[britdownunder]

Hi from Brisbane, Australia,

I bought a new K30 , came with an 18 to 55 lens standard.
Am looking for a good zoom lens within a reasonable price,
not sure if a 200 or 300 lens would be good for me, I am reasonably ok as a photographer.
Just not overloaded with cash right now.

I do have a 200 lens from my previous Z-10 film camera ( if i can find it )
and if the mount is the same.

Anyone have thoughts or suggestions to offer ?
Always take advice from those more experienced with lenses

Cheers
Albert

[Giklab]

If it ever fit a Pentax it will always fit a Pentax.

If you're buying a new lens anyway, you could get the DA 50-200 (<150 and <200 for the WR version) or any of the DA 55-300s (much better choice, but about 100whatever more expensive). There are also very affordable (~130) 70-300 lenses from Tamron and Sigma (supposedly, the Tamron is sharper). These also go to 1:2 semi-macro magnifications, which is quite useful.

[TER-OR]

The 55-300 lenses are a great choice - they're probably the best you'll get in the consumer range.

It's more hit and miss with the less expensive lenses, you'll really need to do some reading in the lens reviews here.

[Kerrowdown]

not sure if a 200 or 300 lens would be good for me

Welcome to the forum, I guess a lot depends how close you can get to your subject as this will determine the required lens length for you without you having to decide.

[Fl_Gulfer]

Pick up a used DA 18-250 the wife loves hers and she takes some great shots with it, great for travel and the PQ isn't bad for the price.

[hcc]

+1 with the DA55-300mm. A great value. The DA55-300mm WR might also worthwhile if you want WR.

I have also the DA18-250mm and I agree with FI_Gulfer that it is an excellent all-around lens. It is not WR but very sturdy. I have used by 18-250mm in very bad conditions incl. the Jan. 2011 rainstorm and floods in Queensland. With some TLC, the DA18-250mm did a great job.

To sum up. The 55-300mm would be a nice complement to your 18-55mm, if you do not mind swapping lenses. If you do not want to swap lenses, the DA18-250mm is still a worthwhile contender IMHO.

Hope that the comment may help.

[britdownunder]

Thank you all for such a quick response, all your comments are taken onboard.
Will trot off to Teds camera store and take my camera, see what the DA18-250 and the 55-300mm perform in the K30.

Point taken that there are some cheaper alternatives to Pentax Lenses, such as Sigma and Tamron.
Might look around for a used or new and see what i can find.
Thank you for all your help, until next time !

[britdownunder]

Hi again, ok I had some success with finding a few used lens , if I identify them below I would appreciate it if anyone has first hand knowledge of them pls and comment,
FYI ... i enjoy outdoor photography, beach scenes, waves, surfers, people walking around, but also mountains and scenic countryside.
In addition to family portraits, casual stuff like most people do ..... but I do like to shoot birds and native animals using a zoom.

Some beach scenes and portraits I tend to opt for black and white too, am not real good at this but its something I want to learn.

I am thinking I will needmore than 1 lens ?
What I have found are :

Tamron AF70-300mm F/4-5.6 LD Macro 1:2
Sigma 70-300mm F4 - 5.6 DG APO Macro, has a 4 to 1 zoom ratio ?
auto focal 75-200mm macro zoom with pentax mount
Sigma 100 - 300 mm zoom F4.5 to 6.7 ? japanese

There you go, all are said to be in excellent condition.....
Waiting for advice and thoughts please
Regards

[TER-OR]

I can comment on the Tamron 70-300. There's a reason it sells used for $80-100. It performs very well - focuses quickly and accurately and is light. The drawback is it suffers from serious chromatic aberration called "purple fringing." Newer software processing is supposed to deal with this, but I haven't played with that much. The 55-300 is much better.

Look in the lens review section here for the other lenses.
Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 APO DG Macro Lens Reviews - Sigma Lenses - Pentax Lens Review Database

I think the Sigma is better than the Tamron, but that's just from scanning reviews.

[bluenose]

I have the Tamron AF70-300mm F/4-5.6 LD Macro 1:2 but recently picked up the Pentax DA L 55-300mm. The image quality of the Pentax 55-300mm is on par or better than the Tamron. While it lacks the close focussing of the Tamron, it does cover the focal lengths from 55mm and up which makes it a good choice to go with the 18-55mm lens. The gap in the focal lengths 55-70mm with the Tamron was becoming a nuisance.

Regards

[beachgardener]

G'day mate and welcome to the forum

[britdownunder]

Thanks for all the help with this, they have been well received, am off to try out half a dozen lenses tomorrow.
Love taking photos, with a proper camera .... will check in again soon
cheers