[stevevaius]

Hi all, I am completely new in dslr and photograhy. I recently bought Pentax K-S2 20MP DSLR Kit w/ 18-50mm WR. Till now just used to take some basic photos, but I discovered that I need to do more with it. I saw many photos such as macro photos of microcosm (insects, plants etc..) and moon photos with 300mm zooms plus tilt shift photos (particularly I like this concept) How I can get lenses appropriate to my camera to achieve these? Do I have to get only pentax branded zooms? or Can I get other brands of zoom which can be fitted my camera too? Need help

[SpecialK]

Do I have to get only pentax branded zooms? or Can I get other brands of zoom which can be fitted my camera too? Need help

Many "third-party" lenses are available - Sigma and Tamron, and Samyang to some extent, are the most common. However, they make lenses for several brands of camera so you want to look for "for Pentax" or "Pentax K mount".

One caveat is the "Ricoh pin" situation where though the Ricoh lens fits and works, but it has a small pin on the mount that drops into a corresponding hole on the body preventing removal. That can be fixed, though.

Other lenses screw into what is called an "M42 adaptor" which then mounts on the camera.

I had a Sigma 17-70, Tamron 90 macro, and Tamron 70-200.

[Sandy Hancock]

One of the cheapest and easiest ways to get into macro photography is to get a magnifying adaptor such as those made by Raynox.

As for other lenses compatible with your K-S2 (superb camera, by the way!) - there are literally hundreds of different options out there. A good place to start is in the Lens Database in these forums.

[aslyfox]

Welcome to the forum, I think you made a good choice in Pentax and in coming here.

[ sorry about the length of this response ]

first suggestion:

don't do what I did - seriously - instead you should go to the top of the page as soon as possible and under the categories "Cameras", "Lenses", "Accessories", and "Articles", you will find a great amount of information about what you are looking for.

I didn't do that because I wasn't smart enough to explore the forum completely. Luckily I didn't make too many bad choices.

here is the in depth review of your camera:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/reviews/pentax-k-s2-review/introduction.html?src=lrdb

here are a few examples [which I need to read]:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/articles/photo-articles/photography-terms-cheatsheet.html

https://www.pentaxforums.com/articles/gear-guides/recommended-pentax-gear-2016.html

https://www.pentaxforums.com/articles/gear-guides/comprehensive-pentax-lens-guide.html

https://www.pentaxforums.com/articles/photo-articles/astrophotography-tutorial-series.html

https://www.pentaxforums.com/articles/tutorial-videos/18-55mm-kit-vs-a-dedic...acro-lens.html

https://www.pentaxforums.com/articles/gear-guides/perfect-budget-pentax-lens-kit.html

https://www.pentaxforums.com/articles/photo-articles/15-beginner-faqs-for-dslr-users.html

https://www.pentaxforums.com/articles/tutorial-videos/how-to-turn-any-lens-i...hift-lens.html



second suggestion:

ask questions here at the forums. there are a lot of friendly knowledgeable people who can help you and point you in the right direction.

Although I own the copyrights to all and any "stupid questions" feel free to violate the copyright, I don't care - so ask any question you wish

third suggestion:

take photographs, unlike the days of film, the cost of taking a photograph is nothing ( assuming you don't count the cost of the equipment and memory ) In other words, you don't have the cost of developing and printing photos to view them now a days. So get out there and start taking them. Experiment and see what happens and what you like to do.

fourth suggestion:

once you decide what you want to buy, if anything, go to the "Buy/Sell" section above and see if any member might have what you are seeking. I am not saying limit your search just to this forum, but be sure to see what there might be. The dealings I have had with the sellers here have all been excellent.

fifth suggestion:

if you were in the United States, I would recommend you look at a business like LensRental.com to check out the costs of renting equipment so you could do a trial before buying the equipment. If there are such businesses in your area, check out the cost and consider it. I did that with several pieces of expense equipment - warning, it might result in you wanting to buy the darn stuff even more.

Have fun

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Last edited by aslyfox; 04-19-2017 at 02:10 AM.

[robthebloke]

Photography can quickly become a very expensive hobby, so hold off going completely crazy on lenses just yet! When it comes to lenses, the mildly annoying truth is that you get what you pay for, so my advice would be to invest in quality over quantity! I'd also advise buying used - where you can some get really good deals!

If I had your setup, the two lenses I'd probably want next would be the DA35mm limited f2.8 macro, and any of the Pentax DA/DAL/HD 55-300mm lenses (honestly, I've been through pretty much all of the Pentax lenses, and those would be my choices for best quality/cost ratio). Certainly for the telephoto range, the 55-300 is probably the best option. Others will prefer 50 or 100mm focal lengths for macro, but the 35mm is also a damn good walk around lens. Mind you, those two options will set you back probably as much as the camera cost (I'm assuming you buy second hand!)

Even with 300mm on apsc, don't expect your moon shots to be exceptional. You'll capture the moon, but with a fair amount of black space around the border. Good enough to get a few likes on Facebook, but they might not be as great as the high quality moon shots of a pro setup.

A 35mm macro is a little wide for macro, but that lens will be fine for flowers, and bugs that don't get scared with a lens an inch away from them. 100mm is a better focal length for bugs, but it also requires a lot more patience and practice than the wider focal lengths. 50mm is a decent compromise between the two. 35mm is however a great standard prime, and a much more versatile lens to have in your bag if you could only choose one.

That said, there are some lenses that are in the 'so cheap, you might as well' category. A Pentax-A 50mm f1.7 prime is going to be dirt cheap, and whilst manual focus, is at least metered (unlike the older K and A lenses). Pair that lens with a set of cheap macro rings, and that's another cheap macro set up (I'd still prefer a dedicated macro lens, but that is a more expensive option!)

Tilt shift lenses aren't cheap. I'm not even going to talk about that - you need to be pretty dedicated to jump on that bandwagon.

There are also a tonne of legacy primes around, although personally I would only recommend the 50mm+ focal lengths. For wider angle lenses, you'd be better off with a lens designed for APSC sensors.

[Kozlok]

I think a great place to start with lenses would be the Sigma 17-70 (for Pentax), and the Pentax WR55-300. Both of these focus close for near macro, and the 17-70 is MUCH better than the 18-50. Keep the 18-50 for rainy days, though!

Edit: if you are on a tight budget, get the old screwdrive version of the Sigma (used~$175) and get the DAL version of the 55-300 (used ~$100-$150), if you need WR, both of these are not.

Start with these two and see what your budget allows in the future, and find out how you feel limited with these.

If you need a real macro, there are many articles on that, but for insects you need a longer lens. The 55-300 will be good for butterflies, and larger things.

[aslyfox]

Food for thought

when considering what lens to buy, be very critical as to what you really need as opposed to what you want, it could be the difference between whether you can afford the lens or not.

for example I wanted to buy a dedicated macro lens.

I had a choice between a used SMC-Pentax-DFA-100mm-F2.8-Macro-Lens or the new SMC Pentax-D FA 100mm F2.8 Macro WR

I looked at the forum's reviews

SMC Pentax-D FA 100mm F2.8 Macro Reviews - D FA Prime Lenses - Pentax Lens Reviews & Lens Database

SMC Pentax-D FA 100mm F2.8 Macro WR Reviews - D FA Prime Lenses - Pentax Lens Reviews & Lens Database

and determined that for my purposes, I could live with the older lens which I found available at the forum's market place.

[stevevaius]

Thank you for sahring your thoughts and experiences to my questions. I am noob and would like to learn to use it properly. During my learning period I hope I can help others like you did it. Thank you all