[GR Jim]

Hi everyone,

I'm Jim, from Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S. I just joined the Pentax forum tonight for a couple of reasons: 1) to gain insight into the use of Pentax gear specifically and how to use it for certain types of shooting, and 2) to chat with others who are enthusiastic about the Pentax brand.

I'm an old film shooter using exclusively Nikon equipment up to this point. I primarily shoot landscape and nature scenes, although I get a little creative at times with some street scenes. I've won some awards at art shows, done some professional work with conventional photography and giclee art, been annoyingly behind my camera when on vacations, blah blah blah. I'm sure many of you can empathize with that. But what prompted me to join this forum is the firm decision I made to purchase a Pentax K-70 (after I sell all my Nikon camera and lenses on eBay). What prompted that was another decision I recently made to spend my 40th wedding anniversary celebration in Arizona...with my wife, of course. I split my childhood between San Diego and Hawaii (Oahu) and got to know and fall in love with Arizona. My wife has never been there and she agreed to my "bucket list" trip to get back to my childhood a little and visit Sedona, the Grand Canyon, Meteor Crater, Petrified Forest, the Hopi reservation, and other places for a week. In fact, we're taking an Amtrak train down there, which should also be exciting. I decided that I need to get rid of my old Nikon film gear and get a good, modern, and very capable DSLR for the trip. I thought about going with a Nikon DSLR but thought I'd check the alternatives and found the K-70. I was totally blown away with its quality, features, and relatively affordable price for the body and glass. It's head and shoulders above the Nikon 5300 that I was originally considering.

To keep things light and simple, I'm only getting two lenses for the trip...the Pentax 14mm f2.8 prime and the Pentax 50mm f1.8 prime. Since 90% of my shooting will be wide open landscape shots, those should suffice with the 1.5x crop factor. But any advice I can get on using the camera and lenses for razor-sharp landscape shooting, plus some astrophotography out in the desert, would be great. In the coming year, I look forward to some good discussions along that vein. I also purchased the eBook for the K-70 after joining the forum, so that's a start.

Anyway, I've rambled on far too long. I'll just wrap it up by saying 'Hi' and I'm glad I'm here.

Regards,

Jim

[Sandy Hancock]

Welcome Jim!

To address your upcoming travel - the DA14 and DA50 are both excellent lenses. If you wanted a versatile, weather sealed, compact and high quality lens to bridge the substantial gap between your existing lenses, consider the DA20-40 Limited Zoom.

Enjoy your trip

[Unregistered User 8]

Hi Jim, welcome from Australia. Looking forward to seeing your images on the forums.

[ffking]

Hi Jim - welcome from the UK - you'll get some great discussions here OK

[microlight]

Hi Jim, welcome from the south of England. Great introductory story! My wife and I did a road trip in Arizona and Nevada about ten years ago, hitting all the spots you mentioned. I second Sandy's recommendation for the 20-40 Limited, if your budget can stretch to it.

[PJ1]

Hi Jim. Another welcome from Australia. Good luck sticking to just two lenses. Unless you are super-human, the Forums will reshape your wants and needs very quickly.

[aslyfox]

Hi everyone,

I'm Jim, from Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S. I just joined the Pentax forum tonight for a couple of reasons: 1) to gain insight into the use of Pentax gear specifically and how to use it for certain types of shooting, and 2) to chat with others who are enthusiastic about the Pentax brand. . . .

welcome to the forums

you will find friendly members and a lot of knowledge here so I think you have come to the right place

enjoy your trip and the Pentax gear

if the predictions of others about becoming interested in more Pentax lenses become reality

be sure to check out the forums' marketplace which can be sorted by country

[GR Jim]

Welcome Jim!

To address your upcoming travel - the DA14 and DA50 are both excellent lenses. If you wanted a versatile, weather sealed, compact and high quality lens to bridge the substantial gap between your existing lenses, consider the DA20-40 Limited Zoom.

Enjoy your trip

Thank you very much, Sandy. I've been looking at that 20-40mm lens for gap-filling and it will definitely be on my list after I return from the trip.

---------- Post added 08-31-20 at 06:46 AM ----------

Hi Jim, welcome from Australia. Looking forward to seeing your images on the forums.

Thank you, Peter. I look forward to seeing everyone else's work with their Pentax cameras. I just have to poke around the forum and get to know it. Once I start using the K-70, I'll post a few images. After the trip, there will be quite a few more.

---------- Post added 08-31-20 at 06:47 AM ----------

Hi Jim - welcome from the UK - you'll get some great discussions here OK

Thanks,ffking. I look forward to those discussions.

---------- Post added 08-31-20 at 06:51 AM ----------

Hi Jim, welcome from the south of England. Great introductory story! My wife and I did a road trip in Arizona and Nevada about ten years ago, hitting all the spots you mentioned. I second Sandy's recommendation for the 20-40 Limited, if your budget can stretch to it.

Thank you, Martyn. I'll be needing a lens like the 20-40mm as I wander around my home state of Michigan after the Arizona trip. My interest in photography has been resurrected after being largely dormant in the past few years while I pursue my Ph.D. and remain busy teaching university students (I'm a computer technology professor).

---------- Post added 08-31-20 at 06:55 AM ----------

Hi Jim. Another welcome from Australia. Good luck sticking to just two lenses. Unless you are super-human, the Forums will reshape your wants and needs very quickly.

Oh, I'm sure I'll be getting more lenses. For this first trip, though, I wanted to remain highly transportable and to prove a point to myself that I can remain "minimalistic" for once. I've always been one to lug around a lot of gear, which gets in the way and adds too much stress to traveling. I also wanted prime lenses rather than the zooms I usually prefer, just for the sheer quality of the images. But once I'm back, it's no-holds-barred.

---------- Post added 08-31-20 at 06:58 AM ----------

welcome to the forums

you will find friendly members and a lot of knowledge here so I think you have come to the right place

enjoy your trip and the Pentax gear

if the predictions of others about becoming interested in more Pentax lenses become reality

be sure to check out the forums' marketplace which can be sorted by country

Thanks, aslyfox. I'll check out the marketplace when I get a chance.

[Kerrowdown]

Welcome aboard, looking forward to seeing your imagery

[GR Jim]

Hi Jim. Another welcome from Australia. Good luck sticking to just two lenses. Unless you are super-human, the Forums will reshape your wants and needs very quickly.

Hi PJ1. Since I joined I've been doing a ton of research about what appears to be a "unicorn" lens...a beautiful fictional creature. I don't want much; just perfection ;-) Anyway, I need a lens that is f2.8 at the slowest, ultra wide (12mm to 15mm), tack-sharp across the entire frame, minimal distortion and CA, and costs less than $500 US. A Pentax/Ricoh-built lens is preferred, but I've owned other brands over the years and I'm impressed with Sigma and Tokina. I've never owned (or afforded) Zeiss or any of the other German lenses.

I will be using it primarily for wide vista landscapes (Grand Canyon, for example) and astrophotography. While I'm in Arizona, I can't pass up the chance for Milky Way shots in the clear desert night air.

The 20-40mm is not wide enough for me, both for landscape and astro work. I've been looking deeply at the Sigma 17-70mm f2.8 to 4 (the new generation), but it suffers from softness and significant CA and distortion. The Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II LD appears good, and it's more affordable, but it has wonky focusing problems with accuracy and inconsistency. It would be too unreliable as my primary glass.

Unfortunately, my original option of the Pentax 14mm f2.8 has too many poor professional reviews. The other lens I was looking at, the Pentax 50mm f1.8, is still a viable option for me, though. Like I said earlier, I won't be shooting much at 75mm (equivalent).

So I'm still looking for that WA lens. Maybe I'll use different unicorn bait, or a bigger net. Any advice from users of WA lenses with the K-70, used for landscape and astrophotography, would be greatly appreciated.

[ramseybuckeye]

Hi PJ1. Since I joined I've been doing a ton of research about what appears to be a "unicorn" lens...a beautiful fictional creature. I don't want much; just perfection ;-) Anyway, I need a lens that is f2.8 at the slowest, ultra wide (12mm to 15mm), tack-sharp across the entire frame, minimal distortion and CA, and costs less than $500 US. A Pentax/Ricoh-built lens is preferred, but I've owned other brands over the years and I'm impressed with Sigma and Tokina. I've never owned (or afforded) Zeiss or any of the other German lenses.

I will be using it primarily for wide vista landscapes (Grand Canyon, for example) and astrophotography. While I'm in Arizona, I can't pass up the chance for Milky Way shots in the clear desert night air.

The 20-40mm is not wide enough for me, both for landscape and astro work. I've been looking deeply at the Sigma 17-70mm f2.8 to 4 (the new generation), but it suffers from softness and significant CA and distortion. The Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 XR Di-II LD appears good, and it's more affordable, but it has wonky focusing problems with accuracy and inconsistency. It would be too unreliable as my primary glass.

Unfortunately, my original option of the Pentax 14mm f2.8 has too many poor professional reviews. The other lens I was looking at, the Pentax 50mm f1.8, is still a viable option for me, though. Like I said earlier, I won't be shooting much at 75mm (equivalent).

So I'm still looking for that WA lens. Maybe I'll use different unicorn bait, or a bigger net. Any advice from users of WA lenses with the K-70, used for landscape and astrophotography, would be greatly appreciated.

Don't get too overly concerned with professional reviews, on this site are user reviews which are a lot more valuable in my opinion, they're more likely to let any bias be transparent, and it's more than a whirlwind sampling of the lens. Pepperberry Farm (a user here) loves the 14 and he's a very good photographer that is always trying new lenses out. I have the DA 15 which is a very good lens also, however for landscapes I'll more often use the DA20-40 or the DA55-300 PLM. I did have the Sigma 17-50, which is a very good lens, but sold it after getting the 20-40, the image quality was such an improvement that the 17-19 lengths weren't missed at all. I formerly had a Tamron 10-24 but found I used it very little after getting the DA15, again going for IQ over versatility. I use the 15 when I want more of a vista view, or have a nice foreground object to include. I haven't done any Astro so I have no opinions there.

Welcome to the forums, enjoy that new K-70, I feel coming directly from film you are going to love things like shake reduction for handheld shots, composing in liveview while using a tripod, and a lot of other things too.

[Sandy Hancock]

So I'm still looking for that WA lens. Maybe I'll use different unicorn bait, or a bigger net. Any advice from users of WA lenses with the K-70, used for landscape and astrophotography, would be greatly appreciated.

If you're willing to use a more expensive net, the DA*11-18 would be perfect for your needs. A forever lens to grow into, not out of.

[mkgd1]

Welcome from Arizona

[GR Jim]

Don't get too overly concerned with professional reviews, on this site are user reviews which are a lot more valuable in my opinion, they're more likely to let any bias be transparent, and it's more than a whirlwind sampling of the lens. Pepperberry Farm (a user here) loves the 14 and he's a very good photographer that is always trying new lenses out. I have the DA 15 which is a very good lens also, however for landscapes I'll more often use the DA20-40 or the DA55-300 PLM. I did have the Sigma 17-50, which is a very good lens, but sold it after getting the 20-40, the image quality was such an improvement that the 17-19 lengths weren't missed at all. I formerly had a Tamron 10-24 but found I used it very little after getting the DA15, again going for IQ over versatility. I use the 15 when I want more of a vista view, or have a nice foreground object to include. I haven't done any Astro so I have no opinions there.

Welcome to the forums, enjoy that new K-70, I feel coming directly from film you are going to love things like shake reduction for handheld shots, composing in liveview while using a tripod, and a lot of other things too.

Hi Tom,

Thank you. That's a good reassurance. I'm glad you're finding both the 20-40mm and 15mm so useful. Another lens I just became incredibly interested in is the Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5. A refurbished copy is available from KEH Camera. I came across a user review of the lens in this forum with some amazing photos and I was convinced. Although it's somewhat slow for astrophotography, the K-70 will overcome that with its great low-noise feature and star tracking. I've never stacked photos before, so that will also be in my game plan.

---------- Post added 09-10-20 at 05:44 AM ----------

If you're willing to use a more expensive net, the DA*11-18 would be perfect for your needs. A forever lens to grow into, not out of.

Thanks, Sandy. That one is on my list too so I'll keep an eye out for great deals for that lens.

---------- Post added 09-10-20 at 05:45 AM ----------

Welcome from Arizona

Arizona is already calling for me! I can't wait to get there.

Thanks!