New lens required

Good day all,

With the recent purchase of my new K1 ii, I am now in the market for a full frame lens.

I only bought the body and (stupidly) thought I would be able to use the lenses from my K-50. Now I am trying to sell the K-50 and the lenses go with the kit.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, I`d be interested in anyone`s views and, dare I say it - recommendations as to what to buy. I`ve read through the various forums and hammered my friend Google.

I`m looking for something to cover the mid range. I have a 12-24mm and also 200mm and up, so something to cover the gaps so to speak. I`d also like some help with the differences with the DA / FA / DFA series - Google has managed to completely confuse me with that one.

Any help would be gratefully received.

Thank you

David

DA lenses designed for APSC cameras
DFA lenses modern lenses designed for Full Frame
F & FA lenses designed for Film cameras but usable on digital full frame

Some lenses designated as DA can be used on full frame link compatibility-of-da-lenses-on-full

Your 12-24 will be usable in the 16-24 range, so stick with that for the moment.

The DFA 24-70 2.8 is an excellent zoom for the K1 and I recommend that. The K1 plus 24-70 is not a lightweight combination though and if you want something that enables you to walk around all day with the camera over your shoulder you may be better with the DFA 28-105.

I assume you have the DA* 200mm. That is fully compatible with FF. It won't be as fast at focussing as the newer lenses DFA 70-200 DFA 70-210 or DFA 150-450 however.

You could also have a look at some primes. The FA LTD series (31mm/43mm/77mm) are excellent FF lenses and are light and compact. The FA 50mm 1.4/1.7 is also a good lightweight choice and can be got second hand very reasonably. The recent DFA 50mm 1.4 is a stellar lens but again your are getting into big and heavy territory.

What kind of photography do you do ? That may help with advice.

Thank you both,

Barrie - thanks for that. Self explanatory (once you know how)

Peter - its mostly landscape and scenery. I`d also like to have a go taking photos of some birds... We have some eagles, hawks and woodpeckers here, also a little yellow headed thing that I can`t find out the name of

Of all the D-FA`s, from what I`ve seen, the 28-105 seems the cheaper of them, and the 24-70 will have to wait until Christmas. I`ll have a look at the FA 50 too and see what becomes available.

David

If you want something "cheap" for shooting birds (pun intended) you could try the old FA 80-320 (the later silver model is better than the black one)

I got some great shots using mine on APS bodies (you'd have to crop to get the same magnification I did)
The lens is terrible at grabbing focus and hunts like hell but the shots can be worth it.

I agree with fatspider - although they ain't that cheap as its a very good lens. I regularly use an 80-320 with my K1 to good effect. The F 70-210 is also good but avoid the identical lookng 70-200 as it's the cheapo version.

ok, would this look about right?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pentax-FA-80-320-4-5-5-6-Objektiv-analog/222600825147...

David

IF it still works - my silver version very soon developed a totally unfixable barrel wobble

That's the one, although I'm sure I've seen them much cheaper,

That's a bit too expensive. (It's a 'buy it now' - they always cost a lot). They come up in auction regularly and go for 50 - 60UKP. Here is a quick way of searching ALL of E-bay link A quick skim through it show several FAJ 75-300s at a good price. John Riley recently gave that a positive review on here.

If you are looking at landscapes, then manual focus film lenses can be a nice cheap way to get some nice glass. If you need AutoFocus then that's not the way to go, but static scenes for landscapes, especially if on a tripod and taking your time to focus/live view perhaps, and a mid range aperture say f8, then you don't necessarily need expensive lenses to get good results.

Thank you David,

I see there is apparently a black version of the FAJ 75-300 and a silver one... is there a difference or is it purely cosmetic?

David

A couple of resources for checking out Pentax lenses link link

For something cheap & cheerful but quite capable the DA 50mm f/1.8 is your best bet if you want to get started ASAP. Not the focal range you're looking for but will be faster than any zoom and will allow you to at least start using the camera with a general-purpose prime.

Cosmetic, I believe (but am not 100% sure). I've seen them well reputed, so might be a budget-friendly option.
Is Autofocus an absolute necessity? If not, that'll open up a swathe of other lenses that might tick boxes. I recently had a SMC-A 70-210 f/4 which was (a) inexpensive and (b) a good performer.

The 28-105mm f/3.5-5.6 DC WR is a good, budget kit lens. It's pretty sharp stopped down, autofocus is quick and quiet and it's surprisingly solidly built. I'd happily recommend one after my limited experience with it.