Walkaround Prime?

I initially bought the 40mm Ltd for this very reason but I too found it a little too small for my liking so sold it - just this week I've bought the new DA 35mm F2.4 which on initial impressions appears perfect for the job!!

Simon

I have a AF version of this .. superb lens.
Think I got it off Kris if I remember correctly.

Happy to concur with Mike-P and Pentaxophile on the IQ of the Siggy 24mm Super-wide II and add that when used with a reverse mount it produces very acceptable macro shots (greater than 1:1) provided that the short working distance is not an issue.

Bought mine (the manual version with AE in Tv) on ebay just before Christmas 2010 and was delighted from the moment I viewed my first test shots.

Jon

I would have liked a wider angle than the 35mm, but the lens is superb and the only reasonably affordable AF prime.

IMO the perfect prime for a cropped sensor would be a 28mm. That gives you something close in field of view to that of the 43mm Ltd on film, a length Pentax picked because they felt it was a better standard lens than a 50mm.

I would choose my Sigma 30/1.4 as a walkaround prime. Although having said that sometimes I want wider do would perhaps take the DA14mm out. You can always crop

I'll second that, mine spent most of August on my K200D whilst away on holiday.

Andrew

Cheers guys I think I'm just going to keep my 35mm and see how I get on, I was going to trade in my Flashgun but if I don't get any takers I might just keep it, was only going to trade it in against purchase of another lens but Ffordes choice would seem to be a Sigma 17-70 or Tammy 17-50 as a walkabout rather than any of the primes suggested

Not me guvnor... I have only sold one lens in my life and that was a duplicate M 28 f/2.8 which was soon replaced with an M28 f/3.5. I appear to have 4 28mm lenses now (S-M-C Tak/3.5, M28/3.5, A28/2.8 and a Vivtar Close focus I bought from Jack...)

K.

Just done some searching and it was Martin (Malo1961).

Occasionally I go out with just a Pentax-M 28mm 3.5 or recently-acquired Pentax-A 24mm 2.8. Can recommend both; I think the 28mm produces slightly sharper images but I'm not so keen on the 'green button' metering necessary with the manual lens.

I think that is what 99.999% of members here would suggest too, but you asked specifically about a walkabout prime. Perhaps you're not sure what the term prime lens means? It's a lens having a fixed focal length (28, 35, 50, 100mm), as distinct from a zoom lens which has a variable focal length (18-250mm).

You already have (or had) a DA16-45mm lens which is an exceptionally good walkabout lens.

Obtaining either the Sigma or Tamron you mention would have you doubling up on a lot of the focal length of your 16-45 which might not necessarily the best way to spend your money.

As a walkabout lens (prime or otherwise) you already have three lenses in your line-up which can be interesting options in this particular application. The 16-45 offers a versatile focal range, the 35mm f2.4 is compact and from what I've seen gives excellent results, and the Sigma 10-20 can be useful when wnating to get stealthy street shots as you can aim away from your intended target but still get them in shot.

Try all of these out and if there is soemthing you still feel you're missing, get a lens to address that.

Robbie, he sold the 16-45mm a few days ago.

Not sure why .. it's a great lens.

Thanks Mike, I saw it in his sig but hadn't realised he'd sold it.

That's a fairly fast lens turnaround.

My sale of the 16-45 was basically "politics" my other half moaned I'd spent too much on my camera gear so to appease her I agreed to sell, if its the best option though I might just trade in my flash and order another off Ffordes,