Originally posted by Praestigium Righto then, I think I'll stick with my camera for a little while longer,
Good move!
Originally posted by Praestigium Originally posted by jatrax You do not mention what lenses you are using but assuming it is the kit 18-55 zoom, then the best return on your $400 is a new lens.
Oopps, sorry! Along with the standard 18 - 55 kit lens I own:
- SMC PENTAX M 50mm f1.7
- SIGMA 28-90mm
- PANAGOR PMC 90mm Macro (My pride and joy!)
- SIGMA 70 - 300mm Macro
All I'm missing is a decent lens to take some landscape pictures with.
That's a decent basic kit. And now I can go into my 'scape rant. My usual points:
1) Most 'scapes don't move around much except in seismic zones, so a fast AF lens isn't really needed. Except maybe for town'scapes.
2) If you look at published collections of 'scapes you'll see that most are shot within a focal range equivalent to 18-55mm on APS-C.
3) Ultrawides aren't really 'scape lenses -- they magnify the nearby and shrink the distant, turning mountains into molehills.
4) If you want distortion-free 'scapes, use a 'normal' lens which for APS-C is 28-31mm. If you can stand a little distortion, go to 20-24mm.
5) As with portraits etc, 'scapes can be shot at almost any focal length. All rules should be creatively broken, especially mine.
So, what did you have in mind for 'scapes?
Yes, you are missing out on the wide end. Any number of 28s would be wizard no-distortion 'scape lenses, like the SuperTak 28/3.5, or any of the Vivitar or Tamron or Sigma 28s. 24mm primes are a bit tougher, but the Panagor PMC 24/2.8 is sharp and mine was cheap. 19-20-21mm primes are more rare and costly. And that's still not really wide.
Beyond that, the best contenders IMHO are the DA12-24 and Tamron 10-24. I chose the Tamron over the Pentax and the Sigma 10-20s because of 1) warranty, 2) QC issues, 3) cost, and 4) the 20-24mm ranges is SO useful! I use my 10-24 in tight spaces at the short end, and for land-sea-air-town 'scapes at the long end. Midrange is good for narrow streets etc.
Others may recommend a kit.lens replacement, one of the 17-50 or 16-45 bunch, and those *will* give somewhat better results than the DA18-55, but they won't expand your range much. The DA16-45 would be a good 'scape lens, if that's where you want to concentrate. Or you can just stop-down the 18-55 to f/8, put it on a tripod, and have at it.