Lens for beginner with ist DS

Hi there

I am brand new to this (great) forum.

I have bought a DS "body only", largely because I had 2 lenses I could use with it to begin with, an SMC-F f/4-5.6 35-80mm from my old budget MZ-50, and an SMC-M f/2 50mm that I bought for £15 with case (lovely lens).

The time has come to invest in something better and dedicated, and I was hoping for some guidance from you guys. In 35mm terms, I liked to shoot 50mm a lot of the time, upto 80mm, as this range fufilled most of my needs. Most of my photography was during the day, not always in good light though (a symptom of living in England). My budget for a new (or second hand) lens is upto £300 and, for now, I just want an AF lens (perhaps made for digital) to put on the DS to dispense with having to cart around a load of gear; my two-year old son requires a lot of kit when out and about! I have heard good things about Sigma 28-70mm. Any other recommendations much very appreciated.

Many thanks
Louis

I'd look at the Pentax 24-90 - equivalent angle of view to to a 36-135 when mounted on a digital body.

A bit cheaper but also very good is the latest Pentax 28-105 - small light and at f3.2-4.5 a bit faster than your average zoom. I like it on my DS when doing informal family shots

If you want speed (for low light) you will have to go to 3rd party for your budget. Sigma do a 24-60 2.8 EX DG. The 24mm starting point is useful -giving a '35mm eqivalent' of 36mm. Tamron do their 28-75 XR 2.8 which is quite light for a 2.8

Going down the 'digital only' route:

The Pentax DAF 16-45 1nd 18-55 are both a bit short at the long end (I have the former - great for landscape work but not so hot for portraits)

Again looking at 3rd party the sigma 18-125 gives a very useful range and has had pretty good reviews.

many thanks amilner.

I second the recommendation of a 24-90. It's an excellent range on digital, and optically the lens is a beauty. Ffordes have two for sale at the moment.

https://secure.ffordes.com/index.htm

Apart from the issue of DOF, speed is less of a problem when using a (Pentax) DSLR because the image quality at ISO 800 is very high.

Be careful when buying Sigmas. Some are fine, but some have exposure problems because (allegedly) Sigma reverse-engineer the Pentax software to avoid paying royalties, and don't always get it right. My advice (if you must buy a Sigma) would be to buy new from a shop and try it out first.

George