Hi & Merry Xmas

I'm a total newbie to this Photography lark, so be gentle with me.
I have recently bought the K100D + 18-55.
My main interest at the moment has got to be portraits,(first grandchild ).

I have the kit lens & also picked up a Pentax A 50mm f1.7, altough i am having some problems focusing the 50mm (eyes ain't what they used to be).
Any advice on a good auto focus portrait lens, which i could also use as a general walkabout, would be appreciated.
Have about £200 to spend
Thanks

Hi Colin, welcome to the forum.

Portrait lenses tend to be a little longer than general walkabout lenses, I'd suggest that 50-70mm is probably the best portrait length and 28-35mm is the best "general purpose" focal length.

For a 50mm lens then the Pentax FA 50mm f1.4 is hard to beat value-wise. SRS currently have them for £159.00.

For a 35mm lens then it may be worth considering either the Pentax FA 35mm f2 (SRS price £239.00) or the more modern Pentax DA 35mm f2.8 Macro Limited (SRS price £269.00 but with £25 cash back from Pentax available at the moment).

Any of the lenses above should give you outstanding quality pictures.

Hi colin-d,
Welcome to the forum, please would you fill in your location profile thanks..

Hi Colin, welcome to the forum!

Welcome to the forum. don't worry colin-d we've all already eaten today.

since you already have the 50 1.7....

here's something to try while you're waiting for you're new lens...
switch the camera to mf.
set up your shot, using a teddy bear as a stand in for the grandchild.
remove the bear, pose the child, aim the lens so the childs eye (closest to camera) is dead center, adjust the camera's focus, until the green focus indicator lights up, recompose and shoot.

eyesight issues aside, the irony in portraiture is this: my best images are almost always shot in full manual.
even if your lens doesn't af, the indicator should still light up!
not perfect solution, but if you can adapt to it, it may buy you some time to save up for a much better lens.

BTW (by better i mean new weather seals sdm motors fast zoom like the 16-60 and 50-135, or ltd primes, better for walkabout not better image quality, hard to beat a 50mm prime) my 50 1.4's (both af and mf) and my 100 2.8 macro are my main portrait lenses.

Hello Colin and welcome.

Thanks all

I think i will heed your advice Hefty and get the 50mm f1.4 to start with, the walkabout will have to wait, (unless Santa's feeling generous, and i will start hinting now,just in case).

Don. i will try your tip thanks, maybe i can get some use out of the manual focus lens then.( maybe a new pair of glasses ought to be on Santa's list as well)

Welcome to the forum, Colin.

Hi and welcome

Hi Colin, and welcome!

As have been said by numerous people on this forum, the 18-55 mm kit lens is very good, and I think you could get some really nice portraits with that one, autofocus and all. I understand that your portraits will first and foremost be of your grandchild (congratulations, by the way). I know the feeling, having just received my eight'.

My advice is to get familiar with what you've got before you go to further investments in the glass department. Try shooting in Av mode, setting the aperture to f/8 - f/11.

I have a lot of wonderful pictures of my grandchildren, all captured with K100D and the kit lens.

Colin,

Agree with all of the above - I have a lowley K110D and some amazing glass. However, I return to the kit lens more than I thought I ever would. Once understood, it's very good.

One thing to check for us who are visually challenged is the diopter adjustment on your camera - it makes a huge difference if it's as little as one click off either way.

I've just paid out $240.00 CDN for a Zatz-eye focusing screen (yet to arrive), in hopes that it will further aid my aged peepers when using critical apertures. Meanwhile - f8 and auto focus on just about all my lenses.

Cheers

As I posted before on another thread
and if you select 'A' on the aperture ring you can select the aperture from the body.

Hope this helps with the 50mm lens.

Going back to the OP's question, my advice is still to concentrate on the kit lens for a start. For studio portraits maybe a "better" lens would be appropriate, but for child photography and general walkabout, I feel the kit lens will be of great value for a long time.

The Catch-in focus technique mentioned by Hardgravity cannot be very efficient for child pictures, where you want to be in full control of the moment of exposure.

Hello Colin

BAH...Humbug!

O'God, dont remind me, I'm getting my first in the New Year!

ROFL...thats what they all say till the LBA sets in, followed by the dwindling bank balance.

Well more fool you, It'll be worth £10 in five years.....

PS; Welcome to the forum and forgive my negative post, I was born on a Wednesday