Wide angle for K 30, where can I get one please?

Hi I want a wide angle lens for my Pentax K30, currently I have a standard 18-55 lens on the front. I have been told that a wide angle would give more deph of field then a standard lens.

Can you tell me where is he best place to get one and wuld it come with lens cap or would I have to get that seperatly, also my lens is 52mm with lens hood, would I also have to invest in a new hood, or would my hood fit new lens? Thanks very much.

The 18mm end of your own lens is a wide angle. Only invest, and none of them are cheap, in a wider lens if you consistently find yourself unable to get everything into the picture. For the the avoidance of doubt, depth of field is the amount sharply in focus between the camera and the far distance.

SRS is probably the best place to look and there will be plenty of suggestions here about particular lenses. All new lenses come with caps and some with hoods. Your current hood will definitely not fit.

Is this thread about wide angle lenses, or about the costs of photography tuition?

If you want wide angle the 12-24 f4 will give you what you are asking for. As for price, I have just come from Canon so it all seems cheap to me.

In fact if you want to try some wide angle lenses I can recommend using SRS and hiring one:

SRS Hire

Easy to do, call up say what you want and when. All delivered securely and with a bag to put it all back in when you finished to be collected by the courier. Simples.

Hi Aura

There is always the option of buying an older 'manual focus' lens. As Ken says, your 18-55 is already wide angle at the 18mm end, so this will give you plenty of depth of field. There are numerous wide-angle 'prime' lenses for sale on ebay, on this forum and elsewhere, but not many will be as wide as the 18-55 at the 18mm end. The lower the number for the focal length, the wider the angle, e.g. a 24mm lens is wider angle than a 28mm. You could pick up something like a Pentax-M 28mm F2.8 (or F3.5 is even better) on ebay for about £30-£50; this is not a lot of money if you want to give one a try. Be aware that you will need to focus manually and set the aperture manually on a lot of these older lenses.

I'm not sure if this is helpful or not, but the best way to find out about how different lenses work on your camera is to try them!

Regards
David

To go wider than the 18mm of the kit lens (which is already pretty wide) you are entering 'ultra wide' territory. Which is fun, as you can 'get a lot more in' to your images, and there's an eyecatching sense of distortion you can play with (objects in the foreground are exaggerated in scale relative to the background etc)....

The Sigma 10-20mm pops up regularly in the classifieds and is a safe bet. It comes with a hood of course, but has a 77mm filter ring, if you plan on using filters.

The hood of the kit lens will ONLY work on the kit lens, no matter what size they are, by the way. It's a special design specific to Pentax.

Different filter ring sizes are just a fact of life; it's not possible to design all lenses to be the same width. It's nice when all our lens caps and filters are the same size but it's not really worth basing a lens buying decision on!

Hi thanks for your answers, so for landscapes would I be better off staying with the 18-55m?

I would recommend improving your photography using the 18-55 before contemplating wider or manual lenses. Ultra wide territory can be difficult as perspective distortions are exaggerated. I have only given my 18-55(WR version) a quick spin but it is a very capable lens.

I'm not sure what the poll has got to do with the question.

OK will do that, I notice one of the legs on my tripod slips even through I have tightened it.

I didn't notice the poll question until Dr. O. mentioned it. Rather than lessons, you could meet up with some local Pentax users; this is one of the best ways to learn.

Regards
David

Is there one that meets in Salisbury?

Just posting to support the good advice you've already had..personally I see UWA lenses as more of a "speciality" lens for landscapes, I have the 12-24 but use my DA17-70 far more as the focal length suits my "style".

You're much better off getting out and taking more photos and then seeing which focal lengths suit you best, then it's well worth thinking about an upgrade to the 18-55 if you find you use it most.

Answered your poll...I put No, mainly because I offer them and think my prices are very reasonable

Simon

Hi, how much do you charge?

This is good advice. Don't go off assuming you need to buy X or Y lens based on something someone told you, especially if you don't really understand the reasons why....

Buy lenses according to your OWN need as your ability progresses.

Ultra wides are great but you have to have a certain style of shooting in mind.