Confused - help needed with new/first lens purchase!

I am about to buy my first lens (other than the 18-135 WR lens I bought along with my K5II). I want a lens which will allow me to take photos of young kids indoors without having to use flash and also of my 5 year old niece's ballet shows. I was waiting for the Sigma 18-35 f1.8 to be reviewed with the hope that it would meet my needs and I would buy one, however I am concerned about the reports of problems with focusing. I then thought that I had made a decision with the Pentax 35mm f2.8 Macro DA Ltd Lens, however I have since learnt that focus will be slower due to it's macro nature. So now I am confused as to what I should buy. Any suggestions would be most appreciated - my budget is approx £500 but I would go to £600 for the right lens.



Many thanks

In my experience, the DA 35 Ltd is not slow to focus and is generally the lens I use for indoor shots of the kids and dogs.

As an alternative to this - you could consider the Pentax DA 35 AL 2.4. This is a fantastic lens for the money - incredibly cheap (less than £120) and reportedly delivers IQ that is comparable with the Ltd.

In your position - I would be very tempted to pick up a good used version of this lens for under £100 and if I didn't like it - sell it on with little or no cost.

I have not used the Sigma but from what I have read - any focusing issues are no greater than usual with this sort of lens and are more evident on Canon bodies than others - Pentax bodies seem to do much better with it.

As an alternative to the above - you could consider the Pentax DA 20-40 Ltd.

Regards
Carl

Echo what Carl says and having owned, and foolishly sold, the DA f2.8 35mm ltd it is a stunning lens. I think there may be one for sale in the classified forum.
Considered the Sigma f1.4 50mm?

The perception that the DA35 is slow to focus is simply because it has a very long focus range to get through when it is focusing. Most lens have a far shorter "throw" so will lock focus quicker, if the DA35 Macro doesn't hit the focus spot on it's first attempt then it will take a bit longer to get back to the correct position. For me this is a minor inconvenience, given the quality and flexibility of this lens.

If you're not particularly bothered about having true macro then again Carl is right - take a look at the DA35/2.4 - a good lens at a very low price.

Presumably the 18-135 has let you down?

50mm 1.8 Pentax - for indoor family, baby, pets, kids shots - just a beautiful little lens at a beautiful little price - very usa le wide open nd sharp as a tack with great broken. Originally consigned to a drawer now won't bee seen without it.

For Ballet shows providing the shooting distance is reasonable the 18-135 is not unimpressive anyway, but if you want to spend, look for a used Tamron SP 70-200mm F2.8 Di LD (IF) Macro Lens - Pentax Fit.

You might get the pentax 50mm and the Tamron for close to £500 used but maybe also new; the Tamron SP 2.8 being recently superceded by the new VC model which will have to be pretty good to outperform the SP 70-200mm F2.8 Di LD (IF) .

The older version is available at several places for £499 at present, it's pretty much as good as it gets for that money.

Regards

Have you tried the 18-135 and a higher ISO? The K5ii is quite capable of low noise, high ISO photography. The 18-135 is a fast focusser, by Pentax standards, and offers a good range of zoom, which I would think you would need for ballet shows.

I'd seriously consider a secondhand DA 50-135 f2.8. You should be able to get one within your budget and it's like having a bag of primes with you.

Good call that super lens!

It's a great lens, but not very fast in focusing ( ballet).

I agree, which is why I didn't suggest it. The 18-135 may not have the IQ of the 50-135, but it beats it hands down for focussing.

The Sigma 50-150 has both speed and quality

My granddaughter performs regularly in school concerts and I find the Sigma 50-150 very good for this. I think I would struggle to freeze the action with anything slower even with highish ISO. In fact for her next concert I am contemplating using the Samyang 85mm f1.4. Less versatile but I may be able to get some shots of the dance routines I would have missed with a slower lens. I suppose the FA50mm f1.4 would be another possibility but I find 50mm is not usually long enough for the hall that they use.