[ritualnet]

Hi, bought a cheap K5 body and a 50mm SMC DA 1.8 lens which is nice but I am missing the shorter end of a kit lens at times. I want to get a new lens and am not sure what to go for, is the original kit lens ok or do a third party make a better lens? Is there a go to lens people go for when they grow out of the kit lens?

[mattt]

18-135 is a winner

[TER-OR]

Yeah, 18-135 is a nice walkaround lens, and can perform well.

[Sandy Hancock]

The DA18-135 is an easy choice.

Also consider the DA35/2.4 if you want a fastish normal prime. Like the DA50/1.8, it's dirt cheap and has remarkable image quality.

[Lake]

I started with an 18-55 it lens with my K5. I didn't like the range for an everyday walk-around lens and quickly upgraded to the 18-135 lens. It was worth it and is still my most used lens.

[ritualnet]

135 sounds good. It's about £200 which isn't too bad. The 35 sounds good too. I'll give it a try. Shame there's no shops that sell pentax by me otherwise I'd give it a try out!

[othar]

I bought the DA-L 18-55mm lens new with my K-3 in 2014.
It does ok with nearer objects but when you go near infinity focus it gets a little too mushy for my taste, especially in the corners (at 18mm). It is my only WR lens and my only lens in the 18-35mm range (after that my Primes and my other zoom lenses take over and for wider views I have the Samyang 8mm fisheye) so I still use it and you can get reasonable results with this lens but if I had to chose a kit lens today I would probably go for the newer DA 16-85mm or the DA 20-40mm lenses if you can spare the money.
The Tamron and Sigma lenses in that focal range might be a more butget friendly alternative but I would suggest at least one WR lens to go with your camera body, just in case.
That beeing said I probably won't part with my 18-55mm lens so soon because now that I have a WR lens my LBA can concentrate purely on IQ, max aperture and curiosities.

Finally some examples with my DA-L 18-55mm lens:

[Saltwater Images]

Just to mix things up here's another suggestion. Find a used DA 21 Limited. I have seen used DA 21 (green ring) lenses go for $300 - $399 Canadian (180 - 240 UK pounds). If I could only own one lens...it would be the DA 21. My standard kit contains 5 primes (15/21/40/70/100). The 21 is the one that is on the camera 80% of the time - it's an excellent walk-around lens and decent indoors too. Below are a couple of Pentax Photo Gallery Links to a variety of images shot with 21 Limited lenses.

Pentax Photo Gallery HD DA 21 (red ring) Limited: http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/photos/gallery/query?camera=&lens=4092#/grid

Pentax Photo Gallery DA 21 (green ring) Limited: http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/photos/gallery/query?camera=&lens=80

[quh86]

+1 for the 21mm. Focal length-wise its similar to Smartphone cameras, which i think is very suitable for most applications. It is my most used lens. I would recommend getting the green ring-version. its cheaper on ebay (~300 eur) and gives you great looking starbursts

[SpecialK]

Think about other lenses you may want, too, so you don't overlap too much.

For the wide end I would suggest the 12-24. It is the lens I always recommend in the "What lens to take to...?" threads. Some people complain about the size but it is mostly hood :-) A used one can be had for under $500. Thought the Limiteds are nice, the 12-24 is wider than the 15 and longer than the 21 and you get the additional flexibility with excellent IQ.

[Saltwater Images]

For the wide end I would suggest the 12-24. It is the lens I always recommend in the "What lens to take to...?" threads.

SpecialK has a good point on the flexibility of the DA 12-24. I seriously considered it before purchasing the HD DA 15. The Limited's have a unique "drawing style" AKA "Pixie Dust" and it's addictive. The problem with buying a Limited is that you'll get hooked and suffer from terrible Lens Buying Addiction (you'll want all the Limited's - heck you'll even dream about them)! I just ordered the HD DA 35 to round out my stable of 5 workhorses! Now I'm looking at the HD DA 20-40! I don't need it! I have the focal lengths covered! I can't help myself! It's a Limited!

If you want to avoid LBA - the 12-24 may be your answer.

[SpecialK]

If you want to avoid LBA - the 12-24 may be your answer.

That is true; however, I bought the 15/21/40/70 all at the same time so I would not have to think about it :-)

[kamisu]

I have Tamron 17-50 2.8 and I think it is a very good lens, also kinda cheap used. Even better is adding FA35/DA35 macro, and DA15, which will cover 15 - 50 with your DA50, with great image quality.

[ritualnet]

I think I want to keep the lens costs down, due to the fact that this is my first step back into DSLRs from mirrorless (M43, my OMD EM5 decided to start doing pure black shots randomly and the Olympus engineers couldn't find anything wrong, AND charged me to fix a lens that wasn't broken!) and the body was so cheap. When I sell the M43 stuff (OMD EM5, 12-50mm, 45mm, 20mm) I can use that to go towards any more expensive lenses, plus, trying to slide a £300+ purchase past the missus when we're saving for a garage conversion might be dangerous to my health!

The 18-135 sounds like a good walk-about lens, and I'll look into the 21mm. I do like primes! As for LBA, I've already got Warhammer Buyers Addiction (stupid bits of plastic!), to go with Video Games Buyers Addiction, so what's one more addiction between friends?!

I do have manual lenses from my days with a cheap Pentax SLR clone (Centon), which includes a xx-270mm, and a 135mm pentax SMC, but it seems... difficult to manually focus without say a split circle to use to focus with, and no focus peaking either to help out.

[Saltwater Images]

That is true; however, I bought the 15/21/40/70 all at the same time so I would not have to think about it :-)

Very wise. Can't disagree with your logic.