DA40 Ltd vs fast zooms

I've owned a DA40mm ltd for about 9 months, and have taken some excellent images (in my opinion); there are no disputes with regards to the image quality.

However I'm constantly finding it to be very limited as to what I can use it for, and as such find that I rarely use it. On a recent holiday to Malta the DA40 was used very sparingly.

As such I'm contemplating trading the lens for a fast zoom, such as the Tamron 17-50/28-75 or Sigma 18-50

The DA40 and the above zooms seem similarly priced.

Has anybody taken a similar route?

Thanks
Adrian

All I an say is that I have a Tamron 17-50 and it is excellent in all regards except size. I also have a number of primes and the Tamron stays at home! So my experience is the reverse of yours.

On holiday I usually just take the Tamron though as I don't want to be lugging a load of lenses about and constantly changing.

I have a quandary arriving soon as I have a few days in Sri Lanka. Do I take the primes, the primes plus zoom or just two zooms (the 17-50 and 10-20)?

Mike

Do you not have a longer lens?

For holidays I take the 16-50 and the F 70-210. If visiting interesting cities I will take the 12-24 as well.

G

I also have the Pentax 50-200 which gets even less use than the 17-50. I do have a 70mm prime which gets used.

Mike

Adrian

I've had the opposite experience. At first, I wasn't too sure of the 40mm's usefulness. However, on a recent holiday I used a Tamron 18-200mm a lot of the time, but also just went out with the 40mm when I needed to travel "light". I found the pictures from the 40mm much better, not just for quality (which of course is a winner in all departments), but for the compositions as well.

Now I started in photography with a semi-auto Olympus OM10 and 50mm lens and I remember how important it was to move yourself around in order to get the shot (the photographers best piece of equipment is his legs, or something like that!) I wonder if being "forced" to do that with a fixed focal length brings that back into play, whereas a zoom lets us get lazy and just capture the obvious - and convenient - shot?

I'd give your 40mm a bit more time and pull out the Sigma when you want a dramatic wide-angle

Tony

Mike - re yr Sri Lanka trip. If you go to Sigaria, Dambulla or The Temple of the Tooth (Kandy), you'll need the fastest lens in your bag - F2.8 or better - as all 3 sites either don't allow flash or it's an important place of worship, so not culturally acceptable. I used both the DA*16-50 and the 50-135 a lot.


Steve

Thanks for the advice. I have the 35mm f2 and also a Sigma 30 1.4 but I'd probably not bother if it's any hassle - not my cup of tea in any case. The postcards are probably better than I can do and the coffee table books most certainly are!

Sigaria's a bit of a climb to get to the wall paintings and you need a 16mm or better as you haven't got much space to work in. Dambulla's Ok for not so wide lenses - I found it worth a play to see what the K20 can do in low light sans flash. Only part of Temple of the Tooth is indoors but the available light for some shots of the ornate decoration benefits from having the extra flexibility of a fast lens.

I try to take as many lenses as I can (realistically) get away with, which is raely less than half a dozen because I shoot slide with an MZ-S as well (and DAs don't work on an MZ-S)


Steve

6 lenses! Crippen I'll probably just take two or maybe three as I can fit them in pockets (21, 35 or 30, 70).

Mike

Tony
Thanks for your comments and advice.

A bit of history; before I purchased the DA40mm, a fast zoom was next on my list, then the DA came along and I got this instead. We both agree that there is no disputing it's IQ, but every time I have it on I feel sort of tied as to what can be shot.

Of course this I knew before I bought a fixed length lens, and unfortunately it's not always possible to move around to better frame the shot.

If a straight trade was on offer for a fast zoom, I'd be very tempted.

Best regards.
Adrian