K7 First steps...

Correct me if i'm off base here but I've more or less decided that the K7 is the one for me, So on to the Lenses...
Small and light is where the K7 is at! So If i wnet and put a whacking great 16-50mm F2.8 on the front I'd be kinda missing the point yeah? When I use the K7 for backpacking I'd like to keep it small and light.
I can't afford to buy a lot for it at the mo but having come from a Nikon Based Zoom Set up i feel I want to go a bit more well... purist so to speak, I like wide but not too wide, I always found myself using my 10/12-24 as a 12 0r 24 and not much in between. Standard zoom never used to come off and I think I just got Laxy, So I'm thinking 15 limited and either the 40 pancake or the 35 macro limited for starters.
Then when funds allow the 50-135 and the 300 D* or the 60-250 D*, I like doing Airshows from time to time so torn between the Zoom and the prime here! Always need more focal length for Airshows anyway so a Convertor will be de riguer here methinks too, any good ones out there for either of the long toms?
Or be a total purist when I'm in my new career, ha! And go 15/35/70/100Macro/200/300, so then what did all you K7 owners do and why?
Help me here people it'll crack me i'm sure!
Cheers Jules...

Jules, none of the lenses you list are terribly cheap, all are very capable and desirable though.

The T/C of choice would have to be the SMCP-F 1.7X AF Teleconverter as it'll convert any MF lenses you acquire to AF.

I've owned many (too many) Pentax lenses in the past and having had a recent clear-out I've settled on those in my sig, and sold the rest. For long shots I use the DA* 60-250mm or DA*300mm + SMCP-F 1.7X AF T/C.

You could do a lot worse than just use the two kit lenses for now, 18-55mm & 50-200mm.

Totally agree. These are actually excellent lenses, plus light and compact.

Or a DA 18-55mm and 55-300mm

Even better.

Maybe better in some ways, but the 50-200mm is available as a WR version, which can be useful. I actually use both that and the 55-300mm, depending on the weather!

The Tamron 17-50mm F2.8 is good and lighter than the Pentax 16-50mm or a set of primes. So perhaps that's one to eventually consider if you do want something faster than the 18-55mm.

The 50-200mm is great for walking and cycling - so light and compact, while being optically at least as good as many older zooms that are much larger and heavier.

Thanks guys!
Keep the suggestions coming, the cash/budget suituation is ever evolving so I'm open to any comments/suggestions you care to make...
Cheers Jules...

If you want good and surprisingly cheap...

Keep an eye out for the Pentax-M 28mm f3.5. Incredibly sharp, very compact, the only snags are that you have to use manual focus and stop down metering. The former isn't really a problem with this lens as it hits infinity pretty quickly - for example, if you want to take a photo of a normal sized car then it'll be in focus at infinity when you're standing far enough back to get all of it in the frame. It'll scratch your LBA itch and you won't lose anything selling it on if you then buy a 21mm DA Ltd and decide you want rid of the older lens.

If you want a good, cheap, compact AF lens then the Pentax-F 35-70mm is pretty handy, not too expensive (I paid £30 for one bundled with an old SFX), has full AF and AE capability, weighs next to nothing and takes up very little space. It also has a surprisingly useful set of focal lengths for a walkabout lens. Again, not a huge outlay and you'll probably get the same money back if you sell it on.

It's also sharper wide open, if that matters to the OP

Sharpness is my #1 concern actually! Then price, I'm looking at a K7 at the weekend and one of the options is the lens you mentioned
F2.8 on a zoom not so much coz thats what the Limiteds will be for
Hows this one in comparison to the 17-70?
Cheers Jules...

Sorry Mannesty, but if you have a MF lens, the TC converter will not make it AF, no matter how hard you try. It will always stay MF as it does not have the gearing/motors etc in the lens to make it AF.

Anyway, for the OP, consider the 16-45mm. Not fast (F4 only) but oh so sharp and light too. It is the lens that has stopped me from getting the 16-50 for the time being.
But if small primes are your thing, and you have the money, consider the 21mm F3.2 for wide, a 35mm F2 or 35mm F2.8 Limited Macro for standard, and a 70mm F2.4 for short tele work.
There are lots of options out there however, and we all have our own suggestions, but that is half the fun with photography

The 1.7x tc will AF using MF lenses, as in this case it's the elements in the tc which move to achieve focus. There may be some intervention required at closer distances, but generally the lens can be left at infinity & the SMC Pentax-F 1.7x AF Adapter will do the work for you. Strictly speaking, you are correct in as much as the lens isn't autofocusing, but for all intents & purposes, the combo of 1.7x tc + MF lens act as AF

The TC referred to does covert MF lenses to AF, the TC does the focussing.

Iain (offertonhatter), my statement is correct. Technically of course, nothing can miraculously turn an MF lens into an AF one. An MF lens will always be an MF lens, whereas an AF lens can be AF or MF.

However, the combination of any MF lens + the SMCP-F 1.7x AF T/C, results in an AF combination (hence the AF in its model number). It is the T/C which performs the AF part, you just have to get somewhere close to correct focus with the MF part of the combo first.

I hope that is clear, because that is how it is.