OK, I have diagrams and doughnuts and some really tasty freshly made Turkish Coffee in hand, with soy milk though not bovine...and no sugar, nasty stuff sugar...anyway
New here and want to thank everyone here for the info you have built up over the years. I am here for one reason, I have been smitt with the K-7, so much so, I am selling all my canon gear to make the switch. Anyway, I have been devising a Black Adder "cunning plan", with a touch of Wallace and Gromet thrown in for color.
Here is the idea....since I already ordered the DA* 50-135, the FA 77mm Limited, I have enough left to get the K-7 and one more lens I need and I am going to grab a DA 35mm F2.8 Limited Macro. I came to this line up from this chart, the lenses I am or have bought are in red and the numbers signify the level of importance to me:
What I did was setup the lenses I have and use then find Pentax equivalents. I was surprised that for the most part it was pretty easy. And like I wrote, I had alread decided on the 50-135mm even though I really want the 60-200mm as that is the one lens I have been hunting for a while, well a 70-200 anyway, but one of the reasons I am making this switch is the weather sealing so I plan to build as many weather sealed fast lenses into the line-up as I can...but, hey you can't buy all of them at once...well, ok
I can't by them all at once...hehehe...
Actually the most important lens will be the 35mm Macro. I like the images I've seen from others. And I need a macro. I also like this can be used like my old 50mm on a film body. So rather than get a Sigma 150mm or even their 70mm or 105mm if they can even be found in a Pentax mount, I decided why not be really different.
The 50-135 and the 77mm Ltd. are for shooting my best buds 1yr old later this summer for a well. After that they are for me to play with and will do some double duty for product shots but mostly they are for fun.
I know there are other combos, I considered them all and even by opting for the 35mm Macro Ltd. I am going to be about $400 over budget, did not want to push it too far yet I also know what I need now and can afford to wait on adding either 16-50 or a 43mm Ltd later this fall and then add another early next year. After that all I need is a big arse zoom like the Bigmos and I'm good...then again I love the design of these freaky tiny lenses that Pentax breeds, just need to breed the silver out of the roster and I am fine...crips off-white was bad enough...SILVER? I hope that guy got fired!
So that was my process and I will end up with a K-7, DA35mm Ltd. macro, FA 77mm ltd. surrounding the DA* 50-135mm. Seem reasonable? BTW, I shoot all manner of thing from marco of anything to ebay product shots, I am learning my small studio lighing and the concepts about light manipulation from Light: Science & Magic by Fil Hunter plus my info from Peterson's books. I think given the colors everyone seems to achieve with the Pentax gear, I am thinking this is gonna be a fun summer and we'll see where it goes from there!