14mm or 15mm

I just may be ready to spend some money on a suitable lens for photos of the Alhambra Palace and other places around Granada. These two Pentax lenses are not dissimilar in price and both would be good for internal / atmospheric pictures.
The 14mm has a nice big aperture but I guess the 15mm could have better IQ.
What's the general opinion about their relative merits? Which would be better for my £500+?

http://www.pentaxforums.com/lensreviews/category-SMC-Pentax-DA-Lenses.html

Try looking on here,worth keeping in your "Faves!".......Ken

What body are you using them with, and specifically, are you able to benefit from the high ISO of the later bodies? It's dim inside the buildings, but having said that, the dome image in my gallery was taken with a K200D and my 35mm Limited which is f2.8 wide open.

The Alhambra is magnificent. Booking tickets in spain can be a faff - best to book from the UK via 'tinterweb.

Paul

k10D for now and the foreseeable future, I'm afraid.
Got the tickets booked already -ta!
Thanks for advice so far.

I have a DA 14mm/2.8 - highly recommended!

I believe the IQ is roughly the same but the 14mm has f/2.8 and the 15mm is a limited lens and that means that it's very small and has very good built quality.
Which is more important to you?

http://www.photozone.de/pentax/117-pentax-smc-da-14mm-f28-ed-if-review--test-rep...

http://www.photozone.de/pentax/463-pentax_15_4

I saw both those reviews but I got a bit overwhelmed by facts.
I guess the extra speed of the 14mm lens makes it significantly more suitable for indoor use, particularly because I would need to use a wider angle flash than I own, for the occasional 'party' picture.

You won't be disappointed with the IQ of the DA14mm

I would actually have the Sigma 10-20 over either of those (or the DA 12-24) because at ultrawide lengths a) Wider is more versatile and b) Zoom is quite useful, If you'd rather get a prime, then of those two I would personally take the DA15: f4 is fine at these focal lengths, since you can get away with quite slow shutter speeds. The DA15 is much more compact compared to the DA14, which (along with IQ) is after all the point of a prime!

Price wise (new anyway) theres little difference between any of the Wide Angle lenses available now, the Sigma 8-16, 10-20, Pentax 14, 15 and even the 12-24 are between £450 and £600 new now.
Before it was often an easier choice as the Sigma 10-20 was only around £300 new, but now its much more expensive I suspect more people will be going to look at the dear options.

Personally I'm looking to buy a 15mm based on its size and also its quality, that said I believe the 14mm is also a cracking lens but I'd prefer something smaller.

The Sigma 10-20 mentioned earlier is a cracking lens but the newer 8-16 is meant to be even better in terms of Image Quality, but it really depends what you want the "fast" option is the 14mm but the Sigma's are going to give you more range.

Get the DA14 if you need the extra stop. But for Alhambra and most other typical applications this gives a DOF that is too small.

Get the DA14 if you need the close focus ability. This ties in with the point above when making arty shots of "something big in the foreground while other things are OOF in the background." Again, not a travel application.

Get the DA15 Limited for ultimate portability.

Get the DA12-24 for ultimate flexibility and an extra 2mm in the wide end which will be useful in Granada. And any other European location.

Get the Sigma 10-20 for 2mm more again but slightly less than ultimate IQ and more distortion. Many people are happy with this trade-off. I wouldn't be. In fact, wide angle image quality is never enough for me. (Please contribute to my 645D fund...)

My choice is the DA12-24 since I find 24mm to be the perfect walk-around focal length. I would miss it with the Sigma. 12mm is wide enough and sometimes too wide, depending on geometric distortion. f/4 is fast enough since I can hand-hold down to 1/20s. Besides, usually f/8 is preferable to get everything sharp.

I took the following shortly before being laid up with food poisoning for three days. Thus I had to default on my Alhambra tickets. Granada is a beautiful place. Great food and bars! Be prepared to walk up and down hills.


Alhambra seen from Albaicin

[IMG]http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2711/4377219075_637abe336a_o.jpg[/IMG]

I wish Pentax had a DA*11-16 based on the Tokina design.

It is a ridiculously sharp lens throughout.

Seeing as it doesn't exist I'd go for the 15mm for size/weight. I don't want any more 77mm filter lenses weighing over 700g!

I had the 15mm and lovely as it was to use and nicely as it is built, it is not very sharp until stopped down to f8. My observations were in accord with all the tests I read, too.

Since I also had the. 12-24 zoom and since it was so much crisper, I found myself never using the 15mm so I flogged it. Happily, for more than I paid for it

Lovely little lens to handle, though.

I would disagree with the claim this isn't a "travel application". personally I apply all my photography techniques wherever I am.

In fact when travelling to somewhere unusual/exotic and against one's normal shooting pastures then all the more reason IMO to make the most of the scenes and get creative.

In fact if I could ONLY take ONE lens somewhere I'd probably opt for my DA 10-17mm.

easily defished if needed and croppings can be applied to get a whole range of perspective sfrom a shoot

If you apply all your techniques all the time wherever you are (I doubt it but I will take you at face value) then for you there is no such thing as an application scope for a lens. However most of the rest of us find it useful to think in terms of travel, macro, portraiture etc. as a way of applying constraints to our lens choices. As has every lens manufacturer from Leica on down.

Likewise, choosing a fish-eye as the number one lens choice is quirky and unlikely to map well onto the needs of other shooters. Nothing wrong with being quirky and following your own muse! But this by definition disqualifies you from advising others in a general sense.

(Similarly I must apply numerous provisos before recommending music, since my quirky choices are unlikely to be useful in the general sense to the typical recipient.)