Newbiw Lens Questions: Where to buy, difference, etc.

[Mr Guy]

Well, you can be an early adopter of the brand new DA 35 f/2.4, which is incredibly reasonably priced, or you can go with the tradition answer, which is any of the limited line. The limiteds are going to be much more expensive, but they are buy now keep forever lenses for most people. Keep in mind that your SMC-M 50mm may be an exceptionally old lens, but it's also an exceptionally well built and has a reputation for being addictive, much like the limiteds.

The FA 35 f/2 is a great lens, with a somewhat peculiar kind of bokeh. It's discontinued but readily available many places. You shouldn't have a problem in Tokyo.

I'm curious what 28mm lens you got, though. The FA 28 has both a normal and a soft version, and I'd recommend either, depending on whether you shoot people or things more, and the FA 31 f/1.8 limited is godly.

DA series lenses have limiteds at 21, 35, and 40mm.

[hambino]

Originally Posted by Mr Guy

I'm curious what 28mm lens you got, though. The FA 28 has both a normal and a soft version, and I'd recommend either, depending on whether you shoot people or things more, and the FA 31 f/1.8 limited is godly.

its the K 28mm (that's the actual photo of the one I bought)..I'm still SUPER early in my experience with my DSLR so I'm not entirely sure if I actually take more pics of people or things (so far, its leaning more towards "things", but I really do like candid pics of people when I get them without them looking!). Maybe I just need to spend more time with the lens seeing as how I'm still not 100 (or even 90) percent comfortable with the manual focus yet

I don't really have two photos to get a good comparison of between the 28mm and the kit lens but I'll make it a point to shoot the same thing with both lenses this weekend

Thanks for all of the input guys!

[Mr Guy]

Hmm, the K series are generally pretty decent lenses. Have some examples up somewhere of what you're unsatisfied with, quality wise? Keep in mind, it's not a very fast lens, and you may need to stop it down. Compared to shooting at 1.7, stopping down to 5.6 is going to have a big impact on your shutter speed or ISO choices.