[Alweyn]

G'day all
I'm Dianna from country Victoria. I stumbled across this site yesterday researching lenses! Great site!
I have had a K20d for many many years now and only in the past 12-16 months have I truly started to use and understand the camera. I joined up to a local Facebook group and do outings with them - I'm the only Pentax user in the group of over 400.
I bought it mainly to use to photograph my daughter playing AFL football out in the weather -took her first mark with it on a cold misty morning the week I bought it over 6 years ago, had no idea what I was doing!
I am hoping to gain even more knowledge through you guys. By the end of the year I am hoping to purchase a K-3, here in Aus at the moment they are still at $1100 plus for body only but I am looking to purchase a new wide angle lens in the next few weeks any suggestions?
Enough about me - out to shoot some old Holden Cars today.
Have a great day!

Cheers Dianna

[jac]

I am hoping to gain even more knowledge through you guys. By the end of the year I am hoping to purchase a K-3, here in Aus at the moment they are still at $1100 plus for body only but I am looking to purchase a new wide angle lens in the next few weeks any suggestions?

Welcome. This site is replete with lens opinions and many opinionated Aussies (among other nationalities). I got a nice Da12-24mm from a seller here on the forum which gives a lot of wide angle flexibility. Others, I'm sure, will recommend the DA 15mm. Just wait, the recommendations will flow in! If you're not in a rush for a K3, you can order from some of the big U.S. dealers, Adorama or BH. They'll ship overseas but the warranty may not be valid.

[hcc]

Welcome. There are a bunch of active Aussies at PF and you may find some Pentaxians in your area.

Look forward to read your posts and see you photos.

For a wide angle, the DA15mm Ltd is possibly the best suggestion among all.

While prices are high in Oz, keep an eye on the Price Watch section of the forum, where PF members share good prices.

[Bruce Clark]

G'Day from Melbourne, Outer Western area. You will get tons of good advice from this forum. We would love to see some Holden pics soon

[beachgardener]

G'day mate and welcome to the forum

[PJ1]

G'day, Dianna. Yes, lots of Aussies here. I got a K-3 during the Black Friday sales at the end of November when the Pentax Shop (https://www.pentax.com.au/shop) offered 15% off for one day. It brought the K-3 body down to $934 which is comparable with U.S pricing when the dollar is taken into account. Pentax Australia does not cover overseas purchases under warranty and Australian consumer law doesn't either, so shopping at home is probably safer for major purchases. Also, the Pentax Shop often has the lowest prices in Australia. If you register on their site they will email you when "specials" are on. Post some pics soon. The K20D is a nice camera anyway.

[NZ_Ross]

G'Day, and welcome to the forum from the other side of the ditch.

DA15mm is a very good wide angle and one of my favourites, the DA 21mm is also good.

[Docrwm]

Welcome Aboard. My favorite wide angle is the DA15 - very pleasant lens with vibrant color and great micro-constrast.

[Des]

Welcome from another country Victorian, Dianna.

As for the wide angle lens, a few questions for more targetted advice: What lenses do you have already? How wide do you need? Zoom or prime? What do you intend to use it for? Manual focus or autofocus?

When you go wider than about 16mm there is a lot more distortion, especially at the edges of the image. This can be used to effect, or corrected in software, but (if you'll pardon the pun) there is a learning curve.

Ultrawides are great fun though. I love my Pentax DA 12-24.

[camerasup]

Greetings and welcome! I just got started with a K20d. What can I do to better understand my camera?

[Des]

Greetings and welcome! I just got started with a K20d. What can I do to better understand my camera?

It's a great camera.

At the risk of sounding glib, start by reading the manual carefully:
http://c2b6d376b97bcc466063-5420c200a1f030d1394a9548df6eadbd.r5.cf2.rackcdn....310_manual.pdf
I find it handy to have a copy of my camera's manual on my smartphone for reference.

One tip. Try using exposure bracketing (with increments of half a stop or two-thirds of a stop), at least until you come to understand how the camera is likely to expose in particular lighting.

[Alweyn]

Welcome from another country Victorian, Dianna.

As for the wide angle lens, a few questions for more targetted advice: What lenses do you have already? How wide do you need? Zoom or prime? What do you intend to use it for? Manual focus or autofocus?

When you go wider than about 16mm there is a lot more distortion, especially at the edges of the image. This can be used to effect, or corrected in software, but (if you'll pardon the pun) there is a learning curve.

Ultrawides are great fun though. I love my Pentax DA 12-24.

Thanks for the Welcome Guys,
I have the kit lenses- sigma 18-50mm, sigma 55-200mm and purchased sigma 100-300mm for sport.
I have no real idea what I am looking for- Des your shots are what I plan to do- I have started four wheel driving and love the bush and heading off on a weekend shoot with Facebook group in Feb to Wilson's Prom.
I have put the manual on the computer and Ipad and refer to it constantly.
I took this photo playing around last week of a park in my home town- Sigma 18-50mm

[Des]

I have the kit lenses- sigma 18-50mm, sigma 55-200mm and purchased sigma 100-300mm for sport.
I have no real idea what I am looking for- Des your shots are what I plan to do- I have started four wheel driving and love the bush ...

Well you've got a wide range of focal lengths there, although the 18-50 and 55-200 are nothing special.
https://www.pentaxforums.com/userreviews/sigma-18-50mm-f3-5-5-6-dc.html
https://www.pentaxforums.com/userreviews/sigma-55-200mm-f4-5-6-dc.html

If the 100-300 is the f4 version, it's a bit of a legend; if (as is more likely) its the f4.5-6.7 version, it's OK but also pretty average.
https://www.pentaxforums.com/userreviews/sigma-100-300mm-f4-5-6-7-dl.html

Frankly I wouldn't bother getting a K-3 without getting some better lenses to put on it. You'll get a much bigger improvement in your photos from a well-spent grand on lenses than from spending the money on a new camera body.

Incidentally, I expect the K-3 will be replaced this year and the price will plummet.

So the question is, which lens(es)?

With my first digital SLR (K100D Super) I had a Tamron 18-250 superzoom as my only lens for 6 years. I found the versatility was great and I loved the convenience of not having to change lenses (after 25 years of swapping lenses on my old Canon film SLR). Most of my photography is nature.

After a while I found that I took a disproportionate number of shots at either the widest or longest focal length (18 or 250mm), so that told me I needed something wider and something longer. So I got an ultrawide zoom (Pentax DA 12-24) and a long lens (Sigma 170-500) for birds and animals. I have since added other lenses that matched my preferences.

The point of this story is that if you've been using your lenses for a while you will find you have preferences for particular types of shots and particular focal lengths (they might be quite different to mine). For nature photography this could be a wide angle for wide panoramas or tall trees, macro for insects and flowers, a fast lens (ie wide maximum aperture) for isolating the subject or long lenses for birds or wildlife.

I'd suggest you look back over your photos and see at what focal lengths and apertures you shoot the most. There is a free program called Exposure Plot that will do this for you (by looking at the EXIF information, that is, data embedded in each photo): ExposurePlot jpg exif lens length analyzer for photographers

If you find you take a lot of shots at or near a particular focal length, it is worth considering getting a prime lens at about that focal length. The extra resolution and speed can be amazing. If you can live with manual focus there is a wealth of great value legacy lenses out there. One example is the Pentax-A 50mm f1.7, which is common, and cheap at around $70-80. It's a little gem. Here's a sample from that lens:


The colour rendering is lovely and it is very sharp (although prone to flare and chromatic aberrations such as purple fringing).

There are others in the Pentax-A series which might suit you too. The older K and M series lenses are generally even cheaper, although they require the aperture to be set manually.

If you prefer autofocus, the Pentax DA 35mm f2.4 and DA 50mm f1.8 - the plastic fantastics - are lightweight, cheap and fast. You can't go wrong with either.

There is a wealth of more expensive options. The Limited series (15, 21, 35 Macro, 40, 70) and the famous three amigos (FA 31, 43 and 77) being standouts.

It's worth considering some kind of macro option for close-ups of flowers and insects. Ideally a specialist macro lens (the Pentax DFA 100 is the bee's knees), but there are many other cheap options such as close filters, extension tubes and lens reversal.

Now, wide angles. This is where the legacy lens options are not plentiful, because what was wide angle on a film camera (24mm or 28mm, occasionally 20mm) is not very wide on a Pentax digital camera.

You don't necessarily need a wide angle lens to get a panorama. It is possible to take a series of photos with a longer lens and stitch them together instead. See this thread for info and examples: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/10-pentax-slr-lens-discussion/283936-lens...andscapes.html But this can't always replace a wide-angle lens.

The DA 15mm and DA 21mm Limited lenses are highly regarded, if rather pricey. Personally, though, I prefer the convenience of a zoom for wide angles, because often (e.g. in a dense forest or a building) you can't "zoom with your feet" as you need to do with a prime.

Wide zooms can be divided into three categories:
- Wide-normal: Lenses starting at about 16mm. (This is a lot wider than 18mm.) Examples are the Pentax DA 16-45, DA*16-50 and the new DA 16-85. Any of these lenses would be a worthwhile upgrade from your 18-50. Many people don't need to go wider. The 16-45 is a good value option, the 16-50 is a premium lens (and weatherproof), the 16-85 has just been released and is something of an unknown quantity.
- Ultrawide: Rectilinear lenses wider than 16mm. Sigma 8-16 aside, most of these span about 10-24mm. Great comparative reviews here: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/10-pentax-slr-lens-discussion/187730-ulti...omparison.html Pentax 12-24 shades the others for quality, but is more expensive. The Sigmas and Tamron are good value.
- Fisheye: Example is the Pentax 10-17. These are said to be a lot of fun, although I think the novelty would soon wear off. You can remove the fishiness with post-processing, but why bother?

Before getting any of these, think about what sort of kit you want in the end. For example, you could pair a 10-24 or 12-24 with one of the good 24-xx or 28-xx zooms (e.g. Pentax FA 24-90, Sigma 28-70, Tamron 28-75) as a wide-moderate tele kit. Or, for a premium option, the 16-50 with the 60-250 or 50-135. Or, for a budget option, you could get the 16-45, DA 50 f1.8 (or Pentax-A 50mm f1.7) and DA-L 55-300 for less than $600 all up - high quality for low price.

I took this photo playing around last week of a park in my home town- Sigma 18-50mm

Nice shot, well composed, good colours. The rotunda is very photogenic.

... heading off on a weekend shoot with Facebook group in Feb to Wilson's Prom.

You'll love it. I'm biased but I reckon the Prom is one of the most photogenic places in Victoria. Here are some shots with my superzoom lens.

[Kerrowdown]

I'm the only Pentax user in the group of over 400

Welcome aboard, aye but don't that make you feel special.

[Alweyn]

Well you've got a wide range of focal lengths there, although the 18-50 and 55-200 are nothing special.
Sigma 18-50mm F3.5-5.6 DC Lens Reviews - Sigma Lenses - Pentax Lens Review Database
Sigma 55-200mm F4-5.6 DC Lens Reviews - Sigma Lenses - Pentax Lens Review Database

If the 100-300 is the f4 version, it's a bit of a legend; if (as is more likely) its the f4.5-6.7 version, it's OK but also pretty average.
Sigma 100-300mm F4.5-6.7 DL Lens Reviews - Sigma Lenses - Pentax Lens Review Database

Frankly I wouldn't bother getting a K-3 without getting some better lenses to put on it. You'll get a much bigger improvement in your photos from a well-spent grand on lenses than from spending the money on a new camera body.

Incidentally, I expect the K-3 will be replaced this year and the price will plummet.

So the question is, which lens(es)?

With my first digital SLR (K100D Super) I had a Tamron 18-250 superzoom as my only lens for 6 years. I found the versatility was great and I loved the convenience of not having to change lenses (after 25 years of swapping lenses on my old Canon film SLR). Most of my photography is nature.

After a while I found that I took a disproportionate number of shots at either the widest or longest focal length (18 or 250mm), so that told me I needed something wider and something longer. So I got an ultrawide zoom (Pentax DA 12-24) and a long lens (Sigma 170-500) for birds and animals. I have since added other lenses that matched my preferences.

The point of this story is that if you've been using your lenses for a while you will find you have preferences for particular types of shots and particular focal lengths (they might be quite different to mine). For nature photography this could be a wide angle for wide panoramas or tall trees, macro for insects and flowers, a fast lens (ie wide maximum aperture) for isolating the subject or long lenses for birds or wildlife.

I'd suggest you look back over your photos and see at what focal lengths and apertures you shoot the most. There is a free program called Exposure Plot that will do this for you (by looking at the EXIF information, that is, data embedded in each photo): ExposurePlot jpg exif lens length analyzer for photographers

If you find you take a lot of shots at or near a particular focal length, it is worth considering getting a prime lens at about that focal length. The extra resolution and speed can be amazing. If you can live with manual focus there is a wealth of great value legacy lenses out there. One example is the Pentax-A 50mm f1.7, which is common, and cheap at around $70-80. It's a little gem. Here's a sample from that lens:


The colour rendering is lovely and it is very sharp (although prone to flare and chromatic aberrations such as purple fringing).

There are others in the Pentax-A series which might suit you too. The older K and M series lenses are generally even cheaper, although they require the aperture to be set manually.

If you prefer autofocus, the Pentax DA 35mm f2.4 and DA 50mm f1.8 - the plastic fantastics - are lightweight, cheap and fast. You can't go wrong with either.

There is a wealth of more expensive options. The Limited series (15, 21, 35 Macro, 40, 70) and the famous three amigos (FA 31, 43 and 77) being standouts.

It's worth considering some kind of macro option for close-ups of flowers and insects. Ideally a specialist macro lens (the Pentax DFA 100 is the bee's knees), but there are many other cheap options such as close filters, extension tubes and lens reversal.

Now, wide angles. This is where the legacy lens options are not plentiful, because what was wide angle on a film camera (24mm or 28mm, occasionally 20mm) is not very wide on a Pentax digital camera.

The DA 15mm and DA 21mm Limited lenses are highly regarded, if rather pricey. Personally, though, I prefer the convenience of a zoom for wide angles, because often (e.g. in a dense forest or a building) you can't "zoom with your feet" as you need to do with a prime.

Wide zooms can be divided into three categories:
- Wide-normal: Lenses starting at about 16mm. (This is a lot wider than 18mm.) Examples are the Pentax DA 16-45, DA*16-50 and the new DA 16-85. Any of these lenses would be a worthwhile upgrade from your 18-50. Many people don't need to go wider. (It is possible to take a series of photos with a longer lens and stitch them together instead.) The 16-45 is a good value option, the 16-50 is a premium lens (and weatherproof), the 16-85 has just been released and is something of an unknown quantity.
- Ultrawide: Rectilinear lenses wider than 16mm. Sigma 8-16 aside, most of these span about 10-24mm. Great comparative reviews here: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/10-pentax-slr-lens-discussion/187730-ulti...omparison.html Pentax 12-24 shades the others for quality, but is more expensive. The Sigmas and Tamron are good value.
- Fisheye: Example is the Pentax 10-17. These are said to be a lot of fun, although I think the novelty would soon wear off. You can remove the fishiness with post-processing, but why bother?

Before getting any of these, think about what sort of kit you want in the end. For example, you could pair a 10-24 or 12-24 with one of the good 24-xx or 28-xx zooms (e.g. Pentax FA 24-90, Sigma 28-70, Tamron 28-75) as a wide-moderate tele kit. Or, for a premium option, the 16-50 with the 60-250 or 50-135. Or, for a budget option, you could get the 16-45, DA 50 f.18 and DA-L 55-300 for less than $600 all up.


Nice shot, well composed, good colours. The rotunda is very photogenic.


You'll love it. I'm biased but I reckon the Prom is one of the most photogenic places in Victoria.

Des you have just made my life easier, I have been pondering over lenses now for weeks and weeks, you have given me some great info to think about.
I don't get out much as my husband is fighting cancer and my daughter has chronic back pain so I am not getting out as much as I would like on top of working, hospitals and doctors. Yes money is limited and I thought that getting new lenses would be a better option before a new camera body- I have 2 k20d's, Just needed some guidance too what!
Yeah the 300 is 4.5-6.7 - don't use it much now as I'm coaching football instead of watching my daughter play.
I have my eye on the PENTAX 16-45mm. I would like to go better but funds are limited at the moment. I am aiming 1 new lens each quarter. That's the plan anyway.

Yes first time shooting the Rotunda, been living here 20 years and only got to it the other day. hmm need more time in the day.

I am looking forward to the prom, hoping to get some great shots. Last time I was at the Prom I was doing work experience and walked the south, west and half of the north coast measuring tracks in the week I was there, missed out seeing the lighthouse by "that much"!.