[laughlady99]

Hello! Just signed up for the forums so I could get some more info and talk to people who own Pentax cameras. I've been interested in photography my whole life, but this is my first "professional" camera (first DSLR) - I bought the K-5. I have quite a few friends who are amazing photographers, but they all use Canon or Nikon. When I was searching online and comparing the cameras to decide which one I wanted, it's like Canon and Nikon were the only ones that existed, and I wasn't feeling drawn toward either of them (well, Canon over Nikon for my own purposes, but that's another story), I ended up asking someone in another forum if there were any other camera's to compare in the same class and someone mentioned the Pentax. As soon as I read about it, I said THAT'S MY CAMERA! haha

So the only lens I have now is the kit lens, and while it works good in a lot of situations, it has its downsides. I need to learn how to use my manual settings better and experiment a lot more, but I know I need a better all purpose lens because I want to take more photos of people this summer (and scenery) and occasionally some indoor ones (and my indoor pictures are turning out awful right now - in my opinion).

So at the moment, I'm trying to determine what my next lens will be. I am supposed to tag along with a friend to a wedding this summer to help out and would like a better one by then. I'm also interested in figuring out what kind of adapter I need to buy to be able to use the older lenses (I have a *small* budget right now so those lenses being cheaper are sounding great!).

Would like to chat with anyone about photography and PENTAX and learn more!! Thanks!!

[benhai]

Nice to read your first post here . I think for hobby pentax is a good choice. If that's a career you are going after then you might need to use either nikon or canon in the future but by then the cost will be covered by customers.

As to the lenses, I've heard people said it's the best to use limited line of lenses. They are good but expensive and inconvenient if you need to change focal often. Anyhow there are 2 pentax f2.8 line of zoom lenses. So it's kind of easy choice. Choice lenses is a painful process but happiness and sorrow will always be there.

Unlike film days, DSLR is not that easy to break your bank. So relax and take pictures and then try to get the right lens the first time ^_^. That's the key to save money and time and focus on photo.

Best wishes!

[laughlady99]

Hi, thanks for your response!

That's interesting that you think professionally a Canon or Nikon would be needed over Pentax, can you tell me why you think that? Quality of photos? I know most of the workshops out there are geared toward Canon and Nikon, but I actually have seen a professional photographer who takes amazing photos and uses Pentax, so I just have to ask

[benhai]

Hi, thanks for your response!

That's interesting that you think professionally a Canon or Nikon would be needed over Pentax, can you tell me why you think that? Quality of photos? I know most of the workshops out there are geared toward Canon and Nikon, but I actually have seen a professional photographer who takes amazing photos and uses Pentax, so I just have to ask

All brands can take amazing pictures. Due to AF speed and accuracy, professionals choose Canon and Nikon. Nobody wants to lost shots in commercial events. That' equal to lost a job . Imaging a sports photographer can't capture any good moments of shooting for the headlines ^_^. They also try to shoot in raw. Just to prepared the worst things to happen. Commercial is money driven not always quality driven.

Leica M9 and other medium frame and full frame cameras are all capable of more amazing pictures, if you can tolerant the price, size and etc.

Other people's comments will be more promising since I switched to Nikon but still like Pentax .

[PALADIN85020]

So the only lens I have now is the kit lens, and while it works good in a lot of situations, it has its downsides. I need to learn how to use my manual settings better and experiment a lot more, but I know I need a better all purpose lens because I want to take more photos of people this summer (and scenery) and occasionally some indoor ones (and my indoor pictures are turning out awful right now - in my opinion).

So at the moment, I'm trying to determine what my next lens will be.

Would like to chat with anyone about photography and PENTAX and learn more!! Thanks!!

I also was searching for a good all-purpose lens for my K-5 before a trip to Hawaii. I wanted to travel light, so I wanted a versatile weather-resistant lens covering a fairly wide range with acceptable quality. I didn't want to be switching lenses constantly in a humid climate. I found what I wanted in the Pentax 18-135mmWR zoom. I could take wide-angle shots and also zoom in to a 35mm equivalent of about 202mm. This lens is only slightly longer than the 18-55mm kit lens, and will fit most pouches designed for the camera with that lens. Now I also have an 18-250mm (now only available second hand) which covers a wider range, but it's heavy, has zoom creep, and is not weather resistant. Using the 18-135mm, I was able to get by with the camera, this one lens, an extra battery and charger, and a handful of memory cards. Leaving the charger in the hotel, I just took the camera in a pouch with the spare charged battery and couple of extra memory cards. This was light, easy and quite versatile. There was no need to change lenses to suit most conditions. Image quality and color rendition with this lens are more than acceptable. While I would have wished for more "reach" on occasion, it was easy to crop the large images generated by the K-5 to simulate a tighter shot, still with plenty of quality.

I could easily get by with just this one lens and the 50mm 1.4 lens for low light shots and exceptional sharpness stopped down when needed. The only thing I need the 18-55mm kit lens for would be for occasional close-up macro shots; its minimum focus distance of 10 inches comes in handy sometimes.

I think the 18-135mmWR would be ideal for such things as weddings, and with the high ISO capability of the K-5, even indoor shots without flash are possible.

Hope this helps - welcome to the forum, and enjoy that K-5. It's a terrific tool.

John

P.S. - here are some representative shots with this lens.

[laughlady99]

Thanks for the info! Beautiful photos!!