whats the third new one? Samyang, Sigma and?

Edit, sorry, I now see, the FA*, but that not new, and trying to find one is difficult. Unless there is a third new one

LOL Don!

It does seem strange.
Well AP did do a comparison test between the Samyang and the Nikon, and it was so close, they really could'nt split them (the Nikon won, only because of the AF)
However, as dangermouse said, its the law of dimishing returns (like most things). So, if you are happy with MF, then the Samyang will be a great lens. But if you don't trust your eyes (like a glasses wearer like me) then the Sigma makes more sense, albeit a more expensive sense.

Ultimately it is nice to see that you can get two 85mm F1.4 lenses for the Pentax mount. It is a shame they don't still make the FA* 85mm, but I would be very happy that the Sigma runs the mighty FA* really close, and in certain aspects, exceeds it.

It's one of those ads that you are in two minds about.
1. Rescue a Pentax camera from someone who clearly does not understand
2. Why give money to an ignorant oik in the first place.

There have been plenty of threads regarding portrait lenses recently.
Firstly whats your budget? What type of portraits do you want to do (head and shoulders, waist upwards, full length) ?

As you want to do indoor with available light, you will find a fast lens more suitable and will a nice DOF control too.

If it was head and shoulders then a 35mm will be too short in all honesty.
However it is great for waist and upwards and full length.
If you are on a budget, try the 55mm F1.8 - manual only but fast and gives a nice soft effect suitable for portraits.
Also, fast nifty's are always worthy, be it F1.4, F1.7 or even the F2.

If however you have no budget then the 77mm limited

Hope this helps

Nice fun camera, I will have one with the Batman cover

I have a number of lenses that are suitable for portraits, but I mainly use them thus:-

35mm DA - For full length, perfect focal length for this as you don't get the distortion that you would get at this focal length than when you do head and shoulders.
50mm FA F1.4 - Good for head and shoulders shots with minimum DOF control. However it is still a tad wide, as close up you do get a very small amount of distortion. Further back it is great.

50-135mm - As I have mentioned in another thread, this is arguably the finest portrait zoom out there. Ultra flexible and even at 135mm perfect for close tight head shots,

Sigma 105mm macro - pin sharp and another perfect head and shoulder portrait prime.

Tamron 90mm SP macro F2.5 - manual only, and only used it for the first time at a recent studio shoot. Best for controlled envirioments (the studio) and you have to slow down to use it. But pays dividends

Two others, the 55mm F1.8 K and the Takumar 135mm F2.5 have their uses too, but not for general use as thet provide a different yet nice look to an image.

Finally my Sigma 24-70mm F2.8. I use this less and less for portraits now (I prefer my primes and 50-135) but still a very excellent portrait zoom, albeit heavy.

So there you go, my portrait lenses and how I use them

Put me down for the Tamron 60mm F2 Macro. Small light and fast. I would love to see that lens with the K mount.

I take it that the AF of the 60-250 can keep up with the AF demands of the K-5?

I only ask, as I was at a bird of prey shoot today and in my bag was, and I quote 50-135mm Sigma 55-200mm F4-5.6 and Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6

The 50-135 was great for still shots, but not long enough for the birds in flight.
The 70-300mm is not talking properly to any of my bodies. Pain the in posterior to be honest. Looks like it is a lens for the bin

So, I had one option and that was the 55-200mm. Very light but the K-5 overwhelms it. At times it was - press shutter and lens goes "oh yes shutter pressed I had better focus......." you can actually feel the lens adjust the AF AFTER the shutter pressed. And as for keeping up with the 7 FPS of the K-5 - it was FAR too slow.

So, can the 60-250 keep up with the K-5? How fast is the AF? is it faster than the 50-135? Does it compare favourably to those of the "others"?
The other option is the Sigma 70-200 F2.8 HSM. How good is this one?

Thoughts

I will second that....