For sale:

DA 15mm f/4 Ltd - Excellent condition - £360 inc postage (UK)
DA 21mm f/3.2 Ltd - Good condition - £280 inc postage (UK)

...or will consider swap for FA 31mm Ltd


DA 15mm: boxed with original caps, documents and serial number card. I don't have the original pouch but I will throw in a neoprene one. Lens is in virtually mint condition. Glass is in perfect condition. There is only the slightest sign of worn paint on the lens cap.











DA 21mm: Original caps and hood. No box or original pouch but I will throw in a neoprene one. Lens is generally in good used condition; there is a small amount of play in the front barrel and very occasionally the focus ring is not perfectly smooth. This doesn't affect operation or the image in any way. Glass is in perfect condition. There are a few minor cosmetic imperfections; the paint is worn a little on the knurled surfaces on the lens and hood and also on the cap.










Due to a little over-exuberance I also have a new DA* 300mm f/4 for sale, but I have put this straight on to ebay. For the avoidance of doubt this is not the same lens as I bought off a member here last year (which still have and love!).

That is really, really cool. Fantastic!

Great opportunity and picture, love it!

Hi Guys,

Just to let you know what I ended up doing to upgrade from my 18-250mm (although maybe this should be a topic in the lens section!). I wanted to upgrade for everyday use but also for my trip to Vietnam and Cambodia over Christmas.

I figured there were a few options (I'm ignoring the 18-270 as it wasn't quite available when I was looking before xmas):

1. Pair of consumer zooms. E.g. 17-70 & 55-300
2. Pair of prosumer zooms. E.g. 16-50 & 60-250
3. Or a bunch of primes.

I realised in terms of convenience and weight there isn't really any upgrade from a super zoom, so any upgrade really should be based on IQ or faster aperture.

I bought a couple of Limited primes which I really got into and like for hiking in the local area, but I for my upcoming trip to Vietnam I wanted the versatility of a zoom - I find I really have to work fast for travel photos.

My current 18-250 is not bad and I felt replacing it with a couple of consumer zooms would not be enough of an improvement to make up for the need to change lenses.

As had been suggested by ilovesaabs a pair of DA* 16-50 and 60-250 would be nice and cover the focal range, but it was a bit more bulk than I wanted. So in the end of settled on getting:

DA* 16-50
DA* 50-135
DA 40 Ltd

I probably would have got the Tamron 17-50 over the 16-50 if it hadn't been for the Pentax stuff being on sale during the thanksgiving holidays.

I got the 50-135 over the 60-250 as I think it is a real sweet spot in terms of size and performance: a f2.8 200mm equivalent lens in a relatively compact package. Together the 16-50 and 50-135 are similar in bulk to the FA 28-80 and FA 70-200 I used to carry around with my old Z-1. Sure it doesn't have the range, but I didn't anticipate too much in the way of wildlife shots and I always find when you are at 250 it is never enough anyway

I got the 40mm for street photography and for those times where you don't want the bulk or to look like you are carrying an expensive camera.

Overall I'm really pleased with my choice. I had a great trip and got some nice pictures.

I think it was worth carrying the 3 lenses over the 18-250. The IQ is good and the faster apertures got me some shots that wouldn't have been possible with the 18-250. Occasionally it was a pain changing lenses, but thats the trade off. I was surprised that I didn't really miss the longer focal lengths from 135 to 250 at all.

The 50-135 is a fantastic lens. As other people have found the 16-50 is a bit weaker particularly wide open, but still really sharp in the centre and lovely contrast, overall I like it. The 40mm was really useful and I used it a lot more than I expected.

For anyone interested a few pics from my trip here: Vietnam & Cambodia

Matt

Thanks all. I must confess it's pretty hard to get bad photos, there is some pretty nice scenery around here! A trip to Switzerland is highly recommended!

I think I was very lucky with the weather, we had a few really nice clear days after a lot of rain. Of course the light was low being late in the year. I didn't use a polariser for any of the pictures (although maybe I should have, in hindsight, to take the shine off the grass) but the skies still came out nicely.

Thanks for all your generous comments. You don't have to be nice to me just because I'm new I don't mind a bit of criticism.

I like #6, although there is something a little sinister about an army of mushrooms seemingly marching towards me!

I posted a few pics in the photos section. https://www.pentaxuser.com/forum/topic/switzerland---a-few-weekend-pics-38072

It's fairly typical of the kind of shots I'm getting. I think they're ok... but I want to get to spectacular like you guys!

As I'm new around this forum I thought I post a few pics from my last few weekend outings. I was trying to capture the autumn colours while the weather was good. I probably took too many lenses with me as was testing out my new Limiteds against my DA 12-24



1. Seewlialp, Kanton Uri, Switzerland. DA 12-24mm.




2. Seewlialp, Kanton Uri, Switzerkand DA 12-24mm

The next two are a couple of spontaneous shots that turned out to capture the light pretty well. Great flare resistance on the 21 Ltd.



3. Seewlialp, Kanton Uri, Switzerkand DA 21 Ltd.




4. Seewlialp, Kanton Uri, Switzerkand DA 21 Ltd.

Ubiquitous swiss cow shot, everyone needs one I blew out the highlights to give it a bit of a dreamy feel. Not sure it worked?



5. Truebsee, Engelberg, Switzerland A 28mm.

The DA 12-24 is great for panoramas without the need to stress out my laptop with stitching. I stressed it with merging three exposures instead:



6. Seewlialp, Kanton Uri, Switzerkand DA 12-24mm

Another pano with the 12-24mm:



7. Seewlialp, Kanton Uri, Switzerkand DA 12-24mm

Klewenalp before the skiiers arrive next month. There's nothing specical about this picture, but there is something I like about it being a bit low key:



8. Klewenalp, Nidwadlen Switzerland DA 40 Ltd.

The 15 Ltd is pretty good with flare too



9. Buochs, Nidwalden, Switzerland DA 15 Ltd.

A few more weekend picks here.

Thanks for the recommendations guys. I'm going to check out a few of those books.

Being in Switzerland not's that I'm short of picture taking opportunities (as you might imagine!). I'm still taking lots of photos and getting shots I like, it's just I find I'm doing the same kind of things each time. I want to learn and get to that next level!

I totally agree it would be best to go out with someone experienced. I've always want to do something like this - maybe next time I'm in the UK I can arrange something.

Many thanks,
Matt