I'm with Sean, I would love to buy some limiteds but missed the boat. I find it difficult to justify shelling out double what it would have cost if I'd done it 18 months ago. The fact that Hoya decided it needed to make money and would increase the prices to what they believed the market would stand is all well and good and i can understand that. However, I have been priced out of the market and refuse to be squeezed for every penny.

The prices of some of the limiteds seems to have dropped recently at SRS (although still well above historical prices) so I am hopeful that others have been in my position and sales have been so low Hoya are being forced to rethink. It would seem from the speed that secondhand limited lenses sell in the classified adverts that there is lots of pent up demand for these lenses. They always seem to be snapped up within 15-30 mins

At best, grey imports and at worst a complete scam, I would say. A quick google search doesn't reveal much except that they apparently only accept Amazon gift cards as payment...

Benro do a range of high quality and affordable carbon fibre tripods. I bought one of these and paired it with a Giotto ballhead. The tripod itself is lightweight, comes with a comfortable bag and takes my GX20 and the Sigma 100-300 f4 comfortably (and more importantly, is stable).

However, I don't think it ends up as small as the Vitruvian which I believe is designed for folding up small.

If I had held off purchasing for a few weeks I would have seen the thread on here talking about the 3 Legged Thing tripods. These look very good to me, seem to be highly rated by other forum members, and have the bonus of being able to detach a monopod (which may be useful for your travelling).

As you have seen though - Red Snapper have a lot of advocates here. All those people can't be wrong...

Worth one last bump?

Aha! Option 6 - make use of what I have!

Probably the most sensible solution Gwyn. I haven't tried taking panoramas so I should probably do that first.

I have definitely found that f2.8 is a benefit above f4.5 when taking pictures of babies & pets though. I presume that another stop would open up more opportunities (assuming the depth of field is there).

Essentially I have two gaps in the line-up. If money was no object I would buy a wide angle zoom and a fast prime. I lack something wider for landscape shots that the Sigma 17-70 doesn't do justice to. I also want to be able to take some indoor/lower light shots (without flash) and with the image quality of a prime.

I think my question is badly worded. It's probably more a question of which would people recommend from 1-4. Then whether I should put the fast prime on hold and get a wide angle as I'd get more use out of it.

I realise its a personal choice but I'm interested to hear what other people would do.

LBA is taking it's grip again. I thought I was holding it off (that Sigma 100-300 kept me happy for a while) but I am finding myself watching the classified ads more and more...

To complete* my lens collection I need something wide and something fast ina normal focal length. I've been eyeing up primes in the 30-50 region but these are either limiteds (expensive!) or slow (the new 35 f2.4) if buying new. Secondhand is another matter but I'm not sure I can take the waiting. My options are:

1) Just get the 35mm f2.4 - however, it's relatively slow and I'm not a fan of the plastic mount. It seems like too many compromises and I think I would end up replacing it

2) Bite the bullet and jump straight in with a limited - expensive and would involve me being economical with the truth with my wife if I didn't find a bargain secondhand

3) Wait it out until a secondhand lens comes up

4) Accept that Pentax doesn't offer what I'm after and get one of the Sigma primes

5) Skip the fast prime for now and get something wide - probably the Sigma 10-20. There have been a couple on the classified boards but only marginally cheaper than buying them new.


What would people recommend?

WG


* Note: I realise a lens collection is never complete

Still looking

Yes you're right. I don't know why but the 0.4 seems to put it in the "slow" category in my mind (although I know it makes little practical difference). Also slightly put off by the plastic mount. Probably me being silly though.

I think if I can't source one of the ones above I may well consider that instead.

Hi All

Looking for a "normal"(ish) perspective fast prime - one of the Pentax/Samsung versions.

So, unless I have missed one:

FA35 f2
FA50 f1.7
FA50 f1.4
F50 f1.4
F50 f1.7

I'm excluding the macros (not as fast as the options above) and the limiteds (funds won't stretch that far ).

For the moment I'm going to try and hold out for one of the Pentax/Samsung primes but the Sigmas are what I'll go for if I can't source one.

Cheers,

WG