Which prime lens

[laksu]

Hi,
I am about to purchase a KD-10. I already own a Z-20 with lenses:
Pentax SMC-FA 28-80mm F3.5-4.7
Sigma 75-300 F4.5-5.6 APO
I have shot with this trio for 10 years and now I am even more serious into photography. Though they were good choices with my budget then, I am looking forward to phase them out with more serious pieces of glass, so here is the plan: I get my KD-10 body first and subsist with my old lenses till I can afford to replace them with DA* 16-50 2.8 and DA* 50-135 2.8, one at a time.
I will also get prime lenses and I am looking for the best quality regardless of the price. For my standard prime lens, I came up with a list like this:

Pentax 31/1.8 LE
Pentax 43/1.9 LE
Pentax 50mm/1.4
Sigma 30mm/1.4 EX DC

I have read some review that Sigma 30/1.4 was not superior than Pentax 31/1.8 but could not come up with a result with how it compares to 43/1.9. 50 1.4 must be a good choice though it is somewhat tele with 1.5x
What are you guys' opinions?

 

[adhidarma]

you forget mo mention wich pentax? pentax M, A, F, FA, DA? thats make differ a lot
please consider star lenses... especially FA*
FA* 24 f2 counts 36mm in DSLR.. normal wide... nice one...

 

[bricks1962]

hi lacsu... do u have your K10-D by this time? how do you find 43/1.9 LE and 50mm/1.4 (macro?)? i am saving for those lenses...

 

[laksu]

> Hi, I purchased my K10-d and I fell in love with it. For lenses, I am going to use my old FA 28-80 3.5/4.7 and Sigma 75-300 APO for a while and will save and buy primes. For beginning, I have asked a FA 31 mm f/1.8 LE to a friend coming from Japan (it is far cheaper than it is here in Istanbul, almost half). A friend of mine persuaded me go for the 31 instead of 43. I ordered and waiting for it. My friend will arrive in July 19th. My next moves would be 14mm. (if I may find a secondhand mf wide i will skip this one) upcoming 55 mm 1.4 or DA 70 DA * 16-50 DA * 50-135 So there seems no suitable gap for the 43 after 31 and 50. Only perhaps, who knows, if we get another digital body for my wife. Your plans seem sound to me. I believe 43 LE is a super lens and you will enjoy it. best of all

 

[jsmisc]

Hi all,
I am thinking of buying a K10D and would be interested to know what you really think of it. I gather from posts so far that you are pretty impressed.
Cheers,
John

 

[laksu]

> > Firstly, my previous SLR body is Pentax Z-20. It is with me like 15 years or so. So I am not hard to impress. When you buy an SLR, the decision should not be on the camera itself but the system. Since the digital era is upon us, I thought of maybe I should switch to another system as I am less likely to keep my old lenses for ever and 1.5x factor already destroys the system one might have raised. Since my investment was not huge already, I thought about switching to Sigma because of the Foveon sensor but again when I pondered about it, system-headedly I decided to go on with Pentax. It even helped me to begin cheaper with my old kit-lens and the Sigma 75-300 APO MACRO. They will go enough to prime me. Anyways, I just wanted to emphasize the importance of system rather than the body. Also consider that in the digital times, bodies will get obsolete far quicker in 3 years or so. I have read somewhere that Pentax lenses are called "poor man's Leica" and I can tell that Pentax rarely delivers an ugly piece of equipment, if not the most feature-wise. So I like the Pentax system for it is quiet, humble, less-bells-and-whistles stand. Though the least expected, K10D comes with amazing bells and whistles for its price. Shake reduction, 10mp, immediate RAW button, sensor-cleaning, and a long list of other features so many that for the first time I do not envy a Canon/Nikon camera for some feature it had. You may find a number of reviews on the net but try this one:

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it's verdict part is really worth to read. It tells better what Pentax is about, as a sytem, tradition and brand. Best regards,

 

[jsmisc]

Thank you very much for that. The review was very interesting. I may well go for it.

I have become somewhat disenchanted with systems as such. I bought heavily in to the Contax system only for Kyocera to pull the plug which left us Contax aficionados high and dry. I worry slightly that Pentax has been taken over by Hoya and that at present it is uncertain if Hoya will allow Pentax to continue to develop its camera range. I hope it will since it is an august and well regarded make with many triumphs to its name. It is also holding out the prospect of a new digital medium format range. But I have been bitten (once bitten twice shy) by the closure of Contax and when you consider also that Konica Minolta also gave up (although taken over by Sony), it is a concern.

I do like the camera though and considering its heritage and the vast range of reasonably priced lenses available for it, I may go for it.

The trouble is that I still like my Contax film cameras and Carl Zeiss lenses and want to keep them. If it wasn't for the drag of scanning film, I would probably stay put. There is a cost involved in using film but it avoids the expense of buying and updating digital cameras.

All best wishes,

John

 

[laksu]

> Yours has been a sad story. Contax was enjoying arguably the best lenses on the planet and I am sure it did not look like a bad investment to you then. Leice also had gone through many difficult phases when digital wave hit and they barely survived by Panasonic. Ok I would not say if Pentax is going to survive or shut down. I would bet it would go down if it was first years when the digital revolution arrived but I humbly think the K10D is a proof that they have just turned the corner. One indication is in Turkey where I live, where the whole photographic equipment market is already not huge and we the Pentax people are really rare species. The local exclusive distributor has never avidly promoted the brand well in all those years I have known. All the sales people and so the customers believe the Nikon is the best thing that could ever happen and some technophiles cannot resist Canon for its toys. They all look over on Pentax products and its people. Last week when I went through the shops region and browsing equipment stores I was shocked to see K10D everywhere in all the shopwindows. They must be selling it. If it is selling in Turkey like that, then it will certainly sell well in anywhere on earth. It may be a huge success like K1000, it may grab a nice share of market so the camera section would be a profitable department and would not be shut down. Of course I am not a market analyst and these I am saying are perhaps very simple minded prophecies.

 

[bricks1962]

"John Strain (Jsmisc) wrote on July 06:Hi all,I am thinking of buying a K10D and would be interested to know what you really think of it. I gather from posts so far that you are pretty impressed.
Cheers,
John"

i love my K10D, my first dlsr. photos are sharp even with the kit lens.

 

[jsmisc]

Thanks Levent and Lawrence,
Your posts are very helpful and I will give it more thought. I will let you know if I buy one.
Best wishes,
John

 

[indyj40]

Hi all, I previously started with an olympus OM 10, then to a Ricoh, then to a Pentax Z1P which still is a fantastic camera. I went digital a few years ago but waiting for the 1st Pentax DSLR took too long, so I went for the canon 10D. I fell in love with it but some months ago I wanted to up-grade. I was intending to go for the 30D, but my mate at the local dealer suggested I at least try the new K10D. II did and was blown away with the specs,handling and ease of use. I grabbed a 14mm 2.8 Sigma, then a 18-50 2.8 Sigma, and a week ago after weeks of searching reviews, decided on the DA* 50-135mm 2.8ED SDM. I havn't tested it properly as yet, but am confident it will be GREAT ! I welcome any comments from other users.
Cheers - Indyj

 

[tsjoklatcake]

I started a long way back with a Spotmatic. Then life took a harsh turn and I was not able to continue with my hobby. But see: after many years this happened: my husband gave me a K20d and I have to be digital now. Oh dear, I hardly know how to use a laptop. Well, I dug up some older Pentax A-lenses (28mm,50mm,135mm), real cheap, second hand and after a few trials I start to find my way around the "machine". Then I took my savings and bought the very new DA* 60-250 f4. To me a heavy blook. So a monopod is added and sure I feel poor but Oh am I rich ... with all of these lenses. I can make pictures endlessly and they don't take all my money as with film. This new Pentax zoom is well balanced, it is very sharp, too. As I never before had af this comes as a blow to me. I need to correct myself not to always correct the lens. However, on fotographing a swarming army of dragon-flies it could not decide where to focus and I had to silence it and do it myself. Well, no problem, it allows you to do that wonderfully. I think that your 50-135 behaves very much like this one. Are we not lucky people to have this equipment and use it.