Pentax 21870 DA 50-200mm F/4-5.6 AL Weather Resistant Lens

I am a advanced hobbyist photographer. I shoot RAW and manual at all times. This lens can certainly deliver in the sharpness realm. Colors are great! (but then again, pentax always nails the colors... just saying). I have not found any distortion or fringing in any of my images. Build quality is fantastic, feels very solid. It is much smaller than I was expecting, the same size of the 18-55wr. Pleasantly surprised! Very light weight... compact... tons of zoom! F4 is the fastest this lens gets, but normally I just leave it on 5.6 when I need maximum light. In bright light I leave it at f8 - f11 and boom, the lens really shines at these apertures. If you are in low light, use high iso, tripod, and slow down the shutter. If you can't do this try to use a flash.Fantastic lens, weather sealed, small, light weight, the price is right... buy this lens.

My first experience with the Pentax DA 50-200 F/4-5.6 AL WR:"Wow, it's nice and light and compact for a lens that goes to 200mm, and the price was reasonable.""Hmm, seems like the focus is not very accurate in low light, especially at some distance."The latter problem (focus in marginal conditions) turned out to be my first generation K-5 SLR body, not the lens.My 2nd experience with the 50-200 was comparing it side-by-side in actual use with my friend's DA 55-300, which was on his K-7 body. We shot the same subjects at the same settings, both in raw, and imported them on the same computer. His images from the 55-300 were sharper (even when we put his lens on my camera body) and had a bit better contrast Shooting his 55-300 at 200 definitely looked better than my 50-200 at 200. In the 55 to 120mm (ish) range both lenses were pretty similar. So I'm thinking the 55-300 either has significantly better MTR charts or just has a lot more latitude since its performance doesn't begin to fall off as much until the upper third of its range -- which is simply a longer range so it's outside of the comparison.That 2nd experience left me a little flat, half wishing I'd purchased a 55-300 instead. But the 50-200 wooed me into keeping it with what seemed like better build quality, not as lightweight and plastic feeling.Eventually, over the next two years, I got in the habit of always bringing the 50-200 along when I go out with my main DA* 16-50, in case I see distant subjects that I want to try. I gradually warmed up to the lens as I learned how it responds better to different techniques in Lightroom when I'm post processing.The final, and most positive, note is that lately I've been really happy shooting closeups with this lens, such as flowers, bugs, and other subjects that are usually macro material. I don't have a macro lens yet and this has done a more than good enough job of taking that place in the meantime, with soft enough background blur in most conditions. The only drawbacks for that use, of course, are a rather long minimum focus distance (I think over 3 feet?) and lack of superfine focus-ring gearing compared to a true macro lens.Overall I would quite possibly buy this same item again, but to say that for sure I would probably be tempted to spend more time with a 55-300 or other competitors first.

Folks,After much research and review reads, purchased the Pentax DA50-200mm F/4-5.6 ED WR Lens for use with Pentax K7 DSLR.Both items were bought from Amazon, and the service, shipping and quality were excellent, as has always been my experience.Now to the lens, lens is perfect for use along the Gulf coast in the high humidity, heat, rain environments. The lens is weather resistant, well constructed and sealed against the elements. Displays very high build quality overall and has excellent optics.The photos uploaded to Amazon demonstrate this lens performance at the extremes - macro and telephoto. The photos were taken with the new K7 Pentax DSLR. Very fast focus and great looking pictures. See for yourself by checking the uploaded sample photos.

After careful consideration I decided on this lens. I am a sem-pro who photographs many 60s and 70s music groups. Most of the times I get back stage and stage passes, so my wide-angle and short telephoto lenses work fine. Sometimes I just want a long shot. I didn't want to spend too much money since I would use this lens only occassionally. This lens produces very good images. There is some light fall-off at the edges at large apertures but since my photography is of concerts at low light levels anyway, this is hardly noticable. You need a steady hand at the long end of this lens or use a table or wall to steady the camera. I highly recommend this lens. Great price, great lens.

Ordered this for my Niece for Christmas, thought wow great deal. Arrived today and is not as advertised. This is the DA L version which is the kit lens and the L stands for lightweight. Not that there is anything wrong with that but, the seller advertised as the more expensive lens which it is not. This is actually part number 22297 and that means the lens is all plastic (more prone to breakage?) and is lighter weight construction.