Originally posted by northmole In your opinions, what lenses would have great bokeh for close to medium portrait shots with the k-30?
Still trying to decide if I should just get the kit 18-55??? Or maybe the Sigma 28mm f/1.8 EX DG Aspherical Macro? Any thoughts?
THANKS!!!!
I bought the WR version of the kit lens with my K-7. I have many other lenses (don't actually know how many at the moment) but the kit lens is useful for general purpose, and the cheapest WR option. I might skip the L version if that's your only package option with the camera, just because the WR version is good to have for its sealing.
For me, 28mm is too wide for portraits - I have to be too close. The Sigma might be an intimidating size to some subjects. I'd agree with other posters that 50-55mm is a good starting point and conveniently has a ton of lenses in every type. You can go with new, old, sealed, SDM, third-party, macro, extremely fast, M42, AF, whatever features you want, there's something there. I like manual focus lenses such as the SMC Pentax 55mm f1.8, a manual focus Sigma 50mm f2.8 macro, or an SMC Pentax-A 50mm f1.4. If I need AF, I have the SMC Pentax-F 50mm f.7. I like 35mm too for closer stuff (SMC Pentax FA 35mm f2.0), but at 35mm you only have a handful of choices.
Buying the kit lens first allows you to try out a lot of these common focal lengths first to see for yourself whether they work. You could set it to say 28 or 35 or 50mm and see how far away your subject is, how much of the person is in the frame, the depth of field, etc. You may eventually go to another lens for better image quality but the kit lens can save you from buying three or four of them to find one that works best for you.