Newbie lens advice please

Hi there, I was hoping to have some guidance on a way forward with some sensible zoom and prime lens purchaces please. I've had a K100d for a couple of years now, and since doing an evening advanced photography course I am hoping to sell it to upgrade to either a k7 or k5.

Despite everyone on the course shooting with Cannon or Nikon and sneering at my camera,I want to stick with Pentax because 1. I think the quality is superb and 2. I bought the 55-300 lens last year and have been really pleased with it. I'm also keen to try to get some good older prime lenses that will up my game a little.

So my lens plan with whatever camera I get is to aim to get a Sigma 10-20 f3.5 and a Sigma 17-70 f2.8 to give me a range with my existing telephoto and then to try to pick up a couple of smc A primes, which is where I'm more stuck, with such a bewildering choice. I was thinking of a 28 and a 50, as fast as I could get for around £100 a piece.

So, do you think that would be a good range of kit to aim for or would you do something different?

What order would you buy it in?

What primes would you choose given a small budget?

I'm keen on portraits, landscapes, night shooting, architecture, macro and experimental/impressionistic

Any wisdom much appreciated

Matt

The new DA 35mm f2.4 is well worth buying. Cheap, sharp, lightweight and compact. I find it much more useful than a 50mm lens on digital and it makes for a superb standard lens.

35 2.4 and 50 1.4 to start with

100 mm macro if you can afford it.

Listen to Don, seriously sensible advice.

I'd also recommend the 35mm 2.4, excellent and relatively cheap lens.

The older version of the Sigma 10-20 (f4-5.6) is reported to be noticeably sharper. Of course, the newer version is nearly a stop-and-a-half faster at 20mm so it's up to you which is the priority.

Never noticed the mention of the Sigma 10-20 its a cracking lens, but like above its said that the older one the f4-5.6 is a better lens, although I've never tried the newer one, the older one is brand new at around £330 from SRS at the moment.

Good choice with the 10-20 and 17-70 sigmas. The former has a cult following and nice and sharp. The Latter I have not used, but from accounts it is a great lens.

Now to the primes.

DA 35mm F2.4 is a great start point, quite fast and very sharp. Also very light and will be great on the K-7 K-5 bodies that you have shortlisted.

As for another lens, the fifty's are beginning to go up in price, mainly due to the fact that a new FA 50mm F1.4 is now quite steep in price.
So, I would suggest a fully manual (ie no A on the aperture ring or AF) 55mm F1.8. It may be old but is very sharp, and currently a bargain, you are talking about £40-50 at the moment.

Hope this helps.

DA35/2.4 as a prime first, wide angle zoom (10-20) next. After shooting a year with that setup, you can decide if you need a 'standard' zoom (like the 17-70) or not.

PS Consider keeping your K100D; it's a brilliant little camera and can always come in useful.

If you see a K 55mm f1.8 cheaply then go for it, but I wouldn't spend a huge sum on it as I've never got much use from 50mm lenses on digital. They're a bit too long for a walkabout lens and a bit too short for things like motorsport where you'd like a fast telephoto. You're more likely to find an M 50mm f1.7 cheaply though as they're more common. The 55mm was only made for two or three years while the 50mm was a standard lens for about a decade.

Also worth looking at the Samyang 85mm f1.4, manual focus but auto aperture. It's astonishingly good considering the price compared to other fast 85mm lenses and in some tests has embarrassed lenses costing four times as much.

Thanks all for the comments and advice, I've found it really helpful and very welcoming! I spent last night looking at all the lenses you lot have suggested- You lot really go for the 35mm 2.4 eh! And thanks Matt for the Samyang pointer, in fact I picked up on the thread about it last night and looked at some shots that I was very impressed with. I'm sorely tempted to just get one today, but need to discuss with the finance dept and share the vision

Cheers
Matt

I would say that you need to decide on which camera you are going to buy first .... because that could easily influence which lenses people would advise you to buy.

I have both the K7 and K5 and due to the low light / high ISO ability of the K5 I'd be happy to use an f4 or slower zoom on it, whereas with the K7 (where IQ - due to noise - deteriorates quickly over 800 ISO) I think f2.8 zooms are more worthwhile.

So for the K5 I'd say the 17-70 could be a great choice, whereas with the K7 a Tamron 17-50/2.8 would be a better choice..... and so on.

The 10-20 (older model) is a great lense to have !

If you buy enough lenses the 'finance department' will never notice another one being added.

For this kind of money you could get a Pentax-A 50mm f1.7. The 'A' on the aperture ring is pretty handy

I'd suggest getting the 17-70 (or similar) before the 10-20, and see how often you feel short changed at the short end