[kmccanta]

If I want a fast zoom for sports (indoor basketball, baseball, maybe soccer) what are the good alternatives to the DA*50-135? should I just save my money and pay the piper?

[and]

possibly tamron 70-200 f2.8 and further down the line sigma 70-200 f2.8 hsm. both with more reach

[qksilver]

I have the 50-135. It's an awesome lens.

[jgredline]

If I want a fast zoom for sports (indoor basketball, baseball, maybe soccer) what are the good alternatives to the DA*50-135? should I just save my money and pay the piper?

Pay the piper...In addition, it works great with the Tamron 1.4tc and will give you nearly 200mm of fast, sharp shooting..

[Gooshin]

for 750 dollars (B&H), you will not get a better lens in its class

unless you are dying for 200mm coverage, then you can either choose a tamron or sigma in, but you dont get weather sealing, and they wont cost you any less.

[tux08902]

Buy this lens along with a TC, and you should be good to go.

[Paul]

I'm also thinking of buying this lens until Sigma announced the 50-150mm and 70-200 HSM. I will wait and see if Sigma's HSM will focus faster then Pentax SDM

[Gooshin]

I'm also thinking of buying this lens until Sigma announced the 50-150mm and 70-200 HSM. I will wait and see if Sigma's HSM will focus faster then Pentax SDM

whats the point, the AF sensor is shit.... even in the K20D

[CWL]

If weight and size is a factor for you, definely go for the 50-135. I got mine two days ago. I can fit it in my compact camera bag and carry it as daily use + event/concert/sport. 70-200 will have the longer reach, but I won't use it that frequently due to the size/weight. But this is just me.

[RBellavance]

I will wait and see if Sigma's HSM will focus faster then Pentax SDM

The limiting factor is not the AF drive (be it screw-driven or SDM/HSM), but the way AF system works.

[NaClH2O]

If I want a fast zoom for sports (indoor basketball, baseball, maybe soccer) what are the good alternatives to the DA*50-135? should I just save my money and pay the piper?

If you want weather sealing there are no alternatives. If you don't need the weather sealing I'd get the Pentax K 135 F2.5, one of my favoritest lenses,

and take the money you'd save and get another lens or two.

NaCl(weather sealing is the main reason I'm lusting after this lens)H2O

[kmccanta]

[QUOTE=NaClH2O;177897]If you want weather sealing there are no alternatives. If you don't need the weather sealing I'd get the Pentax K 135 F2.5, one of my favoritest lenses,

Do you mind if I call you brine? Anyway, I couldnt find the K135/2.5, but I have the M135/3.5. smaller, almost as good.

My issue is for shot of my son playing sports, I miss a lot with my prime kit, because I'm framed for 1st base, not third etc... or I would like to reach the far side of the court as well as the near.

For the money, I could opt for a second body as well, but I think I would prefer more glass.

[jgredline]

Frankly, it's worth buying simply because it looks cool....But the fact that it is a fast, sharp lens is bonus...or is it the other way around.

[Grimlock]

I've been pondering the same issue as the OP. I like doing a lot of portraits and I wanted to get a fast zoom because it'd take up less room than a set of primes, and would be more flexible for just a little-less sharpness. However, the 50-135 is so far out of my price range it'd might as well not exist, especially as I'm (just about) lusting for a K20. However, I've been having a lousy run of luck with tracking down a inexpensive zoom. I've haunted Ebay & KEH for a while before a Tokina 70-200mm AT-X 2.8 showed up and I won it for just under $250. Unfortunately, the interior zoom element had some bad hazing and I had to return it, which is just as well considering how freakin' heavy that thing was-I have tendonitis in both hands, so I don't have a lot of arm strength, and I prefer to hand-hold my shots (a lot of my shots are spur-of-the-moment, so even a monopod would be klutzy at best, and I don't think the string trick would help since my problem stems from supporting the weight). Because of the weight of the Tokina, I started looking at slightly slower lenses, such as the lengendary Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm & the Tamron 19AH. I had a couple of Series 1 sniped out from underneath me before I won a 19AH on Ebay, but then the seller found hazing on it just as he was packing it and offered me a refund. Later that day, I found another 19AH on B&H Photo for $140 used (rated as an 8 condition wise, no hood ,rear cap, nor case) and snapped it up and it just arrived last night. Unfortunately, I've found it almost as heavy as the Tokina 70-200mm F2.8 and my initial test shots appear to have some fogginess to them, even without a UV filter. I spend several minutes looking through the lens before I spotted what appeared to be something like a bunch of very tiny bubbles inside the lens-kinda like ginger ale bubbles. I'm in the middle of taking some test shots using a tripod to make sure the fuzziness simply isn't motion blur on my end and comparing them to my Pentax DA 50-200mm, which I know has no problems. If the 19AH is also bad & I return it, I'm not sure what else to do at this point. I really can't afford more than $300 for lenses at this point (impending engine work on car), but I need something lighter than what I have, and the DA 50-200mm simply isn't fast enough for some of the shots I want to take. I could probably get a series of relatively-fast primes (I already have a 50mm 1.4, so I'd probably need a 85mm, 100mm, 135mm, and 200mm) for that amount total, but then I'd have to be picking between which half-dozen lenses to carry with me at any given point instead of just a few. And I'd lose some flexibility and convience due to having to change lenses more often. Erg!

[Shashinki]

The Sigma 50-150 f2.8 HSM is soon to be available in K-mount. Why not have a look on that one if the 50-135mm is too expensive?

It doesn't have weather-sealing, but it gives you a little more reach and it does pretty good in tests. Size and weight are also close to the 50-135. Much better than 70-200 f2.8 in that department.

*edit* Just noticed that the Sigma isnt priced less than the 50-135 at B&H, but if you go in a store you should be able to haggle it down a fair bit more...*edit*