What's in your lens kit?

[NonEntity1]

Well it really depends on what I intend to shoot that day that determines what I load into the camera bag.

For nature photos:
18-55mm kit lens
F 50mm 1.7
Kiron 105mm macro
Tokina 100-300mm f/4
Possibly the Tamron Adaptall 300mm f/5.6

For people photos:
18-55mm kit lens
F 50mm 1.7
Tamron Adaptall 180mm f/2.5
Possibly either the Sigma 24-135mm or the Pentax 50-200mm

My wife's kit is simpler. She primarily uses the Sigma 24-135mm, occasionally uses the kit lens (we have two) and now has a FA 50mm 1.4 (thanks Roy) that I expect will become a regular once she has seen what it can do.

Tim

[ccallana]

My current kit consists of -

Pentax SMCP-DA 18-55
Pentax SMCP-DA 50-200
Pentax SMCP-M 50/1.7
Pentax SMCP-F 50/1.7
Pentax SMCP-FA 28/2.8
Zenitar 16/2.8
Sears Auto K-Mount 135/2.8 (acts like an M lens)
JCPenny 2x Teleconverter (M converter, no contacts)
Asahi Pentax Auto Extension Tubes (M, but with Aperture lever)
Pentax Macro Bellows II - screwmount
Pentax Super-Tak 55/1.8 screwmount

Each has their uses - love them all.

[EddyinGA]

ccallana wrote:

My current kit consists of -

Pentax SMCP-FA 28/2.8

Each has their uses - love them all.

That's the one I want to get my hands on sometime soon.

[robar]

heck, i've been to the zoo without a bag.. cargo pants, a 300mm, 70-210, 50/1.4, extra mem card and a set of batts..

[bigdawg]

robar wrote:

heck, i've been to the zoo without a bag.. cargo pants, a 300mm, 70-210, 50/1.4, extra mem card and a set of batts..

I take the wife with me and put the extras in her purse...The only thing is all the trouble finding them in there when I need them. Ya' need a search and rescue team with a pack of blood hounds to find anything in her purse.



Dawg

[bigdawg]

Hokay Doaky here she goes....When I go on photo safari these days this is what goes with me.....

1. K10D Camera (for some reason I need it for the lenses to work right)

2. Batteries (for some reason the camera won't work without them I dunno why)

3. Pentax DA 18-55mm (For the wide stuff in good light)

4. Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f/3.5 ( for the lower middle stuff)

5. Sigma DL 100-300 (for the upper middle stuff)

6. Vivitar Series 1 105mm f/2.5 macro lens (for the closeups)

7. Pentax SMC-M 50mm f/1.7 (for the low light stuff and portraits)

8. Sigma 50-500mm APO EX DG f/4-6.7 ( for just about anything) The TC goes along for the ride too

9. my Cokin Filter System with enough adapter rings for all my lenses ( I need to get a Z-Pro adapter and some filters for the Bigma though)

10. Bogen/Manfrotto 3011 tripod with a Bogen 3160 pan tilt head. (monopod to be purchased soon)

These are not all I have, but it right now is what goes with me. Add a blower for the sensor too. I travel in a Dodge diesel pickup and the lenses go in an Aluminum case ( bought at Lowes) and when I arrive at a place I can pick and choose from this selection to do almost anything in the way of photography. Only ones I'm looking at right now are a collection of Primes from 200mm to 500mm. Would like A*'s if possible but M*'s would do me. But I probably will wind up getting a Wider wide angle right now as the cost is less that way. Not as sophisticated as some of the other guys but they will get the job done!

Dawg

[vrgard]

I just picked up a used K100Ds with the 18-55 kit lens. I already had a nice selection of M42 screw mount primes that are fun to use with this camera. But I'm thinking it would be nice to have an auto everything prime as well. I'm not interested in spending huge amounts of money and would like something on the smaller side. So, I've been eyeing both the FA 35/2.0 and the DA 40/2.8 lenses. I like the focal length and speed of the former and the size of the latter. Oh, and I've read something about not being able to manually focus the 35 without first turning off the autofocus feature which doesn't sound like a great way to go for me (since I'm a long time manual film camera user). So, while this is not quite on point for this thread, I'm posting here because I see that several folks have the 35 but no one has mentioned the 40. Is there some reason I should avoid it? Am really curious to hear if that's the case because I'm really interested in that pancake form factor. So, any thoughts, info, insights, etc., would be much appreciated. Oh, and lastly, this is my first posting on this forum. Have been on the rangefinderforum for a few years now but just got into the digital world to round out my experience. Thanks in advance for any and all help you guys can provide me.

-Randy

[bigdawg]

I don't have either but the 35mm gives you closer to a normal lens with the crop factor than a 40mm lens. Just the way I see it. Welcome to the forum...Don't take my advice to seriously on these two as I don't have either....Just wanted to say hello and welcome.

Dawg

[vrgard]

Thanks, Dawg, for the welcome. Yeah, if it was simply a decision between focal lengths, I would definitely go for the 35 since, as you said, that's closer to a 50 in 35mm format. Can you comment on the focusing question of an FA versus a DA lens?

-Randy

[bilybianca]

Hi Randy and welcome!

I cannot compare the two lenses, but I can assure that the FA35 mm is a fantastic lens and very priceworthy. As for AF/MF I'd say it's no issue, to change modes with the button takes 0.1 sec after you've done it twice. I'm not sure wether the DA40 mm has the quick shift feature. I have the DA16-45, and I never use the quick shift.

My *istDS is my first autofocus camera, so most of my lenses are manual and I like it that way. But getting used to AF was easier than I thought.

Kjell