please tell me why you love it, im sick of hearing about the lenses, im not gonna buy 100 lenes lol, is it worth it?
I like not going through the menus to switch certain settings. More cropping leeway. Better viewfinder. Weather sealed. It's got quite a bit going for it for the price point. There are probably more reasons but I've only had mine for a couple months.
If you did get a K20D. Go here for help when you need it. It's a great forum for Pentax users.
http://pentaxforums.com/
I have a Pentax K20D and I'm not real happy with the sharpness of my current lens – the one that came with the camera. I want to get a new one and I'm not sure if I should look for a better Pentax lens or if I should go with Sigma or Tamron (which one?)…
Hi smky_mtn_cutie,
There are good choices in all three of those brands. I have lenses of all three and like them all. I do wish Tamron and Sigma didn't make their zoom rings as stiff as they do, but it isn't a deal killer.
Before looking for a better lens, though, it might be worth checking whether your current lens and/or camera have an autofocusing problem. I'd suggest printout out this autofocus test chart to see if you are currently getting correct autofocus:
http://regex.info/blog/photo-tech/focus-chart
If you are currently getting correct autofocus:
For the most bang for buck, I'd look at the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8. However, there seem to be a high percentage of bad copies of that lens, so you might have to return it for another copy, and you might have to do that more than once:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?ci=0&shs=pentax+tamron+17-50mm&sb=ps&pn=1&sq=desc&InitialSearch=yes&O=jsp%2Fproductlist.jsp&A=search&Q=*&bhs=t
Another excellent choice would be the Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8. But note, it's really closer to a 19-50mm f/3.0:
(note, don't confuse this lens with the similar-sounding, but mediocre, Sigma 18-50mm f/3.5-5.6, which would be no better than your kit lens)
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/463426-REG/Sigma_581109_18_50mm_f_2_8_EX_DC.html
The new Pentax 17-70mm f/4.0 is getting excellent reviews, even better than the older Pentax 16-45mm f/4.0, which is also excellent:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/567353-USA/Pentax_21740_SMCP_DA_17_70mm_f_4_AL.html
The Pentax 17-70 is a bit pricey because it just came out, but the Pentax 16-45 is excellent too and about US$100 cheaper:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/315380-USA/Pentax_21507_SMCP_DA_16_45mm_f_4_0_ED.html
Pentax users are also generally very happy with the Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?ci=0&shs=pentax+sigma+17-70mm&sb=ps&pn=1&sq=desc&InitialSearch=yes&O=jsp%2FRootPage.jsp&A=search&Q=*&bhs=t
The Pentax 16-50mm has excellent image quality and is also fully weather-sealed (as is your K20D). But it's also expensive, big and heavy, and like the Tamron 17-50, there have been a lot of bad copies, so you might have to return one or two before getting a good one:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/485180-USA/Pentax_21650_SMCP_DA_16_50mm_f_2_8_ED.html
Another option I would suggest seriously considering is an excellent prime (non-zoom), which will not only give you sharpness that only the very best zooms can approach, but will also give you much better bokeh (beautiful out-of-focus backgrounds) than even the very best zooms, and will be smaller and ligher than a zoom, and will let in more light than a zoom. I would suggest looking at the Pentax 35mm f/2.0. Although I have lots of zooms to choose from, I use this lens a lot:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/180121-USA/Pentax_22190_Wide_Angle_35mm_f_2_0.html
Here's a good place for reviews:
http://www.photozone.de/all-tests
Popular Photography magazine is also a good place to look for reviews:
http://www.popphoto.com/cameralenses
I also like to look through serious user reviews, and the Fred Miranda site is a good place for Tamron and Sigma lenses:
(whoops, I'm only allowed 10 links in an answer, so here's a non-link)
dub dub dub dot fredmiranda dot com/reviews/index.php
The Pentax Forums website is a good place for user reviews of Pentax lenses:
(whoops, I'm only allowed 10 links in an answer, so here's a non-link)
dub dub dub dot pentaxforums dot com/lensreviews/category-SMC-Pentax-DA-Zoom-Lenses.html
I've never had the kit lens, but I've had the Pentax 16-45 since it came out in 2004 and have been very happy with it. It's very good at f/4.0 and razor sharp by f/5.6.
I recently bought the Tamron 17-50/2.8, mainly to throw unavoidably cluttered backgrounds further out of focus (by using f/2.8 rather than f/4.0), but also to get razor sharp performance by about f/4.0 instead of f/5.6, and thirdly to be able to shoot in half as much light (by using f/2.8 instead of f/4.0) while still getting very good sharpness, about as good as the Pentax 16-45 is at f/4.0.
However, my copy of the Tamron 17-50 had a front-focus problem. I decided to send it into Tamron rather than play games with the retailer, and also to ask them if they could loosen the zoom ring while they were fixing it. I was a bit disappointed when they told me, after I rushed the lens to them, that it would take them 3 – 4 weeks to do the repair. I'm still waiting for it. But for the couple days I had it, I was very pleased with it's handling — it feels just right in my hand while shooting.
My advice —
If you're not in a hurry and don't mind returning the lens a couple times to get a good copy, it's hard to beat the Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8's bang for buck.
For the best likelihood of getting a good copy the first try, and also to avoid an overl
I am planning to purchase the Pentax k20D body only, which means I'll be in need of a lens. My focus will be portrait photography so I'm looking into what would be the best lens for that. So far I've read that the Pentax SMCP-FA 50mm f/1.4 Lens is great for portrait photography because it gives great blur and minimizes distortion pretty well. I also looked into the Pentax DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL II Lens for Pentax and Samsung Digital SLR Cameras for its low price. I like the variety in the zoom of this lengths, but its aperture is obviously not in comparison to the SMCP-FA.
I'm looking for a lens that is great for head shots, can also take great pictures at body length, and great pictures when trying to incorporate background with model.. Any suggestions?
The consesus among photographers is that the best portrait lenses are between 85-105mm on a 35mm camera (full frame dslr)
The 50mm on a 35mm camera is the one which is closest to the human eye in terms of field of view.
Anything under 50mm is liable to "distort" portraits especially when you are close to the subject.
An 85mm would give you good head shots and you would be able to get full length shots in easy enough by moving a little.
Get the fastest lens you can (lowest f number) so that you are able to throw the background out of focus.
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