[dugrant153]

So I've finally reached a point where I think I've begun to outgrow my K100D. I have the DA*16-50 and the DA*50-135, and various primes and I'm using them all to great effect. Most importantly, I've found that I've been taking better pictures (better composition, etc... thanks for all the tips on that other thread!) and now I think it's time to take it up a notch and get a slightly better camera body or a set of nice lenses.

This Christmas, I'm budgeting myself to a certain budget (about $500 greens), which has led me to two options. However, I think I need some extra opinions of people to help me figure this all out:


Option 1) Purchase a K200D and use my DA* lenses (and my current primes when I feel like it).

The reason I've even thought about getting the K200D is to finally make use of the SDM in the DA* lenses. Right now, on my k100d non-SDM, they're all run on screw drive, and occasionally my DA*16-50 misses focus (other times, it's tack sharp. I'll have to investigate and see if the K200D fixes this). I've been reading some reviews of the K200D and it looks like a really decent upgrade ESPECIALLY for the price now (supposedly this price will only be around until Dec 31, 2008?). I've considered the K20D but it's way out of my price range, and I don't really need live view. The Focus adjustment option would be nice though for some of my lenses.


Option 2) Purchase the FA35 F/2 used (if I can find one for a decent price) and FA 50 F1.4 (new) to create a nice prime kit. Continue to use the K100D for a while longer.

This will depend if I can find an FA35 F/2 for cheap, otherwise I'll be using my DA*16-50 for my walk around (or my DA40 perhaps if I don't feel like lugging around a big massive camera). If I can't find an FA35 for cheap, I won't go this route. I like primes quite a bit, and right now I use a concoction of an A lens, an M lens, a Sigma lens and a DA Limited, and am thinking of getting some decent FA lenses to create a 'consistent' prime kit. Although, I could live with using various lenses... hmm...

Anyways, this dilemma has been on my mind all day today and just thought I'd flesh it out. I love going to this community with my thoughts cuz you folks give some great opinions that help me figure things out. Thanks for taking the time to give your advice and opinions , and hope you don't mind my occasional mind rants on this forum!




(Side note: What happened to all Pentax-A prime lens setup I was thinking? I've decided to go a different route after some experimentation. But that's for a different post)

So I've finally reached a point where I think I've begun to outgrow my K100D. I have the DA*16-50 and the DA*50-135, and various primes and I'm using them all to great effect. Most importantly, I've found that I've been taking better pictures (better composition, etc... thanks for all the tips on that other thread!) and now I think it's time to take it up a notch and get a slightly better camera body or a set of nice lenses.

This Christmas, I'm budgeting myself to a certain budget (about $500 greens), which has led me to two options. However, I think I need some extra opinions of people to help me figure this all out:


Option 1) Purchase a K200D and use my DA* lenses (and my current primes when I feel like it).

The reason I've even thought about getting the K200D is to finally make use of the SDM in the DA* lenses. Right now, on my k100d non-SDM, they're all run on screw drive, and occasionally my DA*16-50 misses focus (other times, it's tack sharp. I'll have to investigate and see if the K200D fixes this). I've been reading some reviews of the K200D and it looks like a really decent upgrade ESPECIALLY for the price now (supposedly this price will only be around until Dec 31, 2008?). I've considered the K20D but it's way out of my price range, and I don't really need live view. The Focus adjustment option would be nice though for some of my lenses.


Option 2) Purchase the FA35 F/2 used (if I can find one for a decent price) and FA 50 F1.4 (new) to create a nice prime kit. Continue to use the K100D for a while longer.

This will depend if I can find an FA35 F/2 for cheap, otherwise I'll be using my DA*16-50 for my walk around (or my DA40 perhaps if I don't feel like lugging around a big massive camera). If I can't find an FA35 for cheap, I won't go this route. I like primes quite a bit, and right now I use a concoction of an A lens, an M lens, a Sigma lens and a DA Limited, and am thinking of getting some decent FA lenses to create a 'consistent' prime kit. Although, I could live with using various lenses... hmm...

Anyways, this dilemma has been on my mind all day today and just thought I'd flesh it out. I love going to this community with my thoughts cuz you folks give some great opinions that help me figure things out. Thanks for taking the time to give your advice and opinions , and hope you don't mind my occasional mind rants on this forum!




(Side note: What happened to all Pentax-A prime lens setup I was thinking? I've decided to go a different route after some experimentation. But that's for a different post)

Have you thought about getting the FA35 new and buying an older 50mm lens, that might be a cheaper alternative if you can work with manual focus.

[soccerjoe5]

I'm guessing you have the DA40, you can sell the DA40, buy the K200D and the FA35/2 and skip the 50 for now

[dugrant153]

I have thought about getting the FA35 new and then using my A 50 F1.7, but the cost of a new FA35 (atleast for me as a Canadian) is pretty expensive... especially for an older lens! I think this is mainly due to limited stock and the currency exchange unfortunately...

I've also considered selling the DA40 Ltd, but there's something about it that has me keeping it. It just has so much "character" that I can't part with it! I think it's partly all the *Gasps* I get when people don't realize that there IS a lens on the camera body. haha

[iqbals]

new lens or k20d..

[axl]

have you though about getting K10D (they still can be had even new, and for amazing money) and used FA35?
check this:
Pentax K10D Digital SLR Cameras - Digital SLR Cameras - SRS Microsystems
BR
Peter

[Mountain Vision]

Get the FA 35...it's a great lens, and even brand new it sells for under $300 shipped right now (well I've seen it that low on occasion)

I've seen them used for almost $200 (which is markedly off the price I sold mine for on this forum last year, which is making me feel like I made the right choice even if I rebuy the lens)!

So I'd go 35mm FA, and buy a K10D used for around $350-450!

[junkdon]

I've recently upgraded from the K100 to the K200 as I broke my k100 . I don't have any lenses that use SDM, but the $ wouldn't have justified the upgrade for me had my K100 still been working fine. It's nice to have the in camera RAW->JPEG development, and weather sealing, but I don't use either that much.

On the other hand, the FA35/2 is a great lens, I get more keepers with it than any other , and the FA50/1.4 is also excellent, especially for people and indoors - I'm still very much a learner photographer, but friends with kids love the photos of their kids with the 50.

I've just bought a DA 16-45 - if I didn't have to upgrade the camera, I'd have spent the extra and gone for a DA*16-50 like yours.

So in your situation I'd spend the money on the 35 and 50. Just my opinion. Mind you, I think I may have early symptoms of LBA.

Don

[creampuff]

You got 2 good zooms.
Get the K20D and you will be even happier with them.

[calicojack]

Buy the K20, sell the K100, let the dust settle and check the wallet to qualify the additional lens price.

[Bart]

Normally I would say lenses first, body second unless you experience some limitation from your current body.
You, on the other hand, already have a nice set of lenses at your disposal, zooms and primes.
Perhaps you are beginning to find the manual focusing cumbersume?
So, it really depends on your answer: which do you find the most restrictive factor in you current set-up: the body or the manual primes?

You could also hang on to your budget and save up for a more substantial upgrade later on ( radical approach, I know ).

[Jasvox]

There is an FA35/2 for sale in the Marketplace right now for $235....wont see them much or any cheaper than that.

Jas

[Big Dave]

Dugrant,
Marketplace has 35/2's for sale several times a week. I just seen one go for $235USD, but it was us only. They usually go for about $280USD.

Dave

Option 2) Purchase the FA35 F/2 used (if I can find one for a decent price) and FA 50 F1.4 (new) to create a nice prime kit. Continue to use the K100D for a while longer. different post)

[Kerrowdown]

Bodies come and go, good glass is forever, well with Pentax it's still usable in some form or other.

[Ratmagiclady]

Under the circumstances, I'd say either go for the glass or for the K20d: while I agree glass is more important at any given moment, repeated body upgrades can take away from this in the long run.

So I'd say get one or the other done right while you have a little chunk.

(Also, AXL has a point: I wasn't expecting to come into a K20d, and I was basically saving for either a K200d or a used K10, whichever came in reach first, and with a strong preference toward the K10d: with these prices, though, the K20d was a great opportunity for even a poor girl, given a little bit of a gear-trading windfall, (I had one of those lucky thrift-store finds you think only happens to someone else. ) ... this machine is where I hoped to be in a couple years with my usual sort of riding-behind the tech curve. I very rarely can plunk down a lump sum, and if I have such a sum and need something, I'm rarely inclined to split it up: it's far easier to scrape up a while for a three-hundred dollar item or scrounge smaller ones, than accumulate any savings. So it's the old 'pay for what you want or pay multiple times' thing.

The way it is for me is, if I need a lens that can do a job, somehow I'll find a way. Getting over the hump to a digital body and glass that'd make it really useful held me back a long while. But once I had the chance, bang, K20d, and bang, put a 50 1.4 on there. Useful low-light high-ISO (the way people compare brands, you'd think Pentax was painting on cliff walls, but this is well over the line into *useful.* Ever shot film at these speeds? ) plenty-big-files-to-crop-on goodness. I tend to think of these sorts of things in terms of plateaus: being just short of one of those spots isn't much different from being a way further back on the same slope. )