Originally posted by iasonis
Hello, I would like some advice on what lens would be best for my needs. I want a lens that can be used for indoor low light photography, portraits as well as some landscape( I would be making panoramics using autopano). The SMC Pentax-FA 31mm F1.8 AL Limited seemed to be able to do all of these well, but maybe i am wrong??? At $900 i dont want to be. I bought this from b and h so i can return it if need be. For the same price i could get the , SMC Pentax-FA 35mm F2 AL for indoor /portrait as well as the Pentax DA 12-24mm f/4 AL ED IF for panos and lanscape. Which is the way to go??? Thanks! -Ron
The FA* 31mm is certainly a GREAT lens and from the pictures I have seen, it produces fabulous results. For landscapes it might not be so useful though because on a APS-C sized sensor, it makes a 48mm which is roughly a "normal" prime. This would be gready for low light, candids, street photography, portraits, and did I mention Street photography?
A more economical way to get the best out of your $900 is to get a Pentax DA* 16-50mm ($600-$700) and a FA 35mm f/2 ($200-$500 depending). I have no personal experience with any of the lenses above except the FA 35mm, which is also a fantastic performer. The FL feels versatile and it's cheap, unlike the 31mm.
If you can, however, afford to keep the 31mm and still have a lot left over to buy other lenses, I am sure others on the forum will tell you it is an excellent lens, although you could easily get more bang for buck with the 35mm f/2 (difference between f/1.8 and f/2 is about 1/3 of a f-stop so not that bigadeal).
Hope this helped and hf shooting!