Just picked up a Pentax body for cheap, need lens suggestions...

[kyzen]

I already have a bunch of Canon gear that I love, so the Pentax is just for fun, and for the girlfriend to use instead of her Powershot SD1100 when we go hiking.

Not interested in spending much on lenses; Craigslist is pretty barren in my area, so I'll likely be going the ebay route.

I'd like to cover from ~18mm through ~200mm. So far my options seem to be a 28-200mm Tamron, an 18-55mm Pentax and a 50-200mm Pentax, or the 18-5mm Pentax and a 70-300mm Tamron or Sigma.

Any lens suggestions (cheap)? Lenses that are known to be total lemons that I should avoid?

 

[scott916]

I think your best bet would be the 18-55 and the 50-200 for the highest performance/price ratio.

 

[kyzen]

Well, all the options i've mentioned so far are all about the same price via ebay (not going to buy from Amazon), which is $150ish. And I figured the 18-55mm + 50-200mm would offer the sharpest performance, but I'm still stuck wondering if the 28-200mm would be more convenient, especially since my girlfriend (who's only sort of into photography, and who I'd hate to get frustrated with changing lenses) will be the main user of the camera.

 

[scott916]

From what I hear, the 28-200 is a fairly significant compromise in image quality. Changing lenses is easy, especially since you'll usually only use the 50-200 for telephoto. The 18-55 would stay on the camera the majority of the time.

 

[ElFenix]

which pentax?

 

[kyzen]

K2000, Paid about $224

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: kyzen
K2000, Paid about $224

:Q;

 

[kyzen]

It was from Meijer.com new too, not a refurb.

Picked up a 50mm f/2 Pentax M lens, a 35-70mm Vivitar (both lenses are older than me ), an old flash, a remote flash cable, and an old film body with a broken shutter, all for about $23 off ebay. Still looking for a modern lens that I can autofocus with, but all in all i'm off to a nice and frugal start

 

[jpeyton]

I grabbed a Rebel XS body about a week back for $210.

Now I'm waiting for a cheap Canon 50mm f/1.8 II to pop up on CL for it.