[sammie]

I m presently using the Pentax *16-50mm lens, which is great indoors and with close ups outside. I tried the pentax *50-135mm, but thought the lens was especially heavy with a not so useful zoom. Can folks recommend a decent zoom Pentax or otherwise preferably around 70-200mm or thereabouts that has good glass, but will not weigh a ton? Thanks!

[ivoire]

Sigma 50-150mm 2.8 falls in that category. A bit heavier than the 50-135 with a bit more reach and much lighter than the 70-200mm f2.8 sigma or tamron. If you don't need f2.8, try the 55-300mm which is about 1/2 the weight of the 50-135

[twilight_samurai]

Good zooms tend to be heavy because they contain a lot of glass. The DA*50-135 indeed is a great zoom but I don't think it's THAT heavy.. you should try picking up a Canon or Nikon 70-200 f2.8, those things are like 2x the weight!

[Marc Sabatella]

If you want lighter, you've got to give up f/2.8. In which case the options are the DA55-300, Da50-200, and Tamron & Sigma 70-300's - and there are *dozens* of existing threads discussing the merits of these. Bottom line: the 55-300 is the one to get if you care about image quality and don't mind paying a little more for it (still *way* less than the 50-135).

[germar]

If you can possibly live without the 2.8, I too vote for the Pentax 55-300.

It's a heckuva lens that always, always gives me wonderful long shots. I'm willing to run it at high ISOs in exchange for it's reach, IQ, and weight.

regards,

germar

[nulla]

I agree on the above 55-300


cheers