Beginner SLR - what lens is best for general purpose?

[DarkAngel]

Hi,

Im looking to move into amateur-end SLR on a budget and am about to purchase either the Pentax K10D or the Olympus E510. However, not having any experience with lenses has me a bit lost on which lens to get with it for general-purpose use. A friend has suggested that the kit lenses are often not as good as simply buying the body and a getting the lens separately, but it was also suggested to me that if I bought the Pentax with the 18-250mm kit lens it would serve most purposes I put it to (apart from macro/wide of course). I noticed that most of the other kit lenses were 16-45mm etc. Can anyone suggest what lens would be best as an all-rounder? Is the 18-250mm overkill? And is it worth grabbing a kit or buying the body and lens separately?

Thanks
Joel

[skeuos]

It's a tough call without knowing what your budget is or what your intentions are. You mentioned in your other post that you'd use it while hiking, so I think you'll definitely want a mix of zoom and wide capabilities. The 18-250 would definitely fit that bill until you decide if indeed you want super zoom or super wide capabilities.

If I've got the right lens, it looks like the 18-250 you're considering is very good for the price, but not as ideal as 2 separate lenses would be - http://www.photozone.de/Reviews/Pent...8-250mm-f35-63 . I've found that to be par for the course for lenses covering such a wide range. But if you're set on only carrying one lense, you could do much worse. As far as buying separately, you'd have to see how much the price would come down for body only. In my case, the drop was only $30-$40 - not enough to consider getting the body and a different lens separately (I recently bought a K100D with the 18-55 kit lens). I don't know how much the 18-250 tacks on to the base price for a K10D.

[KHedquist]

Joel,

I shoot a Pentax *ist DS and am going to get the K10 body soon. My new work horse lens is the Tamron 18-250mm D II. I love it. It focuses quickly and has great clarity. It is great to travel with. One lens to cover most situations. I got it before the Pentax version came out. Had I have waited, I probably would have gotten the Pentax. they make very good glass. The 50mm prime lens is one of the best pieces of glass around if you ever find one. I have seen the Pentax 18-250mm for around $500if purchased by itself. I think it is worth every penny.

cheers,

kevin

[JoeMc]

Hello Joel,

I can only talk about Nikon because that is what I shoot.

From the feedback on the kit lens from my expierence and from fellow photog friends that I associate with (which almost all shoot Nikon) the Nikon 18-55, and the nikon 18-135 are junk!(Steve's 18-55 Pentax may be wonderful) However the Nikon 18-70 is a wonderful "kit lens" the Nikon 18-200 vr is also a very populare lens that fellow photogs like for it's convienence of being an "all in one" lens. It cost around $750.00.

Something else to keep in mind.....You can really pick up some good deals on used DSLR equiptment, because your just starting out and you will soon after find out what it is you really want in a DSLR. (most of us learned this the hard way...I did).
Cheers, Joe