the loaves, lacking feet, have still not walked away), put my K-3 with DA 18-135/3.5-5.6 mounted to eye, frame the shot (zoomed to 80mm) and take the photo. Mission accomplished! Time for lunch!

The lesson intended is that perspective (the cool composition) is determined by camera position* and that a good quality zoom lens allows you to get the shot without having to do a lens change or resorting to a significant crop (your other option). In my opinion (humble or not, I don't know), the advantages to shooting with a set of excellent primes are:

• Excellent quality (relatively) fast zooms are usually heavy and bulky
• Excellent quality fast primes are often relatively small and not quite so bulky
• Good to excellent quality primes are often not very expensive
• Fast glass is somewhat more accessible

The advantages of an excellent quality zoom is:

• Less lens changes
• Much easier subject framing
• Looks cool
• Potentially less stuff in bag

Hmmm...short list, both ways. My personal preference is to shoot primes at short and moderate focal lengths and zooms at the longer end of things. For walk-around on APS-C, I mount either the FA 35/2 (Zenitar fisheye in pocket) or Sigma 17-70/2.8-4 (C).


Steve

* More correctly, the perspective is determined by the position (distance and angle) of the front element of the lens relative to the subject in conjunction with the angle of the focal plane relative to the lens. This distinction is only important for close work using lenses with long extension or when using a system capable of movements (view camera or tilt-shift lens).

[RonHendriks1966]

Glad I have birthday and then Christmas coming up. I may need a bigger lens drawer. I will study and see what fits my shooting.
thank you,
maria

---------- Post added 09-09-14 at 11:33 AM ----------


Thank you, those look good.
maria

I did own and use many off the named lenses (10-17, 16-50, 50-135, 12-24, 60-250, 31, 40, 21, 55, 85, 300, 200, 14 and 15) and you can make great images with all of them. Basicly ask yourself how you want to take on a trip. How much weight you want to carry and wich lenses you absolutely need and why. The starting Nikon list with D810 and 12-24/24-70/70-200 is a truckload. That could mean that leaving things at home would end in never using them again.

K-01 and FA31mm


K-3 and DA*55mm


K-5 and FA*85mm

[kh1234567890]

You stop in your tracks and put your K-3 to eye only to be reminded that the DA 15/4 Limited is mounted.

That is why I didn't include this abomination of a lens on my list.

[mariakruse]

It would seem that the primes are the more pedestrian choice.

This is the part where I insert my standard "zoom with your feet is a nice idea but..." rant. You can use your feet to get closer to or further away from the subject (assuming there is not a cliff or highway or something else in the way), but that is not the same as using a zoom. Consider the following:

• You are walking down a path and see a real cool composition of three loaves of bread at about 20' (6 meters) distance
• You stop in your tracks and put your K-3 to eye only to be reminded that the DA 15/4 Limited is mounted. The cool composition is visible in the viewfinder, but it is tiny...oh, so tiny.
• You set down your camera bag and creep up close, crouching low to keep the angle the same only to discover when you are at about 18" (0.5 meter) distance that the cool composition doesn't look the same from so close.
• You return to your camera bag and look back to confirm that the cool composition is still there (the loaves apparently don't have feet)
• You reach into your bag to extract the FA 77/1.8 Limited, change lenses, and take the photo. Mission accomplished! Time for lunch!
• I come up the same path a few minutes later and see the same cool composition (the loaves, lacking feet, have still not walked away), put my K-3 with DA 18-135/3.5-5.6 mounted to eye, frame the shot (zoomed to 80mm) and take the photo. Mission accomplished! Time for lunch!

The lesson intended is that perspective (the cool composition) is determined by camera position* and that a good quality zoom lens allows you to get the shot without having to do a lens change or resorting to a significant crop (your other option). In my opinion (humble or not, I don't know), the advantages to shooting with a set of excellent primes are:

• Excellent quality (relatively) fast zooms are usually heavy and bulky
• Excellent quality fast primes are often relatively small and not quite so bulky
• Good to excellent quality primes are often not very expensive
• Fast glass is somewhat more accessible

The advantages of an excellent quality zoom is:

• Less lens changes
• Much easier subject framing
• Looks cool
• Potentially less stuff in bag

Hmmm...short list, both ways. My personal preference is to shoot primes at short and moderate focal lengths and zooms at the longer end of things. For walk-around on APS-C, I mount either the FA 35/2 (Zenitar fisheye in pocket) or Sigma 17-70/2.8-4 (C).


Steve

* More correctly, the perspective is determined by the position (distance and angle) of the front element of the lens relative to the subject in conjunction with the angle of the focal plane relative to the lens. This distinction is only important for close work using lenses with long extension or when using a system capable of movements (view camera or tilt-shift lens).

Wow! much to think about.
maria

---------- Post added 09-09-14 at 01:13 PM ----------

I did own and use many off the named lenses (10-17, 16-50, 50-135, 12-24, 60-250, 31, 40, 21, 55, 85, 300, 200, 14 and 15) and you can make great images with all of them. Basicly ask yourself how you want to take on a trip. How much weight you want to carry and wich lenses you absolutely need and why. The starting Nikon list with D810 and 12-24/24-70/70-200 is a truckload. That could mean that leaving things at home would end in never using them again.

K-01 and FA31mm


K-3 and DA*55mm


K-5 and FA*85mm

Nice shots, thank you
maria

[stevebrot]

Wow! much to think about.
maria

Not a whole lot, really. Most people just start shooting with a couple of zooms and branch out to other options when their kit no longer fits their needs. Curiosity is also a factor.


Steve

---------- Post added 09-09-14 at 12:30 PM ----------

That is why I didn't include this abomination of a lens on my list.

Great lens, though not so great for shooting loaves at 20'


Steve