One possibility for the upcoming show is that there may be a new FILM body from Pentax. Pal keeps hoping for an "AF LX," and it's also possible that there may be a new "budget/serious" camera one tier below the MZ-S (which I can't afford).
So I've been trying to think about FA lens outfits recently. I don't currently own any FA lenses, but there are a number I'm attracted to. What I do is general snapshooting in black-and-white. I'm a great fan of 35mm normal lenses, but also of the 50/1.4 Pentax lens. Generally, what I need is an all-purpose lens, and also a portrait lens. But a 50mm is too long to be my widest lens. Here's what I've shot with over the past few years: --Just a 50mm. --a 35mm and an 85mm. --a 50mm, an 85mm for portraits, and a wider lens--since the wider lens is mostly for indoors, it needs to be pretty fast. Personally, since my long(er)-lens use is _exclusively_ for portraits, I'm leaning towards the 85mm f/1.4. The 77mm also has a great reputation and has a better form-factor. So one obvious kit would be the 85/1.4 and the 35/2. A kit comprising the 35/2 and the 77mm would also be very nice. But that leaves me without my stone favorite 50/1.4. If I were to add that, I'd want to use it as my "most of the time normal lens." At that point, the 35/2 becomes rather superfluous, and I'd rather move a bit further away on the wide and tele ends...which would mean a three-lens kit with the 24/2 or 31mm, 50/1.4, and 77 or 85mm. Since 77mm is rather closer to 50mm than to 35mm, this thought pushes me more towards the 85mm again. The trouble with this is that, in the real world, I don't have very much cash. So to think of buying both the very expensive 31mm and the very expensive 85mm is rather daunting...especially when the inexpensive 50mm would be my "most of the time" lens. I'd like to begin investing in a kit of FA lenses, but I'm unsure of which way to go. I could do any of the following... --50/1.4 only (not really a very flexible option). --35/2 and 85/1.4. --35/2 and 77mm. --31mm, 50/1.4, and 85mm. --24/2, 50/1.4, and 85mm. --something else--? My little brother Scott has insisted for years that I am very good at giving advice to others, but not very good at choosing things for myself. His reasoning is that I remain objective and clear-headed when I give advice to others, but when I'm shopping for myself, I succumb to emotion and fetishizing and hair-splittng, and make dumb decisions. What would you recommend? Keep in mind I want an _optimum_ 2- or 3-lens FA kit for my uses, not something that will just "get me by." --Mike P.S. This is not a troll. I'm serious. <s>
