Which lenses for new K20d owner.

I bet you're all thinking "not another which lens thread" but please bear with me.

I'll be looking to get some better glass to go with my newly acquired K20d. I'm basically looking at covering super-wide to mid-tele with a couple of zoom lenses. I want to get a good quality kit to cover most situations to start with. I can then later save to add some ltd primes / macro / fisheye etc. as & when I feel the need. My initial budget is around £1500 (some flexibility in this) value for money is important, eg: if lense 1 is 98% as good as lens 2 but is 75% of the price then lens 1 gets my vote:

The options I was thinking of are:

Wide:
Pentax 12-24, Sigma 10-20 or maybe new Tamron 10-24 (dependent on reviews/results)

Standard:
Pentax 16-50 f2.8, Tamron 28-75 f2.8 or Sigma 24-70 f2.8 (new HSM)

Tele:
Pentax 50-135 f2.8, Tamron 70-200 f2.8 or Sigma 70-200 f2.8 HSM

I'm currently thinking,
Pentax 12-24
Sigma 24-70
Tamron 70-200

The Pentax lenses look better built but with the 50mm start/end I'm worried I'd be chopping and changing too much, plus I'd like a little more at the long end.

The Tamron 70-200 looks sharper than the Sigma equivalent but I'd like to try both on the same day to see the difference the HSM makes to focus speed & accuracy.


Any advice on my dilemma ? Any experiences you'd like to pass on to me or am I gonna learn the hard way as usual ??

If you mix three lens makes you have three different handling styles. I don't think this is conducive to smooth and seamless working practice.

I've said it many times, but the Pentax lenses are more compact, better made and better quality than the independents.

You could substutute the 16-45mm and save a fortune over the 16-50mm. OK, the aperture will be f4 instead of f2.8 but it will be much smaller and lighter and pretty well as good.

For maximum verstatility I would suggest:
SMC Pentax-DA 12-24mm
SMC Pentax-DA 16-45mm
SMC Pentax-DA 55-300mm
SMC Pentax-D FA 100mm Macro

which is slightly different to your schedule of lenses, but I think would cover every eventuality at the best possible cost/quality compromise. It is also within your budget.

Hi John, I hadn't considered the handling aspect, that's a very good point.

I can't see the 16-45 & 55-300 being that much of an upgrade from the kit lense & 50-200 I have back-ordered with Jessops at their silly price. Slight improvement in IQ obviously, but the 18-55 & 50-200 would be my lightweight/rough & ready kit.

I'd rather go for faster glass, but like I said, the 50mm cutoff & shorter range of the Pentax options is putting me off. Does anybody find the 50mm changeover point frustrating, or am I off the mark here ?

The 16-45mm is actually more on a par with the 16-50mm and is a very definite step upwards to professional quality. It is significantly better than the original 18-55mm, but I have yet to test out the Mk II version.

The 55-300mm is an excellent lens (so is the 50-200mm) that is way better than its modest price suggests.

You don't need an uninterrupted set of focal lenghts. It's entirely possible to walk backwards and forwards to frame the image required...

I'm a wee bit puzzled why you think '50mm' is a problem.

This isn't a problem for me since I tend to shoot perhaps at 18, 30 or much longer telephoto lengths, for portraits I like 75ish; on 35mm film I would be using 28mm, 50mm and 100mm.

As John says, it can be incredibly irritating using a mix of lenses particularly when the focus rings turn in the opposite direction!

Having had various lenses over the past year since going Pentax, I would definately stick to Pentax glass.

Not just for the quality but also for the matching ergonomics of matching lenses.

My choice would definately be

DA* 16-50mm
DA* 50-135mm

Thats the 16-135mm range sorted, I was desperate to get my hands on either a Sigma or Tamron 70-200mm but having handled both I am so pleased I went for for the 50-135mm, don't forget this is the 70-200mm equivalent on the cropped sensor, so a lighter better to handle lens. After using a 70-200mm 2.8 for a day this year to shoot a festival I really do appreciate the lightness of the 50-135mm, images are pretty good too

Thanks all, there seems to be a general consensus toward Pentax here it seems. I suppose I have the 50-200 for more reach (if it turns up from Jessops)

I'll be looking to get 1 lens just before Christmas and the others mid Jan. My local Pentax pro centre is pretty competitive on price so I'll probably get the 12-24 there first, especially as I'm getting a new tripod from Santa. If I like the ergonomics of the 12-24 then I can see it making sense to get "the matching set" as it were !

I'm sure when I go back to the shop in Jan and get the 50-135 they'll humour me whilst I get my focus chart out to find their best 16-50. I will have enough left in my budget with the current cashback to get either the fisheye or the macro. Any more & I'll need a bigger bag too !

Thanks for the advice, like I say I want to get the basic choices right as hopefully these lenses will last me for years to come.

Since going digital I've been operating with the 18-55 and an 80-320. This is a rather larger gap than you're looking at, and has rarely been noticeable let alone a problem. I am now using a 16-45 and 80-320, I hope to get a 55-300 at some point soonish, but the gap doesn't often worry me.

I wasn't worried about any gaps in focal length, rather the point at where the individual lenses started/stopped. Thinking about it though, as often as I want more length on the kit lens, is about the same as I use the wider end. So a 24-70 may prove beneficial on the long end but restrictive at the wide end.

Obviously primes are the way to go for absolute IQ & I will get some at my most used focal lengths, but for now I want to get some quality zooms to cover a wide range.

RR's position is similar to mine to a degree.
I bought the 16-50 with the K20 body and am now looking to expand my lens range.
I think i am going for the DA*12-24 next week and then wait until the arrival of the DA* 60-250 in January, perhaps somebody could give there opinion on this combination. I will of course have a 10mm 'gap' but I think I can probably live with this for now.
I may later add a few prime lenses.

The 12-24 isn't a "star" lens but does have a very good reputation. Impossible to comment on the 60-250 until it actually arrives. I have the DA* 50-135mm which is just lovely. The 10mm gap between the 50 and 60 could, in most cases, be solved by stepping forward a face paces or sacrificing a few pixels and cropping a little, with a K20D you have a few to play with!

Best wishes, Kris.

Thanks Kris

I also am considering the DA 14mm instead of a zoom for those wide angle landscape shots, just can't fully make up my mind.

I have been promising myself the DA* 16-50mm for about a year now but am being highly tempted by the 12-24mm instead, and sticking to the kit lens (especially as the latter comes with a £50 cashback and the DA* comes with nada) I have a £40 50-200mm coming at some mythical time in the future from Jessops (I am not holding my breath but for £40 I didn't think I could go wrong).

Oh, LBA is an addition indeed. Almost as bad as checking out these fora...

Best wishes, Kris.

I don't agree that differences in handling between makes of lenses are important, as long as the handling of each is acceptable to you. You get used to any differences. The most major one is that Sigma zoom and focusing rings turn the opposite way to Pentax's. That does not apply to Tamron's, by the way.

Sigma and Tamron lenses are considerably cheaper than the Pentax equivalents in some cases, while providing similar image quality, and sometimes even better.

I would wait until the Tamron 10-24mm is released and reviewed before deciding what ultra-wide to get. It could be spectacular.

I have modern lenses from all three makes. I do prefer the handling of the Pentax ones, but I simply couldn't have afforded so many lenses if they all were Pentax. Thank you very much Sigma and Tamron.

Hadn't heard of the Tamron 10-24, I like the idea of that.
It does appear that it is available already here link