Just be aware that Zeiss are going to stop making their fine lenses on the Pentax K mount by the end of the year.

Could'nt agree more Robin. Over £400 for the nifty!
Even Canon and Nikon own versions are less than £300. In fact Nikons older 1.4 D is just over £200.

As you say, probably better to go for the 43 F1.9 Limited or even the DA*55, which at about £150 over the nifty is still hefty.

I was very lucky, I got mine 3 years ago from SRS for £149. A much better price for a rather nice lens.

Any F or FA lens will autofocus. Both also have an A on the aperture ring.

The manual lenses are M, K and A. The latter has the A on the aperture ring so that the camera can expose without using the green button or stopping down.



Hope this helps

The Only WR lens I have is the 50-135 and I have used it in a monsoon in Blackpool a couple of years ago. It was on my K10D.

Result? It REALLY works. CaNikon friends of mine were putting their gear in their (soaked) bags, and I continued to shoot. Only when I put my non WR 50mm did I get some misting on the LCD on the camera.
So, yes, don't worry, the WR does work, as long as the camera is WR too.

(note, after a couple of days in the dry Both the K10D and nifty were fine again)

Have you tried Warehouse express? They say have it in stock albeit for over £400.

Jules,

A 135mm is always a worthy lens to have in your kit bag, even during the film era.

However, like all Pentax manual lenses, prices are going up on the second hand market as people are realising the abilities of lenses from the past.

Best to look at Bojidars website to see what was made and then go to a second hand dealer or fleabay to see what is available
link

The F3.5 is popular as it was the one that sold the most. However there are those who prefer the F2.8 or even the much maligned F2.5 takumar (I have one and love it! )

Still it gives you a good idea what is out there.

You may be lucky with the price too.

Actiually if you are near Manchester, there is a place that sells classic gear (I won't call them secondhand) for reasonable prices and I am sure at last look had a number of 135mm lenses available.

They are called the Real Camera Company.


Hope this helps.

Thanks for all the comments.

However, I forgot one thing, I do still shoot on film, and my film camera (MZ-5n) demands an A ring.

However I have decided that I will reduce anyway, but ensure I get the best optics available for both film and digital (with minimal duplication)

Comment for Steve, I do shoot a lot of photographs, I'm not just a lens collector. The lenses I have were what I could afford at the time and for certain situations. Also, I have not come to a point where I don't know which lens to put on, I will kit my bag for what assignment accordingly.

Anyway, What I WILL keep are as follows:-
Sigma 10-20mm
Sigma 24-70mm F2.8
Pentax 50mm F1.4
Pentax 55mm F1.8 (no point in getting rid, It is a great lens and gives a different portrait effect)
Tokina 20-35mm F2.8 (fast, and my widest on film)
Pentax 50-135mm (sorry Edumad) but it is the finest studio portrait lens - period. and That includes anything from CaNikon
Takumar 135mm F2.5 (again great little lens and wonderful on film)
Sigma 105mm Macro
Tamron 90mm Macro plus 2x (giving a 180mm macro) - Yes I like both macros and both are very useful depending on macro circumstance.

The two I am not sure about are
16-45. I love it, and a great travel lens with lightness included, but might part ex for the 16-50mm DA*
170-500mm. Need to work with it, and produces wonderful nature shots, but maybe part ex for a 70-200 plus 2x or 300mm DA* plus 1.4x or 120-400, again with 1.4x. The much praised 60-250 is too short for me for what I take.
Oh and yes ONE of the Kit lenses. The other two might go with the DS and K10D to part fund a K-5 (yes I need 2 cameras - K20D plus 1 for events, backup is ALWAYS a good idea)

The rest can go.

I know that it is still a mix of different makes (sorry John), but I do like them all, and suit my needs accordingly.

Another consideration is what you want to take, and the Angle of view, as even 2mm of the Sigma over the Pentax 12-24 makes a difference.

For example
Sigma or Tamron @ 10mm
horizontal angle of view - 99 degrees
vertical - 75.9 degrees
diagonal - 109.2 degrees

Pentax @ 12mm
horizontal - 88.5 degrees
vertical - 66 degrees
diagonal - 97.5 degrees

The Pentax 10-17mm is different due to it being a fisheye rather than a "superwide" so has a diagonal angle of 180 degrees, but you get the distortion of a fisheye, hence the fisheye effect.

There is another lens that Sigma have brought out recently which comes under the 16-45 and 16-50 in focal length, which is the 8-16mm.
Now this would give you the following as again it is a "superwide" and not a fisheye.
horizontal - 111.3 degrees
vertical - 88.5 degrees
diagonal - 120.7 degrees

So you get even more in the a 10mm.

Now the positives and negatives.

The Pentax 12-24 is excellent in its IQ, but it is twice the price of the Sigma and Tamron 10-20 and 10-24 respectively.
The Sigma and tamron are still excellent in IQ (I have the sigma and love it) and give you that extra 2mm for angle of view.
The sigma 8-16mm is new and don't know much more about it, but again a further 2mm could be useful should you need it.

The 10-17 fisheye is specialist and should not really be considered a rival, more as a complement. You will probably find that unless you REALLY want fisheye effect, then the others will suit you more.

Confused? I don't blame you.....

As an addendum the site gives you all angle of views for a lot of cameras
link

Thanks guys for the advice, lots to think about.

Oh and yes Mhuni, I have 3 kit lenses as each came with the camera

Don't use them anymore... Time to sell.

Actually, there is a third way. invest in a K-5 and sell both the K10D and *istDS, leaving me my K20D and a K-5

Fair enough John, and thank you.

However in spite of the inconsistancies, I love my Sigmas 10-20 24-70 and 105mm macro, so they would be the last to go. As for the Tokina, It is my sole wide for film so it would stay. Also, the Tamron 90+2x will be kept when I cannot get close enough with the 105mm.
As for the other non Pentax, they would go.

I like the idea of the 120-400, but is it fast enough for what could be a dual role?

I must add, that the lenses that are mostly in my bag are as follows
Sigma 10-20mm
Pentax 16-45
Sigma 24-70
Pentax 50
Pentax 50-135
Sigma 105mm Macro

And if I am doing nature, the 170-500.

The others rarely get a look in.