Lenses to replace kit lenses?

I got back into photography about 1 year ago, after a 10 year gap (previous cameras ME Super and MX). At the time I bought the Samsung GX-10 with the 2 kit lenses as I was not sure whether I would get back into photography, and at the time the kit was £200 cheaper than the equivalent K10D kit.

Roll forward 1 year and I am glad I got back into photography. Photoshop allows me to do all the things I tried and generally failed to do in the darkroom, and I am producing photos at a prolific rate.

In the last year I have also purchased a Pentax 12-24mm, Sigma 100-300m f4 and matched Sigma 1.4 teleconverter, and Sigma 105mm macro.

Getting to my question I need 2 quality lenses to fill the gap (and probably overlap a bit) between my wide-angle and telephoto zooms to replace my kit lenses (which produce excellent images if you stop down a bit and don't go too near the extremes of the zoom), and wish to spend about £800 on the two lenses. What would you all suggest?

In terms of use I shoot anything that moves, or doesn't, and produce up to A3 sized prints for entry into competitions at the camera club I have re-joined, where I need to produce 30 entries a year for the various competitions.

Thanks in advance

Tim

hi Tim ... the answer to your question seems like a no-brainer when you have such a generous budget for new lens ... it must be the DA* 16-50 and 50-135, with money left for a couple of juicy primes !

or

if you are not that unhappy with the kit lens, just go for the primes at strategic focal lengths attuned to your photographic expressions ( you have enough budget to bag all the FA limiteds with money to spare ).

Hi badbrother

Thanks for the prompt reponse.
Unfortunately its approx £800 total

Tim

In your position I would be tempted by the new 17-70mm Pentax (if you can hang on a bit), and definitely a 50mm prime, probably the FA50 1.4 . Should only be about £500 for the pair I would think.

I know that leaves you a bit short at the longer end, with a gap between 70 and 100, but I don't suppose you'd really miss that. Depends what shots you take really, have a look through your photos and see what focal lengths you use most often.

Dan

Hi Dan

Thanks for the response. I did not know that Pentax were producing a 17-70. I already have an old A series manual focus 50 1.4, would that still be reasonable quality given that it is on an APS-C sensor camera, and I don't mind focussing?

Tim

sorry for the rush reply ... haven't done my calculation correctly

well, you can get both the da* zoom if you buy from the US, Amazon price is US$ 1439 for both (+shipping).

whereas, if you want local warranty in the UK, get a Tamron SP AF17-50mm F/2.8 XR Di II LD ASL IF which tests favourably against the DA*16-50 (supported by positive user's feedback) and stick with Pentax for the 50-135 range.

In doing so, you will not have weather sealing in the shorter range.

Or

if weather sealing is an issue for you in the shorter range, then the DA* 16-50 and wait for new lens to come in the tele range.

talking about newer lens, there are a couple that may worth your wait

DA 17-70 f4 sdm
DA 60-250 f4 sdm
Sigma EX 50-150 f2.8 hsm

other lens receiving good reveiws and user's feedback include
Sigma EX 24-60 f2.8
Tamron SP 28-75 f2.8

Well, they never make it easy for you when it comes to LBA

coming to think of it

a Sigma EX 24-60 f2.8 (or the Tamron SP 28-75 f2.8 ) couple with a FA 77mm f1.8 limited would be a good combination if you don't insist on a seemless mirgration of zoom range.

And this combination is way below of what you are prepared to spend !

Hi badbrother

Thanks again for the detailed response. Lots of food for thought.
The 50-135 does look very good. I had read elsewhere on this forum that because they are sealed that if they are damaged then they are total writeoffs.

I have tried to run various Exif analysers on my photos from the last year to see what focal length I use most, but all the free ones I have tried crash part way through. Any suggestions?

Also as I am a relative newbie to digital photography, please excuse my ignorance - what is LBA? (My nearest guess was Len Buying Addiction!)

Tim

For reading basic Exif and photo browsing, I highly recommend Faststone Image Viewer 3.5 (free shareware).

and you guess right for LBA

Should do, my FA50 is gorgeous.

Dan

Regarding the 17-70 range although the Pentax is on the horizon its uncertain as to whether it will actually be any better than the Sigma version, weather sealing doesn't sound very effective & having read some info lately on the SDM it may also be of limited advantage - the Sigma will undoubtedly prove cheaper - I'd await some review info on the Pentax before getting too excited about it

simon

I can't say whether it's faster than 'normal' focusing or not, but I certainly appreciated the quietness when I was snapping a hedgehog.

Dan

another vote for the Sigma 24-60 F2.8, my Dad has one and it's lovely, especially considering the price!

maybe Sigma 24-60 + Pentax 50-135?

seems to cover your range nicely and iirc should come in at about £700

ALternatively you may be able to pick up a second hand Pentax 24-90, one of the last full frame 35mm lenses but works very well on my K10D

Thank you all for your advice.

After some research and looking at other posts on this forum I have ordered the Tamron 17-50/2.8 as recommended by a couple of people as being nearly as good as the Pentax 16-50 but quite a bit cheaper. I needed some overlap with the 12-24 so this seemed the best option.

I am now going to wait until the Sigma 50-150 is readily available in Pentax fit, read some reviews, and decide between it and the Pentax 50-135.

I may even be brave enough to post some of my images!

Thanks again

Tim