What Would You Take - Pentax K10 - Western U.S.A.
Momma8
Registered Users Posts: 6 Beginner grinner
Looking at doing a mega trip this summer through the U.S. southwest & northwest. So, I would be looking at shooting in desert & mountain areas.
What equipment would you recommend for a Pentax k10 for this trip? The lenses I use are Pentax 18-55 & Sigma DG 70-300. I know to take plenty of memory.
Should I pick up a polarizer?
Possibly look into another lens? What else?
I'd really appreciate any recommendations.
Thank you!
What equipment would you recommend for a Pentax k10 for this trip? The lenses I use are Pentax 18-55 & Sigma DG 70-300. I know to take plenty of memory.
Should I pick up a polarizer?Possibly look into another lens? What else?
I'd really appreciate any recommendations.
Thank you!
0
Comments
Pentax SMC DA 12-24mm, f4 AL ED [IF]
Tokina AT-X Pro SD 12-24mm, F4 (IF)
Sigma AF 10-20mm, f4-5.6 EX DC
Tamron 10-24mm, f3.5-4.5 DI-II LD Aspherical (IF)
A tripod can be useful as well.
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
Plan on a polarizer. ND filters can be useful, but I use a polarizer quite a bit more often. Pick up a good quality tripod if you don't already have one.
If you're looking for an excuse to buy a lens, my advice would be:
1. Ultra wide. I have the Sigma 10-20 F4.0-5.6, and find it very useful.
2. Macro. Lots of flowers, bugs and other details you may want to capture. You can always stitch a panorama for the wide vistas - a good tripod helps this alot. Macro lenses are usually F2.8 and can be serviceable as a portrait lens.
My motorcycle kit last year was Sigma 10-20, FA 50mm 1.4, Tamron 90mm F2.8 macro. Fairly large to pack on the bike, and I stopped carrying the macro unless I was also packing a tripod and had time in the schedule for setup.
Your Sigma 70-300mm should work fairly well for large wildlife. It works very well if you can stop it down a bit and if you can stay in the 70-200mm-ish range, but 300mm will work OK if you fill the frame and post-process for sharpness.
A Sigma 70-200mm, f2.8 DG HSM II Macro is a better lens optically and more versatile in that it has a larger and constant aperture of f2.8, so it lets in 4 times more light at the long end. If you add a 1.4x teleconverter, to get 280mm, it's still faster than your current zoom telephoto and if you stop down to the same apertures it will be sharper too.
The Tamron 70-200mm, f2.8 Di LD IF Macro is potentially a little sharper but the AF is slower than the Sigma 70-200mm, f2.8 above.
The Pentax SMC DA* 60-250mm, f4 ED IF SDM is a curious (expensive) alternate that has no real competition, but I would suggest either the Sigma or Tamron above as a better value overall.
For wildlife at a distance and for smaller wildlife I would recommend a 500mm prime lens, but now you're talking real money.
A useful compromise is the Sigma "Bigma" 50-500mm, f4-6.3 EX DG HSM APO. This is a real beast lens, fairly heavy, and it requires good light and stopping down for best results.
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
I rather like the Hoya HMC filters. Choose a "circular" polarizer large enough to fit the largest lens diameter/filter size and use adapters to size the filter to the smaller diameter lenses.
Check here for pretty good prices:
http://www.2filter.com/
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
If you're looking to upgrade your kit lens, I'll give you a couple of good suggestions:
--Sigma 17-70/2.8-4.5: This was another lens I used with my Pentax and loved dearly. The IQ is excellent for the price and you can get really close for some nice quasi-macro (1:2.3) shots.
--Tamron 17-50/2.8: I have this on the Canon that I'm now using and it's also a great deal, especially if you can pick one up gently used. It is sharp and the constant 2.8 is good for lower light shots without a tripod.
+1 on the DA12-24--awesome lens.
On the note of a tripod, if you don't already have one, it's definitely worth it to pick up one and a good ballhead, along with either a remote control or shutter release cable. You'd be surprised at what you can do with one that you can't do handheld--think long exposure night shots.
On a final note, if you're OK with buying used, check out http://www.pentaxforums.com, as they've got a great buy and sell section there.
HTH,
Heather
My pics
"He who cannot dance will say: "The drum is bad!" --African proverb.
I appreciate all of the suggestions. I will be checking out the different lenses that have been suggested.
I hope I don't try your patience. If so, I apologize!
I'm confused on choosing a polarizer. Have never used a polarizer or filter. I have tried in the past to read up on them, but I'm a hands on person. So I always get confused until I get something in my hands & can see for myself what I'm reading about. But, don't want to buy something that I can not use. I'm trying to figure out what polarizer to get. You mentioned getting one to fit the largest lens diameter. You said adapters can be used to fit smaller diameter lenses. Just to get feedback on a polarizer I pulled them up on amazon (like to read the feedback). I have no idea what I'm looking for I guess. I see all of these different ones such 52mm, 58mm, 72mm, 77mm, etc. I'm lost. I guess I don't understand.
Find your lens (on which you wish to use a polarizer) that has the largest front diameter and the largest filter threads. What size is it?
You might find the filter thread size designation on the side of the lens:
... and/or under the lens cap:
Now just purchase a "circular polarizer" of that size and use an appropriate "step-up ring" to adapt the filter to any lenses of smaller filter thread diameter.
For instance, if your largest lens filter diameter is 67mm (and if you are not considering the purchase of a larger sized lens very soon), then you purchase a polarizer (the "circular" designated polarizer is important) in that thread size, and if you want to also use that filter on a lens with 55mm filter threads you would also purchase a 55mm-67mm step-up ring to adapt the filter to the second lens.
Again, I use and I can recommend the Hoya HMC filters and their circular polarizer should be fine for most needs.
http://www.2filter.com/ is fair in their pricing and they have both the filter and step-up rings you might need.
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
When using a polarizer you should be careful when shooting with a wide angle lens (Wider than 28mm Usually) that you don't end up with unevenly darkened skies.
+2! DA 12-24 Awesom lens.
The DA* 16-50 is also very nice and likely wide enough for most stuff.
+1 sturdy tripod.
A rocket blower or some way to clean your sensor. Check it often, the dust specs don't show until you're home at the computer. Ask me how I know.
Bring a flashlight or headlamp. Shoot early, shoot at night, there's some great stargazing/shooting when you get away from city lights.
Kevin
Wow, Ziggy, thank you! As I said I am a hands on person & usually just don't get it when I try reading. You explain that so simple that even I understood. So, I get what to look for on a polarizer. Just need to wait until I decide on what lens I want to get to be sure what size.
Thank you to everyone for your input. I have looked up all of the lenses mentioned. I am at a loss at what lens would work best for me. I have the 2 lenses, may not be the greatest, but they are what I have. I keep trying to figure out what lens would be the best investment to add.
If all goes well & this trip takes place, there will obviously be a wide range of photo opps. I keep going over what I like to shoot- again, wide range. I do like catching natural shots of people and animals (wildlife). Like some scenery. With this trip there will be quite the scenery to shoot.
One thing I have found is with what I have to work with, once the light starts to drop a little I have problems. (I know, I need to also be looking at a decent tripod.)
I like to have a little reach. My Sigma gives me some of that.
Seems like a little wider lens may also be something worthwhile for this trip?
So, the things I keep going over: my issue when the lights starts to drop a little; wondering if I should be looking for wider due to scenery that I will be encountering on this trip; ... I'm so torn on what to do. Someone want to quickly invent a do-it-all magic lense? Or maybe i just need to win the lottery & buy a few lenses.
With Pentax, you don't have to win the lottery to buy a few lenses. Every Pentax K-mount lens will work on your K10D if you are comfortable with (in some cases) focusing manually.
K-series: manual focus, select aperture on lens (Av mode and M mode work)
M-series: manual focus, select aperture on lens (Av mode and M mode work)
A-series: manual focus, select 'A' setting on aperture ring for auto modes.
FA-series: fully automatic
The caveat to this is that ultra-wide on Pentax 1.5x crop camera didn't exist in film days.
Given that macro shots are commonly focused manually, an older manual-focus 50mm or 100mm lens could fill that gap for ~100 or so.
For low-light use, there are a number of 50mm F1.4, F1.7, and F2.0 lenses from the last few decades that come available quite frequently. I have an A50mm 1.7 that works nicely on my K200D, and the M100 2.8 I have makes a lovely portrait lens. Neither were more than $100. The FA 50mm 1.4 is about $300 and has the benefit of autofocus.
My priorities would be:
Tripod
Ultrawide
Fast prime lens (macro or otherwise)
You could always rent an ultrawide for the trip as well.
Check pentaxforums.com for more <strike>confusion</strike> ideas. <img src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6029383/emoji/thumb.gif" border="0" alt="" >