non brand lenses on a dslr

[wingnut10]

I own a K10D Pentax DSLR. Will other brand lenses work on this camera? Lenses like Sigma, Tamron etc. I take pictures of my daughter on a theater dance stage. Low light and speed are major factors. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

[zona5101]

Sure they will, just need to make sure you buy one with a mount specific to your camera.

[inkista]

The problem, to me, is that neither Sigma, Tamron, nor Pentax make an ideal stage shooting lens. Just my idiosyncratic way of thinking, but I think of a 135mm f/2 lens as the ultimate for stage shooting.

In the current Pentax lineup any of the primes that go longer than 50mm tend to be f/2.8 at the fastest (although there are certainly DA Limiteds that could do the job), and there aren't many of them. And Sigma/Tamron/Tokina produce very few fast prime lenses, concentrating more on lower-cost alternatives to pricey zooms and filling in specialty gaps. Most of those gaps right now are at the wide end, not the long one.

You may be able to get away with a 70-200 f/2.8 stabilized lens, though. But that may be more than you were thinking of paying.

For my money, if you want to go bargain-hunting, your best bet would be to go look for an old discontinued Pentax lens (say an SMC 85/1.8 or 135/2.8). But it's a bit more difficult to work with some of the older lenses, and you're likely to lose autofocus.