Who wants today's piece of plastic mounted lightweight grot (OK, actually I think it was a good move!) when for a fraction of the price you can buy my superb all metal 35/2.8 SMCM. It's guaranteed full frame compatible! And I'll even throw in a real aperture ring and lens hood as part of the deal....

BUMP!

Jon

Looks like a good camera for the price to me - esp if it can deliver similar image quality to the Kx. I like the idea of adjusting noise processing to your preference for each ISO level, so you can start low and increase to your taste as you go up the scale.

I'm hoping that Pentax have enough stocks of the Kx and K-7 (I know they have stopped making that) for a while to give them a 4 camera line-up ranging from entry level bargain (Kx) to high end enthusiast (K-5), plus the 645D.

If the 35mm prime performs well, I don't think the idea of a series of lightweight but decent and cheapish primes is at all bad. And f2.4 is OK if it performs well wide open. Followed by a 24/2.5 and 50/1.7 at low prices, and I think they could sell rather well.

Good luck - hope that the insurance does not give you any hassle and that this kind of thing never happens to you again.

Getting back to the original post, I think I'd choose between the following. Either:

(1) a macro lens as many have described above - although I am another one in the FA77 camp: in my case I use an extension tube. Because macro lenses have such a long focus throw, I don't find them particularly helpful for general photography but that's just my problem.

or:

(2) something like the Voigtlander Nokton 58/1.4 - which is an almost perfect portrait lens on APS-C sensor, and provides lovely colours and nice bokeh as well as great build quality. A cheaper alternative would be any of the Pentax 50/1.4 lenses, or even the 50/1.7 SMCM which is ridiculously good value secondhand.

or:

(3) if you can find one, the FA35/2 as a superb, sharp, general purpose standard lens. And yes, it is better than the zooms.

I'd also add that I think the DA70, where you started, is a great lens and you could do a lot worse that give that one a whirl. Perhaps try using the 50-200 at that focal length for a few days to see if it suits your style?

Actually, there is no way that a compact would start at 27mm for a wide angle! However, manufacturers often mark their lenses for compacts with focal lengths that are the equivalent of what they would be for 35mm film (or "full frame"). The 18mm of the Pentax kit lens should given an almost identical field of view to what your Panasonic calls "27mm".

If you want to go wider than either of these, you have the options listed by others here:

(1) take several shots and stitch them together in software. By the way, if by any chance you have Photoshop Elements, it already has the ability to do this (Photomerge) built in.

(2) Choose between the Pentax 12-24 (v good but expensive) or the Tamron 10-24 or the Sigma 10-20. I have compared the latter two and feel that although the Tamron is nice and sharp in the centre, the Sigma is much better towards the edges. The Sigma also feels better made. A secondhand Sigma in mint condition with all its original bits is likely to run to around £300. The Tamron is a more recent lens and you don't see them secondhand terribly often.

One other possibility is to buy a wide angle converter to screw into the filter thread of your kit lens. I think "Digital King" is a brand you see quite often, but cannot comment on how good the results would be. My expectation of putting more glass on the front of the kit lens would not be terribly high, however, and I suspect you would have lots of issues with edge sharpness, distortions, and lens aberrations giving coloured fringing. Perhaps others who have tried these converters can comment more?

Finally, Samyang have recently announced a 14mm prime lens. Their lenses are usually surprisingly good and decently-made as well as being exceptional value for money. I have not seen any reviews, but the website that may have one is called "LensTip". I'd expect the new Samyang to be around the same price, or cheaper, than the secondhand Sigma.

Hope this helps,

Jon

Link to some samples from the lens here. All taken today, at widest aperture. It should be possible within SmugMug to view at very large sizes, as well as download them if required. Nothing special but hopefully confirm that even wide open it's pretty decent.

Jon

link

Er - that would be me.... I can vouch for this lens, it's a good one!

Jon

I'll take some this weekend and post a link to full size samples in this thread. I did take some nerdy shots to compare it with the kit lens a few weeks ago (WR version) and at the time my conclusions were:

The SMCM (and in fact all of my primes) has much less purple fringing than the kit - I was surprised at the difference given the primes are all much older designs
At f4, performance between the two lenses is very similar aside from the fringing issues
At f5.6, the SMCM is sharper in the centre
At f8, the prime is superb, and better than the 18-55 in the centre and borders - but the kit is also very good

Incidentally, I'd add that I reckon I am comparing the prime with a "good" copy of the WR kit lens. My first WR kit lens went back as I was very disappointed with it, but the second was much better - and performs as well as my previous DA AL II, with which I was also more than satisfied.

Will let you know when some f2.8 samples are up!

Jon

Bump - 35/2.8 still available and in exceptional condition. Makes a fantastic standard prime lens on APS-C sensor camera, and comfortably outperforms the kit lens. Close offers considered.

Jon

I think it probably would... I've seen one of those lenses once, and it looked very nice (if rather out of my price range when you get one in good nick!). Oddly enough, I think it was Daniel from this forum who used it handheld and got a half way decent shot! I think the bottom line with long mirrors is to use slowly and with care, and I suspect the Pentax 400-600 is capable of providing excellent results.