No K7 love?

If I had to chose one lens, it would be the 21mm. That lens is about a 33mm fov equivalent and it is just about perfect for someone who likes using a 35mm lens on a film camera. The 35mm macro is equivalent to a 53mm fov which you may like.

That panny 20mm is reported to be a great lens and equates to a 40mm fov. Happy shooting!

eadrian75 said:

I've gone ahead and placed an order for a new K7 kit for $782!! I think that was too good of a deal to pass on.

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Congratulations. In your situation I think this was the right choice.

eadrian75 said:

Now ... 21 or 35 macro limited? Hmmm. Decision, decisions.

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Assuming yout K-7 kit includes the 18-55, don't rush into making this decision. Use the kit lens for a few weeks then go through the EXIF data of your shots to see which lengths you use most and buy the prime nearest that.

You've already had one recommendation for the 21: I never use that length but 35 is my most-used. So it's very much a personal decision and what other people prefer may not be right for you. You may find that neither of these lengths suits you. The good news, of course, is that whichever you choose theyall the limited series give great results.

You might want to consider the DA35/2.4 instead of the 2.8 macro. It's a lot cheaper and almost as good optically. While its closest focus of 0.3m gives only about 1:2 or 1:3 magnification, this serves for close-ups and if you want to get bigger than that there are better focal lengths than 35.

The 2.4 has a plastic mount; some people don't like that but for ordinary domestic use it's fine (there are millions of kit lenses from lots of makers with plastic mounts and we don't here howls of despair).

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Gerry


First camera 1953, first Pentax 1983, first DSLR 2006
http://www.pbase.com/gerrywinterbourne

Congrats, reading your story and what you plan on doing with your camera it seems you have made a right choice. Your price was a good one when i got mine it was still while microsoft offered a cashback through bing so i only forked out some $740 that allowed me to get Pentax grip and i couldn't be happier with my purchase.

AF is fast much faster than on previous bodies, external controls will make you life easier and speed up all your operations as you wont dig into menus as much, shake reduction, and just entire ergonomics are bliss to work with i am quite confident you will have plenty of fun with it.

Dont give up on some old manual lenses you can have for a fraction of new ones. I managed to stack up 3rd party lenses from Samyang that you got to focus manually but with focus confirmation it isn't that hard and oem viewfinder is quite easy to work with once you use proper techniques. Well these lenses r not that cheap as old pentax ones my point is you can use manual lenses and you will be happy with results with practice of course.

if you take shots of steady subjects you can use lcd to nail it i have become such a fan of that as you can zoom in and make sure that specific area you wanted to be in focus truly is. and finally i would 2nd suggestion about Pentax 35/2.4 its small, light, has AF and quite impressive IQ and sharpness and wont break your bank i am sure the way you take care of that combo i don't see you having problems with its plastic mount. Anyway once you get it go out and shoot something and post them here with your feedback about K-7.
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Grzegorz

The camera is for life and for people, the swift and intense moments of life. - Ansel Adams
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7167702@N03/