Pentax K10D Lenses for beginner

[mistyp]

Hello!

As I posted in the intro thread, I'm moving up from a point-and-shoot camera, and after a great deal of research I think I'd like to get a Pentax K10D. I understand there's going to be quite a learning curve!

Do you think it would be best to just go with the kit lens for now, and add different/better lenses later, or should I go with better lenses right at the start? My primary shooting is going to be photographing my 9 month old daughter, so no special lens needs there. I am very attracted to close up pictures, so at some point I'd like a macro lens. I also like the idea of a telephoto lens. I'm kind of all over the place at the moment.

For budget, getting the camera, kit lens, memory card, and something to hold everything is going to basically use up my allotment (we already have a tripod). However, if a better lens was really recommended, I could wait another month and add to the budgeted amount.

Is there a better quality medium lens you would recommend? Or is the kit lens 'good enough'?

Thanks so much!

-Misty

[mattdm]

I think you may be disappointed with the kit lens, because it's not very fast (in the sense of letting in a lot of light). I opted for the DA 40mm f/2.8 Limited as my first (and up until a few days ago only) lens, which I use primarily for taking pictures of my kids.

On a 1.5x crop-factor camera like the Pentax dSLRs, it's considered a "long normal" lens, which means it's pretty versatile but a little bit tight -- which sounds okay given what you said about liking closeups. It's a little strange at first to give up having zoom, but since it's such a nice lens you get used to it pretty quickly.

Check out this post on pentaxforums http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-slr-lens-discussion/6271-40mm-1-5-great-focal-length.html
with a few of my first example pictures. Or look at my website for a lot, lot more. (look for images with k100d in the filename).

[jdepould]

Kit lenses are sort of a mixed bag, however, since this is your first DSLR (am I correct in thinking you haven't used a 35mm SLR?) it may be a good idea to go with the kit lens for the first 6-12 months. That should be long enough to learn your system and get comfortable. Another thing to consider is that you may not know right now what focal lengths suit your style best, using the kit lens will help you figure that out. Image quality isn't going to be jaw dropping, but that doesn't mean you won't be able to take great pictures.

[mistyp]

Check out this post on pentaxforums http://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-slr-lens-discussion/6271-40mm-1-5-great-focal-length.html
with a few of my first example pictures. Or look at my website for a lot, lot more. (look for images with k100d in the filename).

Thank you for the suggestion, Matt! If I didn't get the kit lens, it looks like the DA 40mm f/2.8 Limited would add about $200 to my purchase price. That's not bad but likely would push back the purchase date a bit.

I noticed on this photo the action looks blurry. One of the reasons I am moving up to a DSLR is to capture action better. Is this a problem with the lens/camera?
http://photos.mkmiller.org/anya-10thmonth/20070731_k100d_imgp6440

PS: You have adorable girls!

Thanks so much!

[mistyp]

Kit lenses are sort of a mixed bag, however, since this is your first DSLR (am I correct in thinking you haven't used a 35mm SLR?) it may be a good idea to go with the kit lens for the first 6-12 months. That should be long enough to learn your system and get comfortable. Another thing to consider is that you may not know right now what focal lengths suit your style best, using the kit lens will help you figure that out. Image quality isn't going to be jaw dropping, but that doesn't mean you won't be able to take great pictures.

Thanks for the reply, J De Pould! Yes, I haven't used any other SLR before this. Am I correct in thinking that even with the kit lens, the image quality is going to be much better than a point-and-shoot? I'm working with a Sony Cyber-shot S500 right now. I find the image quality basically adequate, but the lack of control and slowness to be a problem. If the kit lens image quality is going to be better than a good picture on a point-and-shoot, then I don't think it would be a problem for starting out. I agree I do need to find my style.

[mattdm]

Thank you for the suggestion, Matt! If I didn't get the kit lens, it looks like the DA 40mm f/2.8 Limited would add about $200 to my purchase price. That's not bad but likely would push back the purchase date a bit.

Your daughter's not going to be 9 months old now. Buy right away, save up for better lenses. :)


I noticed on this photo the action looks blurry. One of the reasons I am moving up to a DSLR is to capture action better. Is this a problem with the lens/camera?
http://photos.mkmiller.org/anya-10thmonth/20070731_k100d_imgp6440


There's three factors involved in that particular picture. Well, it all comes down to one -- it was pretty dark in the room. So, that means I was using a shutter speed of 1/25th of a second, which isn't fast enough to stop moving kids. (At that speed range, you end up with a lot of blurs-for-hands.)

Second, it's at a wide-open aperture of f/2.8, which has a pretty shallow depth of field -- according to one online calculator (http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html) at this close focus that means there's an acceptably-in-focus area less than three inches deep. If you look at my older daughter's shoulder, you can see it's in focus there, and in anything aligned with that (like the younger one's face, actually, but I think she's also moving a bit).

Finally, again because of the light this was at ISO 1600. Since it was shot in JPEG, which means that there's some noise and noise reduction applied. If I had the time to shoot in RAW and postprocess carefully, I could run it through fancier software, which would help some.

A faster (f/1.4) lens would help with the shutter speed or ISO, but it'd make the depth of field even worse. This is a pretty big issue with dSLRs that takes some getting used to. Of course, it's also an advantage for those portrait shots with the blurred background that everyone loves.

You should put "flash, with bounce/tilt head" on your to-buy-next list (it's on mine). The on-camera flash is just as crappy as that in a P&S camera, but if you can bounce off of the ceiling, suddenly you can get pretty good nice lighting on demand.

Oh, and the other thing to be aware of with focus on a dSLR -- P&S cameras use edge-contrast-based autofocusing, which is slower but can work on any area of the picture. dSLRs (except for the just-announced semi-pro $1800+ Nikons) can only focus at specific pre-defined points (11 of them on the K100D). That takes some getting used to too -- I still often find myself with what would have been a great picture focused on the background. (Drat!) Pentax, by the way, has one of the very best autofocus systems in affordable dSLRs. The Nikon D40, for example, has
only 3 points (in fairness, those three points are supposed to be very fast and accurate, but still).


PS: You have adorable girls!


Thanks!

[mistyp]

Thanks for the explanation, Matt!

I went over our budget with some real numbers (some bills came in), and I think I can afford a lens that's up to $300. The one you mentioned has a $50 rebate, too!

My husband doesn't like the look of it being so flat, heh.

[mistyp]

Okay, I ordered! I used Matt's suggestion as a jumping off point, and ended up ordering a FA 50mm f/1.4 lens.

Thanks so much!

[mattdm]

Okay, I ordered! I used Matt's suggestion as a jumping off point, and ended up ordering a FA 50mm f/1.4 lens.

Thanks so much!

Yeah, that's a really good lens too. I recommend the 40mm because it's nice to have it a little wider indoors (33° field of view instead of 27°), because unlike your husband I like the compact form factor a lot, and (this is important) because it has a minimum focal distance of 13" instead of 18", and kids get up in your face a lot. There's also some nice features like the quick-shift to manual focus.

But don't get me wrong, the FA 50mm f/1.4 is an nice lens too especially for its price. And the extra two stops will be nice indoors (but watch that depth of field -- unless you've got your kid tranquilized, they squirm/jump right out of focus).