28 - 70 or 28 - 80?

Just wondering if there is much difference between the two - my mate reckons 28 -70 over the 28 - 80.
I want to take more urban and landscapes shots, but will need to look second hand to start with.
But, I was also wondering what about something lower for a wider angle?
Thanks.

If you're talking about the FA lenses, the 28-70 is supposed to be much better link... but the zoom range is perhaps less useful than the kit lens you already have?

The silver FA 28-80mm was my first AF lens after the kit one as I saw it for £25 and thought it worth a go. It isn't at all bad although it's not as sharp or as fast as the manual primes I've bought since.

You won't find anything wider than 18mm cheaply, although SRS had the 16-45mm F4 for £225 or so last time I checked.

If you want something small and unobtrusive for urban shooting then have a look at the new DA 35mm f2.4, which is a superb first prime at around the £150 mark.

If the budget won't stretch that far then look for the old SMC Pentax or SMC Pentax-M 28mm f3.5. You should be able to find the latter for around £50 with a bit of searching and it's a brilliant little lens with almost no distortion, allowing you to use image stitching software and assemble larger images like a jigsaw.

... if only. I've been keeping my eyes open for the 3.5 / 28 for the last few weeks and found *nothing* this side of a ton GBP or a similar price in dollars (both KEH and adorama have one).

I thought I knew my way around the UK jumble of second hand sites, but maybe not.

I've also been playing in the office with hyperfocal focussing; set a 24 to focus at 3.5m or so and everything from 1.8 to infinity is acceptable. It's pretty impressive and one of the reasons I'd err towards a prime at 20-24-28 rather than a zoom, as you can leave it alone and just shoot away....

Bret

I did see an M 28/3.5 for £50 last week on ebay UK, as expected it went pretty quickly but they are out there. There do seem to be a fair number hitting the £100 mark though, and indeed all Pentax lens prices seem to be going up. Unfortunately the last handful of older lenses I actually want seem to be amongst the ones with the highest average prices (K 50mm f1.4, K 100mm f4 Macro, K 135mm f3.5 and M 100mm f2..

I'm planning to have a play with the hyperfocal trick and video recording when I buy a K-r in a month or two. For that reason (thinking a new body is a better investment than more old lenses) I won't be hunting for the last handful unless they come up stupidly cheap!

Here is one: link

There are a number around £80 as well

yep, it worked nicely on the video. I was walking down a corridor and the whole thing seems focussed, even though it isn't completely. Which is another reason why I don't see the point of AF in video....

Bret

kiitos, done

And now, back to topic: I think the 16-45 is about as cheap as it gets when you want wide - the alternative is a 10-20, but they add distortion. Got any examples of what you do and what you'd like to do?

Bret

The F 35-70 is another great 'bargain' lens which is sharp, very small, and a fairly useful range.

I'm selling a siggy 24-60mm f2.8 on the forum, it's very good, kind of a bit of both worlds but not quite there, shame it's not 70mm.
Only thing I'd say is that it's very heavy and not small (not helping advertising).
It depends on where are you shooting the landscape and what kind of urbans, the 16-45 is great, but sometimes in an urban area I find it not "long" enough, unless you're taking architecture shots. (only me, others will disagree i'm sure)

Seconded !! great little lens !

IMO for both urban and landscapes shots you should look for a wider angle zoom, I think the suggestion of a 16-45 is very good, but also the 18-55 kit lens should be good for the purpose if you do not want to invest at this point. My preferred lens for both is the 12-24, but that is a matter of taste, I guess.

Just picked one up for £40 and free postage.

K.

Great lens but hardly cheap any more. I am glad I bought mine before the prices shot up.

K.

See what you think about it compared to the K version (which I think you've also got?) I couldn't see a massive difference in terms of sharpness or resolution, although the colour rendition is slightly different and I'm not entirely sure whether they have the exact same field of view after taking the same shot from more or less the same place with both.

I'm hanging onto both as I couldn't really bring myself to sell either!