Let's pretend that this is a Pentax list and talk about Pentax mount gear. Yeah, I spend an inordinate amount of of my money on glass. It's cheaper than racing and not as bad for my health as a lot of other vices. Since a lot of K-mount lenses are getting easier to find used, I can even pretend that I'm saving money.
When I bought my K-1, I didn't have the dineros to also buy the 24-70. I had the 16-50 to use as a fast standard zoom on my K3, so I bought the 15-30 for the angle of view, and a 28-105 for its weather sealing. I don't remember if I already had the Tamron 28-75 I bought used off of Miserere or I bought it shortly thereafter. I recently found a nice copy of the 24-70 on ebay for about $700 and succumbed to temptation. It arrived yesterday. My feelings of the three lenses with overlapping use cases. Note that they are all about the same length. Tamron 28-75/2.8 It's been my daily driver lens on the K-1 for about 7 years. It's reasonably fast and reasonably sharp, the only real drawback is lack of weather sealing, and lack of quick shift focusing. It is screwdrive only. Its major advantages are cost, diameter and lightness. Use case: when shooting indoors /low light, when weight or space in the camera bag counts. Pentax 28-105/3.5-5.6 surprisingly sharp for the cost. About the same size as the Tamron. Great lens when there is plenty of light. It's big advantage is added reach. It does have quick shift focus. It's big disadvantage is being 1-2 stops slower. It doesn't have a zoom lock to keep the barrel from accidentally extending rather than staying at the shortest focal length. Pentax 24-70/2.8 I've only shot 90 frames with it, and haven't processed them. It's the fattest and heaviest of the lot. It would make a great all condition daily driver lens, one that could be used indoors or out, rain or shine (hopefully not raining indoors, if that happens you have bigger problems). It will probably become my daily driver because I can just leave it on the camera and I won't have to worry overmuch about there being enough light, or if it might get rained on. The one lens in this class I have been really curious about is the Sigma 18-35 /1.8. It's gotten to the point where they can even be found (used, NLA new) for under $500. A lot of my photography has been in low light conditions were the extra 1.3 stops (4dB) of speed could make a big difference. Before I bought the K-1 I did the mathing and the extra speed on an APS (given equivalent sensors) and the wider angle means that the real world final image with the 18-35 on an APS is almost the same as a 28-50/2.8 on FF. With the K-3 III having much newer sensor technology than the K-1, in low light it might actually out perform. But, that's all theoretical pixel peeper bullshit on the hairy edge. In the real world, if I were shooting with the K-3 III indoors (which has other advantages over the K-1) it would give me about the same AoV range as the above FF f/2.8 lenses, and would be more convenient that swapping between two fast primes. My only fast AF prime in that range is my Sigma 20/1.8 which I have a complicated relationship with. Since it goes to 1:2 at closest focus, I mostly use it as a wide angle macro. Do any of you folk have experience with the 18-35? What are your thoughts and feelings? PS. I did spend a few minutes ripping out a quick album of the photos from last night. It was challenging lighting, shot in Tav at 1/20 and f/2.8. None of the photos really show the 24-70 to its full potential, but do show how it works in rough conditions, with a little bit of help from LRC (Lightroom Classic, rather than me) The backstory, Whitton runs the dance, it was her birthday and in addition to DJing with Vinyl rather than her laptop, she also had Brother Yusef play live blues music. I'd say that my two personal favorites, from a story rather than image quality are this one of Whitton DJing: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ellarsee/54982322711/in/album-72177720330919494 And this one of Yusef "enjoying the show" https://www.flickr.com/photos/ellarsee/albums/72177720330919494 When I was leaving, the fog was pretty cool, so I got this one of the venue https://www.flickr.com/photos/ellarsee/54982574214/in/album-72177720330919494 full set: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ellarsee/albums/72177720330919494 __ Larry Colen from Lothlorien [email protected] -- %(real_name)s Pentax-Discuss Mail List To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
