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mid-range walkabout Pentax zooms

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bob5050 Senior Member • Posts: 2,948
mid-range walkabout Pentax zooms

Sort of an embarrassment of riches for APS-C shooters. We currently have the following lenses available:

  1. HD PENTAX DA 20-40mm Ltd
  2. HD PENTAX-DA★ 16-50mm PLM
  3. HD PENTAX DA 16-85mm
  4. HD PENTAX-D FA 24-70mm
  5. HD PENTAX-D FA 28-105mm
  6. smc PENTAX-DA 18-135mm

I have 1, 3, and 6. Historically, I always used the 18-135mm as my default for daytime, and relied on the faster Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 for evenings, but now I find that the K-3iii is improved enough at low-light that I can use either the 18-135mm or 16-85mm for darker situations. Also, I've started to take the 20-40mm as my small-and-fast lens in preference to my Sigma 30mm f/1.4 Again, not near as fast as the Sigma 30mm, but still small enough to be appropriate for close quarters like restaurants and crowded markets, and the K-3iii compensates for the speed loss without my missing shots for lack of light.

For a strictly APS-C shooter I can't think that I'm really missing anything with either of the DFA lenses. Am I wrong?

The choice of mounting either the 16-85mm or 18-135mm often comes down to a trade off between slightly better picture quality (16-85), or more reach. It's often difficult, and I'd love it if Pentas would update the 18-135 to HD (but I don't see anything on the roadmap suggesting that a new 18-135 is on the horizon).

For you other mid-range, walkabout zoom shooters: how do tend to mentally classify your shooting situations? Said another way, it you own multiple mid-range zooms, what drives your choice of what to mount before you go out the door?

Asilomar State Beach, Pacific Grove, California

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bob5050
All pictures I post here are SOOC, downsized 50% unless specifically identified otherwise.

 bob5050's gear list:bob5050's gear list
Fujifilm XP130 Pentax K-3 Pentax K-3 Mark III Pentax smc DA 18-135mm F3.5-5.6ED AL [IF] DC WR Sigma 17-50mm F2.8 EX DC OS HSM +6 more
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