[Hope9811]

Hi. I am new to Pentax (about 2 months...also my first dslr)....I just bought a used K-x and wanted to get a lens good for portraits. I also purchased an A series 50 1.7 lens which I love so far and was thinking about purchasing an AF lens with the range of 50 to 90 for portraits. I came across this lens on ebay for $70 and purchased it, but I can't seem to find any information on this lens. Anyone know anything about it? I'm wondering if that's not a good sign.....

Anyone own this or know where I can find info on it? There isn't anything in the lens section here for it. If this isn't a good lens, what would you suggest I purchase for portraits....full body, family, and also closer upper body portrait...

Thanks!

[jatrax]

This one perhaps? Sigma 35-135mm F3.5-4.5 Lens Reviews - Sigma Lenses - Pentax Lens Review Database

Hard to recommend without knowing your budget. I use DA 70mm f/2.4 Limited for portraits and love it. The 50mm will also work quite well as a focal length. If you are set on a zoom take a look at the Pentax-F 35-70, it covers a good range and is a nice sharp lens and usually available for less than $100.

I'm not a big fan of the older manual zooms like the one you purchased, in most (but not all) cases those zooms are not as good as newer ones. Older primes on the other hand seem to have held up very well and are in most cases very close in quality to a modern lens.

[Hope9811]

This one perhaps? Sigma 35-135mm F3.5-4.5 Lens Reviews - Sigma Lenses - Pentax Lens Review Database

Hard to recommend without knowing your budget. I use DA 70mm f/2.4 Limited for portraits and love it. The 50mm will also work quite well as a focal length. If you are set on a zoom take a look at the Pentax-F 35-70, it covers a good range and is a nice sharp lens and usually available for less than $100.

I'm not a big fan of the older manual zooms like the one you purchased, in most (but not all) cases those zooms are not as good as newer ones. Older primes on the other hand seem to have held up very well and are in most cases very close in quality to a modern lens.

Thanks....I saw this one listed, but the one I purchased doesn't look anything like this. It's newer and auto focus. I tried to attach a picture, we'll see if it is viewable. :-) I guess if I am unhappy with this lens, I will look into the DA 70mm f/2.4.

Any other lenses that you prefer since I'm just getting started. :-) Which ones are the best value for your money?

I take pictures of a little bit of everything. :-)

Thanks!

[Just1MoreDave]

Pentax had a lens with similar specs, the SMC Pentax-F 35-135mm f3.5-4.5. I found one shortly after the DA 50-135mm f2.8 was released and used it to experiment with the focal range. The Sigma should be great for that. If you were to ask about portrait lenses, people will throw out all the focal lengths covered by it. So just set the lens at 70 or 85 or 105 and see what that looks like. If you find a range where you are getting a framing that you like, subject is comfortable, etc, then you can narrow your search a lot. You can also try to figure out whether the lens is any good on your own. See if you can find flaws or weak spots. You ought to be able to get $70 of knowledge out of it.

Autofocus, 50-90mm and portraits are going to narrow the search quite a bit. There's AF versions of your 50mm f1.7 with the same optical design, probably the cheapest way to go. I have one of these and a 90mm AF macro lens. Macro lenses are good at some portrait tasks and annoying at others, a workable compromise.

[jatrax]

Maybe this one then: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-slr-lens-discussion/114802-sigma-a...y-insight.html

You are right, not much information out there on this one. If you have the time you might write a review for the forum so we have it added to the database.

There are several criteria when asking yourself "what lens":

• The intended use (are you hiking with it? using it in the studio? street photography? is a prime OK or do you prefer zooms?)
• The quality of the images (what quality do you need, family snapshots at the beach? or portraits you are getting paid for?)
• The cost of the lens (generally more money = better quality but it is not linear, so as the quality goes up the cost increase logarithmically)
• The weight of the lens (I love my DA*16-50 but it is a heavy beast, and if I'm just out and about I will usually use a lighter lens)
• Any features that you need (do you need macro? or just close focusing? weather resistance? large aperture? )

So asking "what lens should I get?" Is like asking "What car do I want?" Hard to answer. The better question is "What lens do I want to do xyz with, within this budget?" That can be answered.


But a few reasonably priced general purpose zooms that I like:
Pentax-F 35-70mm f/3.5-4.5
Pentax-FA 28-105mm f/3.2-4.5


But give your Sigma a try and see if you like the results. 35-135 is maybe a little odd focal length on APS-C, I find the 35mm just a little too long for a general walk around lens. If the quality is good enough it might work as a portrait lens though. In general 35-100mm would cover most portrait situations including small groups. For more than a few people though I think you will need to go wider.

[Hope9811]

Maybe this one then: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-slr-lens-discussion/114802-sigma-a...y-insight.html

You are right, not much information out there on this one. If you have the time you might write a review for the forum so we have it added to the database.

There are several criteria when asking yourself "what lens":

• The intended use (are you hiking with it? using it in the studio? street photography? is a prime OK or do you prefer zooms?)
• The quality of the images (what quality do you need, family snapshots at the beach? or portraits you are getting paid for?)
• The cost of the lens (generally more money = better quality but it is not linear, so as the quality goes up the cost increase logarithmically)
• The weight of the lens (I love my DA*16-50 but it is a heavy beast, and if I'm just out and about I will usually use a lighter lens)
• Any features that you need (do you need macro? or just close focusing? weather resistance? large aperture? )

So asking "what lens should I get?" Is like asking "What car do I want?" Hard to answer. The better question is "What lens do I want to do xyz with, within this budget?" That can be answered.


But a few reasonably priced general purpose zooms that I like:
Pentax-F 35-70mm f/3.5-4.5
Pentax-FA 28-105mm f/3.2-4.5


But give your Sigma a try and see if you like the results. 35-135 is maybe a little odd focal length on APS-C, I find the 35mm just a little too long for a general walk around lens. If the quality is good enough it might work as a portrait lens though. In general 35-100mm would cover most portrait situations including small groups. For more than a few people though I think you will need to go wider.

Well it has arrived so I will play with it and see how it does. I'm not sure I like the way the zoom works... slides back and forth instead of turning it to get it to do that function, but I'm sure I can get used to that. I'll let you know how it goes....

[Hope9811]

Wow.....I'm really impressed with the image quality of this lens! It's the sharpest one I now own. My 10 year old son took some pictures of me and my Grandmother and they turned out amazing! What a wonderful investment! So glad I found it and picked it up. It's giving me better pictures than my Pentax 18-250 lens. Lovin' it! If you can find one that looks like the one I posted, I would say grab it. I bought it for portraits and am impressed so far! I can't wait to play with it some more.