£400 free lens spend

You folk have been very helpful of late in giving advice on lenses for bird and wildlife photography to replace my aging Tamron 18-250.
I now have a Pentax DA 55-300 PLM lens, 2nd hand hand in perfect condition.

I have happily purchased 2nd hand - inc my K-S2 from HarrisF1 about 5 years ago - and am happy to continue to do so.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, my retirement present was a £400 voucher that can only be used in a local independent photo shop and they will not exchange it for cash!
This means that despite enticing adverts in this group and on eBay etc I need to spend the £400 on new kit.
Other threads on this forum suggest that the 18-135 or a 17-70 sort of lenses are best all rounders for general, inc landscape, use.
I don't sell or exhibit my photos BUT I do like to print off small (12"x8") copies occassionally.

I am looking at the following zoom lenses (as I don't want to lug loads of prime lenses around).
I have put them in a draft logical order - it doesn't seem to make sense to have the 55-300 PLM AND an 18-300 lens.

£360 Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4 DC Macro HSM C Series
£380 Pentax smc DA 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 ED AL [IF] DC WR
£375 Sigma 18-300mm F3.5-6.3 DC MACRO OS HSM

Any thoughts - poilite or otherwise?

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Grumpy GrandPa, Recently Retired.
K-S2 and suffering from a relapse and so now buying digital camera kit - started with a little Lumix TZ80 and now LBA has re-occured for my K-S2. Not sure where it will lead!
Previous addiction has resulted in using Zeniths, Yashicamat, Chinons, Minoltas, Samsungs, Fujis, Cosina, Lumix, Canon, Nikon and Pentax etc etc - have tried most makes in the past 40 years. Love cameras - love taking photos even more

All three lenses are excellent walkaround lenses but I'd like to suggest another if it fits in the budget - the Pentax 16-85mm. It's a bit wider than the 18-135mm and maybe a bit sharper too.

Failing these, are there any wide primes that might be available? Namely something from the DA Ltd as a suggestion?

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All the gear with no idea

Definitely the 16-85mm, worth putting a bit of cash to it if you have to. Otherwise the Sigma 17-70mm is a good alternative, it has decent IQ and is pretty good for a bit of close up work (although macro in it's title is pushing it a bit).

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. My Flickr

Agree that the 16-85mm is worth getting if you can put some extra dosh in.

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K3ii, K-5, K-x, DA150-450mm, DA16-85WR, DA16-45, DA18-55WR, DA18-135WR, DA35 F2.4, M100mm F4 Macro, DA55-300mm, FA50mm 1.4, AF360 Flash, AF540 Flash

Thanks for input so far

The Pentax HD DA 16-85mm F3.5-5.6 ED DC WR is £490 at the local shop - so not impossible by any means

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Grumpy GrandPa, Recently Retired.
K-S2 and suffering from a relapse and so now buying digital camera kit - started with a little Lumix TZ80 and now LBA has re-occured for my K-S2. Not sure where it will lead!
Previous addiction has resulted in using Zeniths, Yashicamat, Chinons, Minoltas, Samsungs, Fujis, Cosina, Lumix, Canon, Nikon and Pentax etc etc - have tried most makes in the past 40 years. Love cameras - love taking photos even more

Another vote for the 16-85mm. It's a very good lens and goes well with the 55-300mm - everything from wide angle to long telephoto covered with 2 lenses. And £490 is £100 less than the price at SRS Microsystems etc, so don't say where your shop is or the lens might have gone by the time you get there!.

Regards

Steve

Another vote for the Pentax 16-85. An excellent lens producing pin sharp images that is my walkabout lens on the K70. The HD coating really does make a difference.

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Paul

K1000, Espio 140, ist, istD, K70, K3iii and numerous lenses, just don't tell my wife.

As you already have the 55-300mm it makes little sense to add an 18-300mm unless you need a one-lens solution, for which the 16-85mm would certainly be a superior option - it really is a superb lens and I've found that landscapes are where it really shines. Like the 18-135mm it's also weather resistant if that's something that would be useful.

The 17-70mm would be useful and a bit faster than the other options, if that's more important to you than sheer range. If they have it available then the Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 would be a superior option with less range but faster and with excellent IQ.

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Pentax hybrid user - Digital K3 & K200D, film 645 and 35mm SLR and Pentax (&other) lenses adapted to Fuji X digital
Fan of DA limited and old manual lenses

SRS have a 2nd hand 16-85 at £399 with 1yr guarantee, always found them a great company to deal with. It is an excellent lens , Shelved my Sigma 17-70 for it.

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odd lens or 2

Flickr

Thanks - BUT - the vouchers i have can only be redeeemed at local independent photo shop

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Grumpy GrandPa, Recently Retired.
K-S2 and suffering from a relapse and so now buying digital camera kit - started with a little Lumix TZ80 and now LBA has re-occured for my K-S2. Not sure where it will lead!
Previous addiction has resulted in using Zeniths, Yashicamat, Chinons, Minoltas, Samsungs, Fujis, Cosina, Lumix, Canon, Nikon and Pentax etc etc - have tried most makes in the past 40 years. Love cameras - love taking photos even more

ah forgot that bit

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odd lens or 2

Flickr

Or how about a tripod or a gimbal tripod head?

Thanks, have 2 tripods and have prioritised a wide angle/standard zoom anyway.

Went out today and definitely needed a w/a lens as my 55-300 was the only lens I had and wasn't wide enough ;-(

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Grumpy GrandPa, Recently Retired.
K-S2 and suffering from a relapse and so now buying digital camera kit - started with a little Lumix TZ80 and now LBA has re-occured for my K-S2. Not sure where it will lead!
Previous addiction has resulted in using Zeniths, Yashicamat, Chinons, Minoltas, Samsungs, Fujis, Cosina, Lumix, Canon, Nikon and Pentax etc etc - have tried most makes in the past 40 years. Love cameras - love taking photos even more

Oh, we only live once - SO, I have gone for the Pentax 16-85 even though it is NOT available any longer at £490 BUT now at £570.
You folks have been a great help in so many ways - esp with my re-discovered LBA.
I can spend my retirement voucher and a fair bit of my pocket monies, enjoy life and not leave much to Care Homes or the "lovely" tax man
Win: win situation don't you think?

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Grumpy GrandPa, Recently Retired.
K-S2 and suffering from a relapse and so now buying digital camera kit - started with a little Lumix TZ80 and now LBA has re-occured for my K-S2. Not sure where it will lead!
Previous addiction has resulted in using Zeniths, Yashicamat, Chinons, Minoltas, Samsungs, Fujis, Cosina, Lumix, Canon, Nikon and Pentax etc etc - have tried most makes in the past 40 years. Love cameras - love taking photos even more

Welcome to the 16-85mm owner's club! You won't regret it. That and the 55-300 should keep you happy for a long time to come. Looking forward to seeing some photos on the forum.

Steve