[G.E.Zekai]

Hey pentaxforum members! this is my very first post and i salute you for this, so far, wonderful looking website.

So my story is simple: I was a Canon shooter up to a year ago and now switching to Pentax slowly. I am a wedding & events photographer based on Cyprus (a small lovely island, perfect for holidays). So far i am loving Pentax but choosing tele is hell of a job. Canon was simple get 70-200 f2.8 IS but Pentax is bit more tricky.

I just want to hear the opinions of people about premium tele lenses in Pentax mount as i cant try them in shops here, because there is no pentax selling shop.

I dont really need f2.8 but it is quite useful. Not shooting sports and i like manual focus but Canon 70-200 f2.8 was fast and got used to it. Weight & money is not a problem. And i will buy my lens from UK

Tammy 70-200 f2.8: 500STG: Cheap, nice but poor build quality. I cant seem to find them in UK or anywhere else

Sigma 70-200 f2.8: 750STG: good autofocus but poor image quality ?

Pentax 50-135 f2.8: 800STG: autofocus problems? not the best option as far as i read

Pentax 60-250 f4: 900STG: f4? how good is SDM compared to others ? zoom extends is bad but WR +. Is optical quality really that good ?

Sorry for the long and much talked post

---------- Post added 07-04-14 at 04:16 PM ----------

Edit: Current Pentax gear:

Tammy 17-50 f2.8
Tammy 90mm f2.8
Pentax 40mm f2.8
Pentax 43mm f1.9
Pentax 31mm f1.8
Pentax 15mm f4
Samyang 85mm f1.4
Samyang 14mm f2.8

[jatrax]

I think if weight / cost are not an issue the Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 is your best choice. I've never used it but it gets very good reviews. The 50-135 f/2.8 is also top notch but shorter focal length. I think it was designed with portraits in mind and those that use it love it. Not sure what you mean by focusing issues? SDM failure?

I have the 60-250 f/4 and think highly of it, but I do not know if it is what I would use as a wedding shooter. The pluses over the 70-200 are the extra reach and the WR, but do you need that for weddings? The SDM in the 60-250 is accurate but not what I would call fast if that matters to you.

[G.E.Zekai]

Hey Jatrax thanks for reply.

Sigma 70-200 f2.8 is regarded highly agreed on that but for some reason i found its samples little inferior against others. Also although weight is not a big issue for me it is almost 2x other lenses

For 50-135 yes i meant sdm failures.

For weddings 60-250 is actually quite nice considering extra reach for both ends and f4 is not a huge problem for me, may be lose of bokeh ?.
Since you have the lens, how is handling at tele end? i read somewhere that its unbalanced at tele end and hard to hand hold ?

---------- Post added 07-04-14 at 05:15 PM ----------

As for SDM: if SDM is faster than screwdrive on my K5ii thats more than enough. Tammy 17-50 f2.8 feels like the slowest i can tolerate ( odd comparison but currently my only zoom lens for pentax)

[formercanuck]

I can only go with my opinions - as you have a lot more lenses than I do.

If you were shooting Canon 70-200 f/2.8 on full frame, then Pentax 50-135 f/2.8 should give you the same results, as its APS-C.

I've heard only good things on the 50-135mm, with the exception of older SDM. Similarly, I've read good things on the Tamron 70-200mm (

You Tube

You Tube

).

Since I haven't had either, my opinion is just that.

[G.E.Zekai]

So anybody knows optical quality differences between those lenses? since they got seperate reviews i cnat really compare them.

Also how can i understand if 50-135 has older, more problematic SDM, ? I only visit UK every 4 months and dont really want to risk it.

[Adam]

I personally don't like the bokeh that much from the 50-135mm. If you want the best possible image quality then you can't go wrong with either the sigma 70-200mm (get the OS HSM version) or the pentax 60-250mm.

[Miguel]

As a former Pentax event shooter who now favors Canon, I'll say that nothing in K Mount will perform quite as well both optically and accurately as the Canon 70-200mm.
Yer not doomed, though.
I really enjoyed the 50-135mm f2.8 and even purchased the Tokina version when I used my 7D a lot. It's a little slow on the draw, but the optics are really good. I'd also reiterate the recommendation for the 60-250mm. I have no experience with the Tamron or Sigma 70-200mm on K-Mount, but would not choose them for EOS.

M

[drugal]

I've really enjoyed my 60-250. I like the bokeh and it seems to hold up really well on the telephoto end for me.

I'm hopeful that my new 60-250 will not have the SDM fail on me based on the survey results SDM Reliability Survey Results - PentaxForums.com

The lens is easily hand holdable for me and is good even wide open.

Hey pentaxforum members! this is my very first post and i salute you for this, so far, wonderful looking website.

So my story is simple: I was a Canon shooter up to a year ago and now switching to Pentax slowly. I am a wedding & events photographer based on Cyprus (a small lovely island, perfect for holidays). So far i am loving Pentax but choosing tele is hell of a job. Canon was simple get 70-200 f2.8 IS but Pentax is bit more tricky.

I just want to hear the opinions of people about premium tele lenses in Pentax mount as i cant try them in shops here, because there is no pentax selling shop.

--

I live on zooms for events & portraits. Here are 3 from today, July 4th celebrations with contests like watermelon and no hands doughnut eating. Used my 5 year old 50-135.

[VoiceOfReason]

I like my Tamron 70-200 f/2.8. Build quality seems nice, image quality is too. It focuses pretty fast.

[ak_kiwi]

I have the Sigma APO 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM and find the IQ is quite acceptable - Here is a 100% crop from a straight out of camera jpeg K3 iso100 f2.8 @ 200mm. f4 would be even better
Quite honestly the DA* 60-250 or Tamron 70-200 f 2.8 are very good also. The only reason why I have the Sigma now is that I use it for sports and it is slightly faster focusing.

[ak_kiwi]

And f4 sooc jpeg

[jatrax]

For 50-135 yes i meant sdm failures.

If you buy new, I would not be concerned about SDM failure at this point. Though never officially acknowledged Pentax did state it should not be a problem on lenses made after 2012 I think. My SDM 16-50 failed after 10,000 exposures and was repaired this spring. I have not seen many (if any) SDM failure reports on new lenses.

For weddings 60-250 is actually quite nice considering extra reach for both ends and f4 is not a huge problem for me, may be lose of bokeh ?. Since you have the lens, how is handling at tele end? i read somewhere that its unbalanced at tele end and hard to hand hold ?

Handling is fine for me, the extension at full zoom might be intimidating from the subject's view but I do not find it unbalanced at all. I carry it on an Opt/tech sling strap, sometimes for hours while hiking and though heavy it is doable. Certainly hand holdable for shooting I find even better than smaller lenses as there is a good space to rest your off hand. Image quality is excellent, it has been a solid reliable performer for me. If f/4 is OK for you then I can recommend it. I don't shoot weddings so no idea what is needed.

As for SDM: if SDM is faster than screwdrive on my K5ii thats more than enough.

I have not done any actual tests but subjectively I do not think SDM is any faster than screwdrive and might be a bit slower. But the only comparison I have is screwdrive primes against SDM zooms. So not really fair. Maybe someone else can point you to a test or has personal experience.

[normhead]

If you shot 70-200 on full frame and you were good with that, you probably don't need a 60-250. I love the lens, its very sharp across it's range, but something about imagining it in a wedding doesn't sit right with me.

On a Pentax the 50-135 will give you the same reach you had before. If you're thinking in FF terms, 250 is almost 400mm equivalent... that's a lot of reach for a wedding. Mind you the 60-250 is internal focussing so at 20 feet it actually doesn't perform like a 250mm lens. It could work for you.

But it sounds like the 50-135 would be the best choice, to me. I don't own it, so I can't address focussing issues, but it's not like you're photographing hockey or tennis or something.

I know it's only a stop difference, but focussing in low light, I'd want ƒ2.8, only if I couldn't get ƒ2. ƒ4? hmmmmmm..... unless of course you're shooting mostly outdoors....

[G.E.Zekai]

Thank you for all the help and wonderful posts!

Does anybody have info about SDM vs Screwdrive in these stated lenses ? which one is faster or more accurate?

So far my ideas are:

60-250 f4: Using it at weddings sounds bit odd agreed on that + lack of internal zoom might be too "catchy" for people.

50-135 f2.8: I always found myself using the tele end of my 70-200 so i will probably skip this one .

Tammy: I found few of them at ebay and price difference is huge, 50% compared to 60-250 50-135. I also really liked color rendering of this lens best after 60-250

Sigma: HSM & OS sounds fairly nice but somewhat i found it to be the softest of all