 Great lens for the price |
| Review Date: February 8, 2007 |
| Reviewer: James Lin, Los Angeles, CA |
If you have the 18-55mm kit lens, then you'll find that the 50-200mm feels just about the same. This lens is slightly heavier and slightly longer than the 18-55mm, but still very easy to handle. I uploaded two images to the user gallery above, showing the 18-55mm next to the 50-200mm.
Most people seem to decide between this lens or the Tamron AF70-300mm F/4-5.6, which is similarly priced. After doing a lot of research, I decided on the Pentax 50-200mm because of its compact size and much lighter weight. Although I haven't used the Tamron lens myself, the specifications show that it is longer and twice as heavy as the Pentax.
Another thing to consider is that the Tamron AF70-300mm has a 62mm filter diameter, while the Pentax DA 50-200mm and DA 18-55mm share the same 52mm filter diameter. If you already own the 18-55mm kit lens, you'll be able to use any filters that you already have on the 50-200mm. In my experience, larger filters also cost a bit more, so sticking with 52mm filters would mean cheaper filters that you can also share between lenses.
If you've never used a telephoto lens like this one (and I hadn't), then you'll find that slight movements are really exaggerated when you're fully zoomed in. Also, at 200mm, the widest aperture setting is f5.6 (smaller f-number means a bigger aperture), which is fine if you're outdoors and there's plenty of light, but can make indoor/low light photography a bit difficult. Shake reduction will definitely help, but you'll probably want a tripod if you're shooting at 200mm in low light.
Keep in mind that the Pentax DSLRs like the K100D have a 1.5x focal length multiplier. This means that you need to multiply the specified focal lengths of the lenses by 1.5 to get their 35mm SLR equivalent. On a digital SLR, this lens will give you the equivalent of 75-300mm on a regular 35mm SLR camera.
Overall, this is a great lens for the price. |
Best at this size and price
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| Review Date: September 28, 2006 |
| Reviewer: cyg, Ottawa, ON, Canada |
This is certainly not the best telezoom money can buy, not even within the Pentax family. However, you will not find anything approaching at this size and price.
It is barely bigger than the kit lens, that is, very small, especially considering its zoom range.
It is ridiculously cheap for a lens of that type and quality.
Finally the image quality is great for a lens of that type. Check forums, pbase, etc. for pictures taken with that lens ! It's amazing ! It maybe a bit slow especially at the long end, but thanks to Pentax dslr's great performance at high iso, and shake reduction in the K100D, even 200mm f/5.6 is not a problem !
Together with the kit 18-55 it is the perfect startup combo. You can then add various primes or more expensive zooms as needed (or lusted) for added speed and quality...
Oh, and at the moment it is in fact the _only_ telezoom you can get new from Pentax !-) |
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