Constant Aperture zooms or primes? Looking for some advice on a lens to take to Italy. I have a 17-50 f2.8 and a 80-200 older manual lens for my Pentax K-5 IIs. I can get a 10-20 f 3.5...

RichardE Loc: California

Looking for some advice on a lens to take to Italy.
I have a 17-50 f2.8 and a 80-200 older manual lens for my Pentax K-5 IIs. I can get a 10-20 f 3.5 or a prime and if I get just a prime, which? A 10mm, 12mm, etc. This is a crop camera with a 1.5 crop factor. I shoot landscapes, inside churches (no flash). Or will my 17-50 do just fine. If people have the 10-20 F3.5, what mm does everyone wind up shooting; and therefore maybe a prime is a better choice.?

Thanks for the help.

wlgoode Loc: Globe, AZ

RichardE wrote:

Looking for some advice on a lens to take to Italy.
I have a 17-50 f2.8 and a 80-200 older manual lens for my Pentax K-5 IIs. I can get a 10-20 f 3.5 or a prime and if I get just a prime, which? A 10mm, 12mm, etc. This is a crop camera with a 1.5 crop factor. I shoot landscapes, inside churches (no flash). Or will my 17-50 do just fine. If people have the 10-20 F3.5, what mm does everyone wind up shooting; and therefore maybe a prime is a better choice.?

Thanks for the help.

It used to be a prime was always preferred. With recent improvements in zoom performance and the handiness of zooms, I always use 2 zooms when travelling.

RichardE Loc: California

Thanks, Wlgoode, I was thinking of ditching the 80-200 and getting the 10-20 to take with me.

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

Richard, the problem with zooms, is that they are ALL slow. If you could afford a 24mm 1.4(or wider+fast) I would get it.
I use a 50 1.4 on a FF for that. Not very wide, but you can stitch if you hold pretty steady.
Everybody is going to scream, ISO 3200. I dont care what camera you have, if all you want is usable, go for it, and use a wide zoom. If all else fails, use your phone.
Have a great vacation. SS

RichardE Loc: California

Thanks, SharpShooter. I'll bring back pics.

TNmike Loc: NW TN

SharpShooter wrote:

Richard, the problem with zooms, is that they are ALL slow. If you could afford a 24mm 1.4(or wider+fast) I would get it.
I use a 50 1.4 on a FF for that. Not very wide, but you can stitch if you hold pretty steady.
Everybody is going to scream, ISO 3200. I dont care what camera you have, if all you want is usable, go for it, and use a wide zoom. If all else fails, use your phone.
Have a great vacation. SS

SS, are you saying F 2.8 is slow? My 24-70 f2.8 and 70-200 f2.8 cover most of my needs in lower light situations even with an ISO in the 100-400 range. I do have a 50mm 1.8 but f2.8 will usually handle most needs. TNmike

RichardE Loc: California

Agree, but the 10-20 is only f3.5.

KennyMac Loc: Lynchburg, VA

RichardE,
You could save yourself a lot of grief if you take along a tripod or, at least a mono ! You could even use a 5.6 on a pod !

RichardE Loc: California

Thanks, KennyMac, but most churches do not allow tripods.

wlgoode Loc: Globe, AZ

SharpShooter wrote:

Richard, the problem with zooms, is that they are ALL slow. If you could afford a 24mm 1.4(or wider+fast) I would get it.
I use a 50 1.4 on a FF for that. Not very wide, but you can stitch if you hold pretty steady.
Everybody is going to scream, ISO 3200. I dont care what camera you have, if all you want is usable, go for it, and use a wide zoom. If all else fails, use your phone.
Have a great vacation. SS

Not all. many are fixed f2.8 or longer ones fixed f4.0. Not so slow.

birdpix Loc: South East Pennsylvania

I have travelled quite a bit in Europe and have found my 10-22mm zoom to be very versatile. If you want to go prime, then get a really wide one, but not fisheye. You can always crop later but if it isn't wide enough, you're out of luck. Yes you can try to do a panorama, but they are a bit tricky handheld with the wide angle because of the distortion.

I wouldn't ditch the 80-200 too quickly. It is a nice length to get some of those architectural details, inside and out!

RichardE Loc: California

Thanks, BirdPix,
I'm looking at:
Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 EX DC HSM ELD SLD Aspherical Super Wide Angle Lens for $650
Because Pentax raised the price by 50% on the DA 14mm f2.8 DA ED (IF)from $649 to over $900.
Can't seem to find a reasonable priced prime like the Pentax was.

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

OK, granted, for a zoom, 2.8 is about as fast as they get, but in my book, that's pretty darn slow. The new sigma 1.8 is scratching the surface of speed, but it's pretty limited.
Most churches are pretty dark inside by design, and the touristy ones don't allow pods or flash.
I still think a fast prime is the way to go. And inside a church, nothing is ever wide enough. SS

PS, a little trick that some use is to set the camera on the ground and use self-timer to get the ceiling shots.
Maybe a string with a washer on it. I carry one but never use it.

jackm1943 Loc: Omaha, Nebraska

For the following reasons I believe a quality zoom lens usually results in a better final print than a quality prime lens. The most important first step in setting up an image is to determine perspective, or camera position. Then, and only then, you hope to have a lens that will crop the image as desired. With a quality zoom, you can crop in the camera which maximizes final image quality. Using a prime, unless you are lucky and have just the right lens, you must either change the desired perspective or heavily crop the image in PP, resulting in loss of image quality.

RichardE wrote:

Looking for some advice on a lens to take to Italy.
I have a 17-50 f2.8 and a 80-200 older manual lens for my Pentax K-5 IIs. I can get a 10-20 f 3.5 or a prime and if I get just a prime, which? A 10mm, 12mm, etc. This is a crop camera with a 1.5 crop factor. I shoot landscapes, inside churches (no flash). Or will my 17-50 do just fine. If people have the 10-20 F3.5, what mm does everyone wind up shooting; and therefore maybe a prime is a better choice.?

Thanks for the help.

PhotoGator Loc: Florida

RichardE wrote:

Looking for some advice on a lens to take to Italy.
I have a 17-50 f2.8 and a 80-200 older manual lens for my Pentax K-5 IIs. I can get a 10-20 f 3.5 or a prime and if I get just a prime, which? A 10mm, 12mm, etc. This is a crop camera with a 1.5 crop factor. I shoot landscapes, inside churches (no flash). Or will my 17-50 do just fine. If people have the 10-20 F3.5, what mm does everyone wind up shooting; and therefore maybe a prime is a better choice.?

Thanks for the help.

You have a 17-50mm f/2.8 then add the 70-200mm f/2.8
You will then have a good range. For support instead of a pod, use columns, walls, floor and pews (misericords, benches, seats).