Originally posted by Mentium Hello all. My first post here having bought a K1 a couple of weeks ago. With it I bought a D FA 28-105mm zoom lens, which seemed to be a good all rounder and I am happy with that. However I am struggling a bit with what other lenses to get. Funds will only allow one every two or three months, so I want to choose carefully.
I do a lot of landscape photography but I also like street shots and interesting compositions - not so much action for the most part. So any suggestions for a decent quality prime would be very welcome I'm thinking 50mm perhaps, but I am new at this! Ideas please?
(Edit: By the way the lens forum said it was not accepting more threads at this point - this the post here)
I'm a big fan of primes, and it's smart to start considering a prime purchase. What I like about primes is the way they force your eye to see at a specific focal length. I regularly take only one lens out with me, whether it be a 21mm, a 35mm a 100mm or whatever. This means that when I'm out and looking for subjects my eye is looking for a scene to match that focal length. I think this approach helped me to learn to see scenes and identify compositions more effectively.
I have a number of primes so the big question comes before I go out; what lens do I take? Maybe I'll take two? But which two? As has been suggested, it wouldn't hurt to do some research whilst relying upon the 28-105mm. Looking at previous images will help you narrow down those focal lengths you use most often and target a lens that you are most likely to get the most out of as a prime. If you regularly think, gee this lens isn't wide enough, and you keep thinking this, then you know you need to start targetting lenses wider than 28mm. If you have some shots at 50mm, but a lot of shots around the 80-90mm focal length, then again you know that a short telephoto should suit your style better.
If you want to get a prime in your bag in the short term, the DA50 is a good suggestion as it's inexpensive and provides a good start point to determine what your preference is. Will you prefer wider than 50mm, or something longer? Wider gives you options from about 11mm up to 43mm. Longer is 55mm to 135mm. After that you get into some specialist (Fisheye) or long telephoto lenses.
I'd also recommend you use sites like Pentax Forums and Flickr to view images as there's a lot to see and ususally you can see the focal length too. Just take notes on what you find the most appealing. This can also be helpful for choosing a specific type of lens (eg around 50mm Pentax has DA50, FA50, FA50 macro and the DA*55).
The next question already mentioned is whether you prefer auto focus over manual focus. I like manual focus personally, but this doesn't suit everyone. If you're cool with it the Pentax options in legacy glass is extensive and opens up many more options for you, along with more contemporary designs from Samyang/Rokinon, Irix, Laowa.
One last thing to consider is the Pentax lens road map has identified several new primes to be released in 2017. I don't need any more lenses, between 15-450mm, but I'm actually quite excited about what Ricoh/Pentax have planned with these lenses. One thing I'd suggest is these could be really stunning lenses, they could be like the FA Limiteds or more like the DA*/D-FA* series. Maybe a combination of these two styles? As they'll be the first FF primes from Pentax in many years, I think these lenses are going to be something special. But who knows?
Anyhoo, good luck with the prime hunt.
Tas