[Deni]

I was in your position, almost, about 2 weeks ago.

I had about $600 to spend. I could get a used K20D + grip or a K-X + Metz 48 af-1.

I opted for the second option.

The flash is a huge help indoors and outdoors.

The K-X is a great camera, compared to the K100D wich is also a great camera.

At the end though the decision is yours, but I think you'd be better off with a cheaper camera, i.e. the K-X, plus a nice lens, then spend all the money on the K7 + kit lens.

The K7 being a great camera, but I think the kit lens doesn't make justice to it.

[boudou701]

hello!
Thanks for all your messages!

I am going to keep the K100D for now.

I am now hesitating between a 16-45mm or a 17-70mm (in which case is the sigma better than the pentax?), just need a good lens, the fact that it goes to 70mm makes it a "all in one" lens which I could really do with.

I will then find a decent fisheye/wide angle lens, the 12-24 is way too expensive, so either pentax 10-17 or sigma 10-20 or tamron 10-24?

Thanks!
Pierre

[GerryL]

hello!
Thanks for all your messages!

I am going to keep the K100D for now.

I am now hesitating between a 16-45mm or a 17-70mm (in which case is the sigma better than the pentax?), just need a good lens, the fact that it goes to 70mm makes it a "all in one" lens which I could really do with.

I will then find a decent fisheye/wide angle lens, the 12-24 is way too expensive, so either pentax 10-17 or sigma 10-20 or tamron 10-24?

Thanks!
Pierre

I would want to add to your confusion 'coz I have been toying with this idea also.
Consider the Tamron 17-50mm f:2.8.
It has a constant f:2.8 and is a well regarded lens.
It is actually hard to find one of these "used" and for sale!
Those who buy these keep it and rarely put it up for resale!

[Andi Lo]

The tamron/sigma 17-50 and 28-75, as mentioned above, is also another option. If you dont like short range Bokeh-ey stuff (or need some extra light) it's really not much of a benefit over the 16-45mm though.

Pentax 16-45 is a better lens than the Sigma 17-70, but as you said, the sigma is more versatile. Pentax 17-70 is the best option probably but at this point it's the most expensive of the three

[cbaytan]

hello!
Thanks for all your messages!

I am going to keep the K100D for now.

I am now hesitating between a 16-45mm or a 17-70mm (in which case is the sigma better than the pentax?), just need a good lens, the fact that it goes to 70mm makes it a "all in one" lens which I could really do with.

I will then find a decent fisheye/wide angle lens, the 12-24 is way too expensive, so either pentax 10-17 or sigma 10-20 or tamron 10-24?

Thanks!
Pierre

I never believed DA lenses are investment for the future, they are not FF, when an FF cam will arrive and you'd want to get it, they will be useless. There are true 2 gems I know of in FA area. FA 20-35 and FA 100-300mm which I own, it's a true gem for less than 100$.

I say get FA 28-105mm and FA 100-300mm, then,
Get a K-7 whenever you can afford.

[Deni]

Beware that the Auto focus will not work on the Pentax DA 17-70mm f/4 and K100D combo, unless you have K100D super.

The DA 17-70mm uses only SDM for focusing and can't be focused on screw drive only cameras, like the K100D.

[boudou701]

what?? the DA 17-70mm autofocus won't work on the K100D? would the 16-45mm work?

I can buy the Sigma 17-70mm second hand for the same price as the Pentax 16-45mm second hand. what would you recommend? the idea is to get a noticeable update from the kit lens so want to make sure it's worth it!!

thanks guys
P

[Deni]

what?? the DA 17-70mm autofocus won't work on the K100D? would the 16-45mm work?

I can buy the Sigma 17-70mm second hand for the same price as the Pentax 16-45mm second hand. what would you recommend? the idea is to get a noticeable update from the kit lens so want to make sure it's worth it!!

thanks guys
P

Yes the 16-45mm would.

The 16-45mm is a very sharp lens even wide open.

The Sigma 17-70mm is more versatile with a larger aperture at wide angle and longer reach but, and it is a BIG BUT, it is very soft at the edges or extreme edges.

Depends what you'd like to do with the lens.

Myself, I have a Sigma ex dg 28-70mm f/2.8 but I see that 28mm is too narrow for my way of shooting (confined spaces) but the 70mm reach is sort of perfect.

So I'd swap it for a Sigma 17-70mm or a Pentax 16-45mm.

If I had the money, I'd look first for a good copy of the Sigma, if not, I'd buy the 16-45mm.

[boudou701]

Thanks everyone.

So basically here is my plan:

1) upgrade to a sigma 17-70mm which should be a nice upgrade from lens kit with 70mm which should be enough to get some portraits => £160 second hand
2) buy a sigma 10-20mm EX so I'll have the wide angle to cover the nice landscape and buildings when shooting cities => £290 second hand
3) in the future sell my K100D and find a K20D, K100D kits tend to sell for £200 and I'm sure I can find a K20D for less than £400 => £200

Upgrade total £160 + £290 + £200 = £650 :-)

[Marc Sabatella]

The Sigma 17-70mm is more versatile with a larger aperture at wide angle and longer reach but, and it is a BIG BUT, it is very soft at the edges or extreme edges.

And the current version is a far as I know also HSM-only, meaning it won't work on the K100D. Old (non-HSM) version of Sigma 17-70 is of course fine.

[oliver]

K100d is a truly great camera.
I definitely recommend upgrading the glass before the body.
Pairing it with a good lens such a prime or a higher-spec zoom will definitely produce images of very high quality that rival more expensive bodies for reasonable print sizes, e.g up to 8x10 in my opinon. I've recently upgraded to the k-x but there's not a big difference in image quality unless you're working at iso 3200 or above, or need to print big or crop heavily. Indeed at iso 200, I probably prefer the output from the k100d.

Oliver

[yoshizuki]

Also trying to decide on pentax 16-45 vs sigma 17-70. Will probably get the 16-45 for 1mm on the wide end.

[cbaytan]

And 2 samples of 16-45mm from this weekend. Also check with the cherry and the flower & skin colors, you won't get such realistic colors with every lens.