Hi all. I bought a Pentax K-x body only for the wifey (thanks to daveaus). Now looking for a lens. Cheapest I can find is 18-55mm lens. Will this do the job? It's our first dslr so we are total noobs :)
We want an all-rounder. Not too much on zoom or sports/ moving objects. Just typical holiday going out photos.
Thanks!
An 18-55mm would be good to start off with. If you think you're going to get a little more serious in the future though you might want to get something like 18-85mm~ I don't know the exactly focal length ranges but somewhere in this field would be ideal for you. Why? Because it covers from a somewhat wide-angle lens to a telephoto lens. This is under the assumption that your camera is a cropped sensor :)
TL;DR
18-55mm = good start
18-85mm~ (not sure exact focal lengths) = ideal if you think you're going to get a lil more serious
18-105
I have a k-r, replacing my years old k100d.
My favourite lens is the f1.4 50mm which is amazing in low light and gives beautiful bokeh. Makes me feel like a pro whenever I use it, but $400 made it costly IMHO considering you can get a 'nifty 50' in other mounts much cheaper.
I got a Tamron 18-200mm zoom for my birthday (about $200) which has replaced the 18-55mm kit lens for my everyday use, and will be all I take on my next trip. There are some comments from the pros about image quality, but it works great for my needs. Sigma also makes a similar version.
If I had only two lenses it would be these.
Less used are the kit 18-55mm and 28-100mm. I also have a 70-300mm that gets a run at the zoo, but is too long on a 4/3rds sensor to be very useful for general purpose.
Along the way, I ended up with a manual (no autofocus/aperture) 50mm f2 and 150-300mm zoom. Like you I started with one lens, but then I added others one at a time, trying out what results I could get. I would buy the manual lens, use it for a few months and decide if the modern auto equivalent was worth the money. The manual lenses each cost less than $20 so were a cheap way to experiment. Modern pentax dslr cameras can work with any Pentax k mount lens, which basically means back to the 1970s (prior to that they were screw mount m42 - you can use them too with a $5 adapter), so old lenses are still very useful.
So my suggestion would be the 18-55mm if you can get one cheap, then try out other lenses every year or so.
If you just want one lens that can do close up to long zoom, then the 18-200mm will do everything. Think of it like a swiss army knife or leatherman. It has all the features you want to get things done, although a pro would buy separate tools because they use them so regularly.
If you're on a tight budget & just want a little more reach, I'd consider the Japanese made Sigma 70-300mm F4-5.6 DG MACRO. I just got one (new, Australian stock) off ebay for $137 delivered for my K-r. Purists will cringe, but let me tell you, I'm very, very impressed with this lens for the price! The ebay seller was great too, very fast shipping…I went from ordering to shooting in under 2 days! :)
Here's the link if it helps: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SIGMA-70-300mm-F4-5-6-DG-MACRO-TE…
[edit] The same seller also has a range of other relevant lenses at pretty good prices too…Aussie stock for less than or same price as grey imports is always a good thing! ;)
I use Canon, so I'm not sure about specifics on Pentax glass but I can give you some general tips.
An 18-55mm should be fine for a first lens as it is quite versatile, and for your purposes of general holiday photos, it should be decent.
If you're looking to expand your collection, the most bang for buck is a f1.8 50mm or equivalent prime lens which is quite useful and very compact, and produces very nice results. It is also very cheap with the price around $100