[jersey]

Plastic fantastic smc Pentax-DA 35mm F2,4 AL. Was toying with idea of getting a 21mm but somehow could not convince myself to it. All my other lenses are zooms: kit, then some tele etc. but 35mm is the king of the day. I take out zooms only for specific photos - when I shoot birds or if I'm going to shot trains in places where I cannot get close to railway. I think it is because I used 53mm for most of my life, so I'm kind stuck in this focal length. May replace plastic with limited at some day, but it will still be 35mm

[cmohr]

I think, that if I have to say what has most ever been my most ever, everyday lens. Would be a lens that was always on my camera, my FA*85/f1.4. Wonderful on my K-1, a staple on my K-5, glued to my MZ-5n, and MZ-5.

[telum]

It depends but most of the time when unsure what I want to do and only want to bring one, I choose my Sigma 17-70 contemp. as it is the most versatile I have. To me it is as sharp as the plastic-fantastic 35mm and can be used for candids, landscape and can focus very close, although not a macro of course.

I also have the Pentax 17-70 f/4, but I have just verified that it works, as it was a part of a deal with the 12-24, so cannot really comment on IQ between them. Feature-wise they seem almost identical. Better get around to selling that before I realise I fall in love with the green ring..

[Jonathan Mac]

My everyday lenses are:

K3: DA 35mm f/2.8 Limited
X-T20: 35mm f/1.4

But it looks like you're very much into zooms over primes, in which case I'd have to choose:

K3: Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8
X-T20: 18-55mm f/2.8-4 (only zoom I have for Fujifilm)

I'd narrowly choose the Sigma over the 16-85mm due to the faster aperture, but the Pentax has the edge in sharpness (but not overall rendering) and precise exposure.

[ChrisPlatt]

Something with a 63° angle of view, measured diagonally.

That's just how I see things.

Chris

[garywakeling]

I find the 18-135 offers the versatility for my photography, I prefer close ups and detail shots rather than super wide. My wife uses the canon version and the versatility of the lens range and looking at her shots led me to choosing it. It can be had reasonably cheaply which helps too.

[bdery]

There are at least 2 versions of the Sigma which one you guys referring to ?

Indeed, there are three.

The first I've used for many years. You can find it used. It's screw-drive, very good optically, good close focus capabilities, not so good for live view AF.

Second version, mostly similar optically, a tad faster at 70mm.

The latest, contemporary version. Better all around, it's certainly available new still.

[Wiltshireborn]

I have the DA 16-85mm WR lens and it is my only WR lens. It produces fantastic quality photos, very sharp but it is quite a bulky lens. I have recently been using prime lenses because they are so compact and make you think more about composition, a zoom tends to make me a bit snap happy😁. I have the DA 35mm f2.4 which is super sharp and is a very convenient focal length for a walk around lens, except that I find myself needing something a bit wider at times and so I have just got a DA 15mm f4 which I am just getting to grips with but it is not as sharp as the 35mm from my initial trial shots but that may change in the future.

[ChristianRock]

Plastic fantastic smc Pentax-DA 35mm F2,4 AL. Was toying with idea of getting a 21mm but somehow could not convince myself to it. All my other lenses are zooms: kit, then some tele etc. but 35mm is the king of the day. I take out zooms only for specific photos - when I shoot birds or if I'm going to shot trains in places where I cannot get close to railway. I think it is because I used 53mm for most of my life, so I'm kind stuck in this focal length. May replace plastic with limited at some day, but it will still be 35mm

The DA 35 2.4 is a great lens. I also prefer the "normal" field of view for every day pictures.
I liked it so much that I thought, I need to buy the Sigma 30 1.4 to have a "fast nifty fifty" equivalent on APS-C. I found a great deal on an Art copy and was able to get that. While it's better than the Plastic Fantastic on some aspects (it goes to f1.4 and of course the bokeh will then be better), on others it's not - it's just different. They both render great colors and have great sharpness.

Like you, I decided to save for a DA 21mm - three times now. The first time I actually had the DA 21mm Limited for 2 weeks (on a trade with a DA 16-45 plus cash). Both me and the buyer had buyer regret and we decided to undo the transaction. I wasn't all that impressed with the 21mm over the DA 16-45 at that focal range.
The 2nd time I had about 180 saved already and a DA 35 Limited showed up for 179 shipped... so guess what Being a fan of the Normal FOV I snapped it up. It's a great lens and again, it has advantages over the DA 35 2.4 but it's not necessarily better - just different (Limited goes down to 1:1 macro and has more contrast and color saturation and slightly better bokeh and it's slightly larger, but 35 2.4 has only slightly better sharpness and microcontrast, at least that's my impression).
The 3rd time... this week I had again a bit saved up from lenses I sold at few months ago and my DA 16-45 has been acting up (wobble getting worse and worse) - so I have been comparing a lot of standard zoom pictures and almost bought a Tamron 17-50 or Pentax 17-70 at one point, but seeing how cheap DA*16-50 copies have been going I decided to put an ad in the Wanted section to see if I could get a good copy for a price I can afford and... there's one on my way now...

I don't know if I'll ever get that 21mm. It seems like a great idea to own one but like you I just can't seem to convince myself to commit to buying one!

So for now I'm keeping my 3 "normal" lenses - the 35 Limited and Plastic Fantastic, and the Sigma 30 Art. If I don't mind carrying the weight I'll take the Sigma, but all 3 are to me equally capable of taking great pictures, they just each do something that the others can't and that's how I justify keeping them

(Oh and I also have an SMC-M 28mm f/3.5 that is also technically a normal lens on APS-C... I got that for 39 dollars and it has mind-blowing colors and great sharpness so how could I not keep it? lol....)

[dipo 1]

My 55mm 1.8 SMC Takumar or my Super tak 85mm 1.9 on my K5. Can't see any reason to put out a lot of money if I have prime glass already.

[lotech]

I finally received the 17-70 used, it is in mint condition, I tried it on my K3 and immediately I feel what a relief ! I missed the SDM silent AF for so long since my 16-50 failed, all my other lenses has noisy motor drive. I also found some good deal of the Sigma equivalent but they are the older model, not the current C model commonly referred to. I did find some minor problem with this lens, the AF has difficulty with horizontal line, for example it hunts and gives up on the aircon front cover 'gill', it may not be the lens but combine with the camera AF sensor to caused that. The things I like this lens are the full time MF override, basic weather seal at the mount, and original Pentax color.

[ChristianRock]

I finally received the 17-70 used, it is in mint condition, I tried it on my K3 and immediately I feel what a relief ! I missed the SDM silent AF for so long since my 16-50 failed, all my other lenses has noisy motor drive. I also found some good deal of the Sigma equivalent but they are the older model, not the current C model commonly referred to. I did find some minor problem with this lens, the AF has difficulty with horizontal line, for example it hunts and gives up on the aircon front cover 'gill', it may not be the lens but combine with the camera AF sensor to caused that. The things I like this lens are the full time MF override, basic weather seal at the mount, and original Pentax color.

How do you like it compared to the 16-50? Like I said I was considering it (and the Tamron and Sigma 17-50 lenses) before going for the 16-50. I don't regret getting the 16-50 at all, but I'm curious of course

[lotech]

Compared to the DA* this lens is sightly slower to focus and hunts a bit in difficult scene like parallel lines, and despite it is full time MF override the focusing ring will move during AF this is little inconvenient and could cause damage to the motor if we hold the ring during AF, it works just like the non SDM 55-300 but without the noisy focusing. I have not fully tested it yet can't tell the optical quality of it, but the macro is really nice it can get as close as the 16-50 if not closer. Overall I love this lens it handles very well, well build and sturdy but not too heavy, especially I got it from a Taiwan seller at low price in mint condition, it has become my everyday lens to replace the 16-50 (SDM failed) and I would not complain even the SDM fails after some time !

Btw I did not modify the lens to shaft drive because I updated my K3 firmware that no longer support that mod.

[Sandy Hancock]

Why not just convert your DA* 16-50 to screw drive?