Your Help/Advise [ Lens ]

Hello Im Mike and Im from Holland....Im new here and also to Digital Reflex Camera.
Last week i purchased a pentax 1st* DL 2

Im not sure what direction to go in respect of Lens.....for the time being I have a excellent Bridge Compact Camera.Until I have the Funds.

Ive read most of the Topics covering lens here and some excellent advice..
I would like a General Lens Either Tamron/Sigma.I thought
[1]: Tamron AF 28-105 F/4-5.6 [IF] This could cover Portrait Photo's !!

[2] Tamron SP AF 90mm F/2.8DI Macro[ 1.1] IS there a Better option!!

[3] I would like a Tele - Photo Lens for Birds - Animals not to expensive
Your Suggestion or help very welcome. New Or Second-hand!!

Here in Holland the SP AF 90 Euro: 369- AF 28 -105 Euro 179-

THanks in advance for your time and efforts Mike :
[/i]

Hi mike i use a Tamron 17-35mm for my landscapes which when i have been in the field taking shots i havnt felt the need for anything else.I also use a Tamron 70-300mm 1:2 macro which i find is a very versatile lens when coupled with a x2 teleconverter turnig it into a 140-600mm ideal for birds and other wildlife good luck in your decisions...

Hi and welcome, here are my thoughts:

1) doesn't really do a lot that your kit lens doesn't. It's a bit longer but half its range is already covered by your 18-55. If you get a long zoom, it will be totally covered.

2) All the macro lenses in this price range are excelent. Both the Tamron and Sigma ~100 macros are excelent, for general use out and about I wouldn't go any shorter than 90mm. I use my 90mm with a matched 2x converter when light allows to give sensible working distances so as not to frighten the bugs I'm photographing.

You can also get some bargains on the used market. Several people around here use old manual focus macro lenses with great success.

3) This is the first extra lens most people buy. My advice is get a decent one, so that it will last you a while. My pick would be the Pentax DA 55-300. This lens is sharp all the way to 300mm even wide open which is where it really matters in this kind of lens, since that is where you'll use it 99% of the time.

Deppending on what you actually want the macro lens for, the long zoom will probably get you more or less close enough most of the time. You may well want a proper macro lens at some point, but the long zoom will take care of butterflies and beatles in the meantime.

You do realise you're responding to a question that was posed over a year ago don't you? I should think the OP's probably spent his cash by now...

It is however a sad thing that nobody (me included) answered his question last year.

lol, I just saw it at the top of the list with only one reply and chipped in, I never look at the dates.

Still it's a question that gets asked so often, someone will want to know.

You're quite right, it's bound to turn up on someone's search results so it's worth having an answer set down. My excuse for not answering initially? I wasn't a member of this forum back then...

Sorry everybody didnt know how old the post was until i finished typing.In for a penny!