K20d Essentials

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  • 07-09-2008, 08:07 AM
    Ad_m
    K20d Essentials
    Hello everybody,
    I am a proud owner of a K20d and i was wondering what lenses would you say are a must have for this piece of kit? I only have the 18-55mm kit lens atm and would like to know your opinions and maybe some images with tested lens if thats possible
    I am currently saving up for the sigma 10-20mm
    and some of the Limited edition lenses have caught my eye too :p
    thanks Adam:)
  • 07-09-2008, 11:35 AM
    jgredline
    Re: K20d Essentials
    Adam,
    Welcome to PR....Great to have you here..
    If you scroll through this pentax section of PR you will see many samples of Images I have shot...In the Pentax world, there are 4 lenses that are a must. I will put them in the order of how I would get them if ''I'' where starting over.

    1) Tamron 28-74 F/2.8..This lens is a total God send for the Pentax folks.
    2) Sigma 70-300 APO F/4-5.6
    3) Pentax DA*50-135 F/2.8
    4) Pentax FA 50 F/1.4
    5) Sigma 10-20 F/4.0-4.5

    Now of course these are for my likes and shooting styles, but these lenses are very good....That K20D rocks by the way...My Daughter has a D200 and a D300 and frankly, I rate the K20D much higher than the D200 and equal to the D300
  • 07-09-2008, 12:01 PM
    ken1953
    Re: K20d Essentials
    Hi Adam, and Welcome to PR and Pentax.
    Javier has given you some great advise. I wish this forum had been here when I first bought my Pentax. But since it wasn't, I was on my own to do some research and I settled on the *ist DL w/ kit lens, like yours, and my first lens was the DA 50-200 f4.0-5.6 ED Lens
    It has turned out to be my most used lens as it gives me good medium range zoom and yet if I forget my 18-55 it is still good enough for use close in. All in all...I consider it an excellent utility lens at an excellent cost.
    If you look below my nick, you can click on my "user gallery", then you can view my gallery which is mostly done with my *ist DL and these 2 lenses. You can check these in the descriptions below the pics.
    BTW...Trust Javier...I DO...I'm just offering a possible alternative if necessary.
  • 07-09-2008, 01:13 PM
    Ad_m
    Re: K20d Essentials
    Wow thank you both for you advice I've had a k20d for about 2 months now but my first one I took back the other day as its sensor was broken and caused a blue line going across my pictures and would only hold 39raws on a 2gb card, but yeah my new one works fine and holds a hell of a lot more.. I'm glad I came across this site today as I've not had much look with realizing which lenses to buy. But I'm definitely going to buy the sigma 10-20mm first as i just love wide angle shots but this will expand my shooting capabilities and i feel it will be most useful to me.
    Thanks again
  • 07-09-2008, 02:54 PM
    spiraleyes
    Re: K20d Essentials
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Ad_m
    Wow thank you both for you advice I've had a k20d for about 2 months now but my first one I took back the other day as its sensor was broken and caused a blue line going across my pictures and would only hold 39raws on a 2gb card, but yeah my new one works fine and holds a hell of a lot more.. I'm glad I came across this site today as I've not had much look with realizing which lenses to buy. But I'm definitely going to buy the sigma 10-20mm first as i just love wide angle shots but this will expand my shooting capabilities and i feel it will be most useful to me.
    Thanks again

    :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

    I absolutely LOVE the Sigma 10-20. Every time I shoot with it I have a blast. :)

    ...and welcome to here.
  • 07-11-2008, 07:57 PM
    spiraleyes
    Re: K20d Essentials
    ...and I just ordered the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 :)
  • 07-12-2008, 05:40 PM
    jgredline
    Re: K20d Essentials
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by spiraleyes
    ...and I just ordered the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 :)

    Way to go....It's a great lens. Post up some pics with it when u get it.
  • 08-21-2008, 06:09 PM
    TrevorJ
    Re: K20d Essentials
    I am just about to jump into the DSLR side of things after using several fuji finepix s series for the last number of years.

    I am 99% sold on going with the K20d - my only problem is I have found an absolute killer price on a brand new package deal including body, DA 18-55mm AL II Lens, DA 50-200mm ED Lens, D-BG2 grip (and extra battery for the grip), Remote Controler, and a pair of UV filters for a price that is probably $200 less then if I purchased all the items separate at best price findings on the net.

    My concern is the price appears too good to be true. And I am a jaded enough individual that if it appears that way, it probably is too good to be true. I know the lenses are pretty basic entry level lenses, but it is still pretty competitive for a first try at DSLR.

    Another option is to purchase just the k20d body, and get a tamron 18-250. going this route would cost about the same as the deal mentioned above, but without the grip etc. I will admit I did like the feel of the grip in the camera shop - but maybe it is not needed?

    I shall continue reading through this forum, and will happily take advice offered by others ;-)
  • 08-21-2008, 07:18 PM
    spiraleyes
    Re: K20d Essentials
    I'll bet that you are looking at a pkg deal from a shady dealer. Where are you finding this deal, may I ask? The deal sounds good until they start charging you $50 for the instruction manual and $150 for the battery.
  • 08-21-2008, 08:06 PM
    TrevorJ
    Re: K20d Essentials
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by spiraleyes
    I'll bet that you are looking at a pkg deal from a shady dealer. Where are you finding this deal, may I ask? The deal sounds good until they start charging you $50 for the instruction manual and $150 for the battery.


    ebay. A CDN seller with a very good rating.

    I also looked up the name of the store, and called them. They appear to be a legitimate camera shop in Canada. I dont really want to advertise their name as they dont have a lot of units left :blush2:
  • 08-21-2008, 09:06 PM
    spiraleyes
    Re: K20d Essentials
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by TrevorJ
    ebay. A CDN seller with a very good rating.

    I also looked up the name of the store, and called them. They appear to be a legitimate camera shop in Canada. I dont really want to advertise their name as they dont have a lot of units left :blush2:


    Don't worry. If they are legit, they'll have plenty left. We're just looking out for you.
  • 08-21-2008, 09:23 PM
    TrevorJ
    Re: K20d Essentials
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by spiraleyes
    Don't worry. If they are legit, they'll have plenty left. We're just looking out for you.

    True. Kinda silly of me to ask for help but not give full details :rolleyes:

    http://stores.ebay.ca/Galaxy-Camera

    I am attempting to get into contact with some people that have purchased from him recently. Will find out the 411.

    TJ

    Edit - just found this thread in one of the other forums - some negative comments about galaxy from several years back:

    http://forums.photographyreview.com/...ghlight=galaxy

    However I have heard back from 3 people on Ebay that have purchased cameras through them in the past month and they have nothing but positives to say. Will check back in here tomorrow morning before making the big plunge.