That good old topic - the 3 lens selection

I seem to spend a lot of time in and around churches so my lens line up on K3ii are Sigma 10-20, Sigma 17-70 and Tamron 70-200 2.8. All 3 cost me less than £600. And cover my needs.

Almost the same for me as far as lenses are concerned - but with the 55-300 PLM instead of the Tammy (and the cost was also just shy of £600).

I have trouble choosing a single lens, let alone three

If I'm really struggling to decide, I pick up the DA 18-135mm. An all around useful lens but rather slow for use in churches.

For me, it depends on where I am! We spend March to the end of October in Corfu and the Winter in England. I travel to Corfu with my lightest lenses, which for the K-1 means a Tamron SP 17-35, D-FA 28-105 and Tamron 70-300 Di LD Macro. This set up is my 'go to' for general walk-around and for landscape work. I also keep my DA*300, 100mm Macro WR, DA 70 Limited and DA*50-135 out in Corfu, but these are used for more specialist subjects and I usually don't take them out with me. I also have a K-3ii out here, but it rarely gets used unless I'm doing macro or wildlife stuff.

In England during the Winter, I favour my Tamron SP 70-200 f2.8 instead of the 70-300, as it gives better IQ, but it's too heavy to take abroad.

When shooting full frame, I've been using the FA zooms, which are quite compact and produce great results with the K-1. So the 20-35mm f/4 and the 24-90mm f/3.5-4.5 do very nicely, perhaps adding the 43mm f/1.9 as it's really compact even with the lenshood attached.

On my KP is normally the 150-450 or 300DA* with 1.4xTC and in the bag is the Tamron 90mm macro and Pentax 16-85mm. If I had to get it down to 3 I leave the 150-450 at home due to the weight.

Having previously given my ultimate, Q-based 'avoiding muscle rub and achy back syndrome' 3 lens set, it's time to come clean on APS-C.

For general purpose wanderings: 16-85mm + 55-300mm with an option on the Tamron 10-24mm if it might be useful. Replace the 16-85mm by the 16-45mm for less weight to carry around (and nostalgic memories of my first foray into digital SLR) at the expense of more changes of lens.

For bugs, birds and beasts: DA*300mm + Irix 150mm macro + 1.4TC. If feeling more weak and feeble than usual, replace the Irix with the Sigma 105mm to reduce weight.

For the challenge of light weight, prime-only general wanderings with APS-C: FA28mm + FA135mm with one of F50mm f1.7, D-FA50mm macro or FA77mm depending on how the mood takes me.

And with all of the above, there's always room to sneak a Q plus a lens or two into a pocket as well.

Steve

As I've read the posts in this thread I realise that I've mainly been operating with a 2 lens kit recently.
Most of my photography involves motor sport so I have a Pentax 12-24 for pits and paddock work, plus the 55-300 PLM for track side.
I have Sigma 8-16 and 50-150 which are both good but their weight tells over a day at the track.
To be fair there is also a Pentax 10-17 in the bag - just in case - but it hasn't been used in a long time.

I just saw this thread for the 1st time and it‘s interesting to read about everyone‘s preferences. I‘ve gone with three sets of three to cover my usual activities.

For general walkabouts with my K5iis I‘d go with:

Pentax DA 16-45mm
Samsung 35mm/f2
S-M-C Takumar 120mm/f2.8

The 16-45mm has never let me down and is pretty light, it does take up a bit of room though. If space is an issue I‘d swap it out for the Pentax-F 35-70mm and sacrifice the wide end.

The Samsung 35mm has a lot of character and overdelivers for it‘s compactness and weight. It’s fast and discrete enough to use in low light and street photography and has, for my tastes, a pleasing FOV on the cropped sensor.

Many of my favourite images in my archive were taken with an 85mm/1.8 SMC Tak but I‘ve gone with the 120mm for general walkabouts due to the extra reach. On the cropped sensor 120mm is a short-to-mid telephoto and to have that at f2.8 with something that fits in the palm of your hand is pretty nice.

If I‘m going outdoors in good light and have my Rucksack I’d change to:

Pentax 16-45
SMC Takumar 85mm/f1.8
Sigma 135-400mm (zoom creep is mildly annoying but better since I got a chunky rubber band!)

My indoor set would be:

Samsung 35mm/f2
Sigma EX DG HSM 50mm/f1.4
SMC Takumar 85mm/f1.8

The kit I use mostly when out and about taking a rucksack are;

K1 with
DA* 11-18mm f2.8
DFA 28-105 ED DC WR
and this usually is enough weight as the rucksack is heavy too, filters etc.
If going for Bird shots I will just take 1 lens, the DA* 300mm with sometimes the TC 1.4 WR and perhaps take the KP instead of the K1.

After a long break from Film era I started out with a digital camera in 2019, a K-X second hand and bought a Silver KP in February? I think, 2020, and may now consider selling, low shutter count 4057 "get in touch" if you're interested May throw in a 50-200 DA WR lens too that I got with the K-X.

Also I had an extravagance with a DFA* 85mm f1.4 which is not used, count on your hands (probably just one hand) the times I've used it, I might part with this too.

I'll admit to buying (and returning) a DFA* 70-200 f2.8 lens from Amazon, a great lens but far too heavy to use often, then the price went down so requested a return and they accepted.

I have a DFA 100mm Macro f2.8 WR too that sometimes gets an outing. A few old SMC M lens too with my SLR collection.

Not well off!

I favour the Tamron 10-24, the Pentax 16-45 and the Pentax 50-200. All punch well above their value on my K5iis.

on the k511s pentax 12-24 tokina 28-70 f2.8 and a sigma 70-200 f 2.8

and on the k1 tokina 20-35 pentax fa 24-90 and a sigma 100-300 f4

Difficult choice as there are so many lenses to choose from.

Shooting a K-3iii I'd got for the DA21Ltd, DFA100WR, and DA*300.

They are not quite my most used lenses, even at almost 4000 keeper photos each. That honour goes to the DA*16-50(mk1) with over 7000 keepers. While a zoom is versatile it isn't as pleasing in terms of output. It is my most used as I have had it since about 2008 as I was an early(ish) adopter. The other lenses have seen a lot more use in a shorter time. Having said that, I got the 300 as soon as I could after the 16-50 so I think it is almost as old.

I really had a hard time choosing between the 21 and the 15. While the 15 provides a really nice wide FoV it isn't as versatile as a general purpose lens. I have travelled with just a camera and the 21 limited and have no regrets with what I was able to capture. Adding the 100mm is enough to cover most things. I only need a longer lens for some wildlife.

If Pentax made a 21 limited with WR I'd be all over it.

I'd like to replace my 16-50 with the new version as the AF on the old one is incredibly inaccurate due to the short throw. It is even bad on the K-3iii.

Back in the olden days with my MX's my three main M series lenses were M20mm F4, M50mm F1.4 and M100mm F2.8. I've still got both black and silver cameras and the lenses but they haven't seen the light of day for some time.

With the K5 and K3II it's my DA12-24 F4, DA*16-50 F2.8 and Sigma 70-200 1:2.8 APO DG HSM

How dare I even respond, owning a Sony body these days (though I have Pentax film cameras…).

I’d probably choose these 3;
Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.2.
Super-Takumar 50mm f/1.4, 8-element.
Sony FE 85mm f/1.8 (though this is just because I have two af lenses and this is one of them).

That Nokton is a doozy, not that anyone here cares 😁