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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
04-28-2016, 02:50 PM
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+1 to these.
Pentaxians are not starved of choice for walkaround AF zooms. Here are just some of the popular lens choices (mostly available new, some second-hand only):
f1.8: Sigma 18-35
f2.8: DA*16-50, Tamron 17-50, Sigma 17-50, Sigma 24-70, Tamron 28-75
f4: DA 16-45, DA 17-70
Variable aperture, modest focal range: DA 18-50 WR, DA 18-55 WR, DA 20-40 Ltd f2.8-4
Variable aperture, moderate focal range: Sigma 17-70 C f2.8-4, DA 16-85 WR f3.5-5.6
Variable aperture, wide focal range: DA 18-135 WR f3.5-5.6
Superzooms: DA 18-250, DA 18-270, Tamron 18-250, Sigma 18-200 C, Sigma 18-250, Sigma 18-300 C
There should be something here for every budget and every preference.
The reason people keep asking this question (what walkaround zoom lens should I get?) is usually that they haven't worked out what their priorities are (focal range, speed, indoor/outdoor, WR, weight and bulk, Pentax or third party, etc), and how much they are prepared to pay. Once they get to the point of saying, for example, "I want a light-weight WR lens, mainly for outdoor use, I need some wide angle, reach is/isn't more important to me than a couple of extra mm of width, and my budget is $x", the decision is virtually made.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
04-26-2016, 02:26 PM
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In Australia, the Pentax shop is asking an eye-watering $A1100 for the 16-85, and a still-hefty $603 for the 18-135. That's the kind of relativity I had in mind.
On further searching I found a retailer in Perth selling the 16-85 (stand-alone) for $A800. The best price I could find for the 18-135 was $529. The gap is probably narrowing, but still substantial.
Many people still get the 18-135 in a bundle with a camera, and that way it is available for about $300 (compared to body only). I think the 18-135 is a bargain at that price. It's harder to find the 16-85 bundled in that way, but the best price I found (compared to body-only) is $600.
The 18-135 turns up frequently on the private second-hand market for about $A250-350. I have yet to see a second-hand 16-85 in Australia on Gumtree au or ebay au.
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Forum: Pentax SLR Lens Discussion
04-25-2016, 05:48 PM
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When I had a film SLR, I used to lug around two all-metal MF zooms to give me 28-210mm. They weighed a lot and I always seemed to have the wide-normal lens on when I wanted tele and vice versa.On an APS-C body, the 18-135 covers pretty much the whole of that range in one light-weight, compact, WR package, with near-silent AF and manual focus override. My old Canon FD 70-210 f4 was faster and probably better at the long end (no way to compare now), but that's the only con. If I'd had this in the 1980s and 1990s I would have thought it was a dream come true.
The 18-135 might be soft in the corners, but usually that doesn't matter. Look at the way Norm and others can make it sing, in a wide variety of conditions. At half the price of the 16-85, it's a great buy.
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