What's the sharpest normal-range, autofocus, consumer, used zoom I can put on my ZX-L?
>From what I've read, it might be the FA 28-70 f4. Are there others I should consider instead? What about 3rd-party lenses? I would be looking for a used one and I don't mind patiently monitoring the used market for months. I would not seriously consider paying for a new one. All of my current lenses (all primes) were bought used on eBay and I'm happy with them. I'm a beginner with little money; every dollar spent needs to count. I like sharp pictures (my favorite subjects are landscapes and my family), and I'm not especially concerned about moderate distortion at the edges and corners. I've stayed away from zooms so far because my understanding has been that zooms, especially in my price range, aren't as sharp as good primes. But yesterday I read a web page that seemed to indicate that since I am not a great expert photographer with great technical skills as a photographer, I might not see the difference in sharpness between a good zoom and a good prime: http://luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/sharp.shtml If I'm not going to see the difference anyway, then it would certainly be convenient to have a zoom. If I get a used one for a reasonable price on eBay, then change my mind, I can resell it there without losing a lot of money on it. The primes I would be comparing it to are: -- Pentax-A 50/1.7 (I hope to replace this with a used Pentax-F 50/1.7 sometime in the next few months or so) -- Pentax-M 135/3.5 -- Tamron (A) 28/2.5 -- Vivitar (screwmount) 20/3.8 (a very old, big lens; not the current cheap, tiny 19/3.8) When I'm trying to take my best pictures, I: -- Use a tripod and self-timer to avoid camera shake (I use the self-timer because I haven't bought a cable release or remote control yet). -- Use a lens hood (except with the 20mm; I don't have one for it). -- Outdoors, I use a Pentax UV filter shared between the 50mm, 135mm, and 28mm (I don't yet have an 82mm UV to fit the 20mm). -- Use Fuji Reala 100 or Kodak Gold 100 (I'm not sure yet which I like better). -- In the quest for mirror lockup, I've lost several auctions for an old KX. I hope to have one in the next few months. The main reason I want the KX is because when locking up the mirror, it also stops down the shutter, thereby at least theoretically reducing camera shake further. As far as I know, the only other model that does that is the LX, which is beyond my price range. Oh -- one other thing. Since the ZX-L can control the aperature from the camera body, I wouldn't mind saving money on an FAJ. An FAJ would be all but useless on the KX, but I probably wouldn't ever need to use it on the KX anyway. Many thanks for any suggestions. Greg
