[ikevis]

Hey Everybody,

I'm new here! College Student who is starting to get into photography. Right now I have a K-x with an 18-55 kit lens and the DA50mm, but I'm looking to expand . I have a flickr, and I recently made this video of our beginning of the year celebrations with my new camera

You Tube

You Tube

What's up? I'm thinking about getting either a zoom lense or a wide angle next. Suggestions?

[PJ1]

Welcome to the Forum. Sounds like you are off to a good start with the kit lens and the DA 50mm. Whether you want to add wide angle or telephoto will depend on what your main interest is in photography. If you will be covering a lot of wildlife, birds, etc, then the 55-300 is probably the lens to start with. It has a good reputation for IQ and will complement your 18-55 nicely (plus it is not too expensive). The 18-55 may be enough wide angle for landscape work (it is a good lens) but it might have too much distortion if architecture is your thing. If you are looking for a specialised wide angle (prime or zoom) there are others who could offer better advice than I could. The lens database is a good place to compare lenses. The more opinions there are on a lens, the more likely the overall conclusion is likely to be sound. Post some pics and have fun.

[ikevis]

Thanks for the welcome and for the info! I've only just started to do some research, but you've definitely pointed me in the right direction. I think I'm drawn towards the wide angle first, as it will probably complement the 50mm pretty well for taking pictures of people. Anyone have a good idea of how they tend to perform in low light?

[PJ1]

Low light performance depends on a couple of things. First, the aperture: The bigger the objective, the more light you gather so (potentially) your low light performance is better as long as the lens is sharp enough wide open. Second, the camera software can assist low light performance: the faster the ISO your camera can give you, so (potentially) your low light performance improves. But there is always a catch. You will get a drop off in image quality at high ISO levels. Your k-x is expandable to ISO 12800 and I have seen some reports that ISO 1600 gives usable images. In contrast, my K10d shows a big drop off in image quality beyond ISO 400, and only goes as high as ISO 1600. Someone who uses a k-x will no doubt be able to give you some guidance. Again, the lens database can help you decide what is best for you.

[Jean Poitiers]

Welcome to PF and bonjour from France ... enjoy the forum and please post us another image or two soon ... Salut, J

[savoche]

First of all: Welcome!

Wide angle can be fun, but it's not everybody's cup of tea. It's very easy to fit "everything" into the frame, which most often means you end up with pictures of a lot of empty space. Also, depending a little on how you take pictures, wide angle most often is quite unflattering to people due to the (potentially massive) distortion involved, especially towards the edges of the frame. I certainly don't use (ultra) wide lenses much for pictures of people.

That said, there aren't too many fast wide angle lenses. I think you best bet would be a 14mm f/2.8. Or, not really that wide, but fast (and pricey), the new Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8. But really, I don't see many applications for fast (ultra)wideangles other than maybe astro photography.

[Kerrowdown]

Welcome to the forum and as for your lens choice question, it's really all about what type of photography your planning to do.