Author: | | New Member Registered: April, 2009 Location: HAMBURG, GERMANY Posts: 6 1 user found this helpful | Review Date: October 29, 2022 | Recommended
| Rating: 8 |
Pros: | Sharp | Cons: | no DC or PLM motor | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 7
Autofocus: 5
Handling: 9
Value: 10
New or Used: New
Camera Used: KP
| | Compared with my old normal ex DA50-200 this new WR version is better build, sharper and shows what is possible with better quality control and better production.
It works on the KP very fine and is not to big and heavy - with a DC or PLM motor it would be a dream.
But also in this WR version (here from 2021) it is a great step from the old DA50-200
cola
| | | | | New Member Registered: July, 2020 Posts: 15 1 user found this helpful | Review Date: May 17, 2022 | Recommended | Price: $40.00
| Rating: 6 |
Pros: | Lightweight, WR, not expensive | Cons: | Not sharp, build quality is loose, generally mediocre | Sharpness: 6
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 7
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 7
Value: 8
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K3
| | Mediocre lens for image quality and build. But logical for the price. It is light and weather resistant so I still use it when it rains during hikes.
I don't take as much pleasure using it as with other lenses I have but it gets the job done. | | | | Senior Member Registered: July, 2008 Location: Arizona Posts: 230 2 users found this helpful | Review Date: June 30, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $50.00
| Rating: 9 |
Pros: | Price-weight-value | Cons: | Slow autofocus | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 5
Handling: 8
Value: 10
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: Ist DS
| | Bought this used online in mint condition. Used it on my old Ist DS which has a CCD sensor-which in my opinion give a more film like photo. Gives superior results when used properly and really glad I purchased it. | | | | Site Supporter Registered: July, 2018 Posts: 8 3 users found this helpful | Review Date: May 26, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $100.00
| Rating: 9 |
Pros: | Size, sharpness, value | Cons: | Plastic-y, limited range | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 10
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K-70
| | I don't take many pictures at telephoto lengths, but I wanted a lens with longer reach than the 18-135 that would be suitable for overseas travel, and the size and weight of the 50-200mm WR fit nicely. Previous reviews emphasized the limitations of this lens, but for me the size and ergonomics were an overriding consideration. I purchased a used copy in mint condition and steeled myself for mediocre performance, but so far, my expectations have been quite nicely exceeded! Hopefully, I'll be able to put this to good use in the future.
EDIT: Of course, one of the best qualities of this lens is being able to use it when it's cold and snowing. | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: September, 2017 Location: Medellín Posts: 1,322 2 users found this helpful | Review Date: December 23, 2019 | Recommended | Price: $180.00
| Rating: 8 |
Pros: | WR, light, 49mm filter thread. | Cons: | | | I got this lens when I bought my K-5 at first, but never really fell in love with it. It has stayed in my cabinet all the time. I prefer the Sigma 70-300 APO DG, even though it doesn't have WR and annoying zoom creep. Much more versatile on both APS-C and film AF bodies (and on the same price point).
| | | | Site Supporter Registered: October, 2017 Location: Lancaster Posts: 3,821 4 users found this helpful | Review Date: September 2, 2019 | Recommended | Price: $60.00
| Rating: 9 |
Pros: | Price, WR, sharpness, colour | Cons: | AF hunts a little | | I have had three versions of this lens. The first I got when I was starting out and I sold it to fund the 18-135, the second was a Samsung non WR version, the third was my current Pentax WR. I love this lens. It is cheap enough to just chuck on your camera, the range is flexible enough, it’s light and for me the IQ is excellent for a cheap lens. The first thing I did was calibrate. It wasn’t far out, about -2 but that made all the difference. It is now sharp as anything. I would recommend this lens with the proviso that you have to calibrate it to make it sing. LRM_EXPORT_146217581355471_20190902_221755925 by Peter Kay, on Flickr LRM_EXPORT_118693157598471_20190901_101821264 by Peter Kay, on Flickr LRM_EXPORT_121248341899684_20190901_111007900 by Peter Kay, on Flickr
| | | | Junior Member Registered: May, 2018 Posts: 34 2 users found this helpful | Review Date: June 5, 2018 | Recommended | Price: $240.00
| Rating: 9 |
Pros: | It's Weather Resistant and has some ED elements | Cons: | Only works at APS-C settings | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 9
Value: 9
New or Used: New
Camera Used: Pentax K-1
| | If there are good shots to be had and the weather's inclement, a Weather Resistant (WR) lense is a smart idea. As a very-happy K-1 owner, there's not much point having only non-WR lenses so I got one of these. The only drawback I can see is the fact it's no use in Full Frame (FF) mode. I use tripods a lot so I shoot at 100 ASA / ISO most of the time and stop this down to f8 or f11 unless, for some reason, I really want to mask or disguise something in the frame and use this wide open. This is a great value lense and I think it suffers a little because of that. If I'd paid more for this lense I would still have been happy with what it delivered.
So, you can keep shooting in the rain or, and this is when it really was very useful to me, going from a cool, air conditioned cruise ship cabin out into humid, tropical heat, this allows you to shoot when others are having to protect their cameras or they are simply full of condensation.
With Pentax' anti-shake function, Pentax users can avoid, so some extent, the need for faster lenses so this, in theory, with anti-shake on, can be stopped down to produce sharper shots at f8 or f11.
I got my version of this in Singapore after getting my K-1 in Sydney. Even though I prefer using the K-1 at full frame, I am quite happy shooting in the rain, if necessary with the K-1 running in cropped sensor mode and with this lense on it. Poor weather conditions are not kind to cameras so I'm grateful to be able to shoot in dust, heat, rain, snow etc. at all
| | | | Senior Member Registered: April, 2015 Posts: 158 3 users found this helpful | Review Date: November 12, 2016 | Not Recommended | Price: $100.00
| Rating: 3 |
Pros: | WR, price, size, useful focal range | Cons: | not fast, not sharp, poor bokeh | Sharpness: 3
Aberrations: 4
Bokeh: 4
Autofocus: 5
Handling: 6
Value: 6
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: k-5
| | Was my first purchase for the K-5. Poor lens. Avoid! Avoid! Avoid! May be cheap but it's a false economy, as most of your shots will go in the bin. While contrast is ok, and CA and flare is not excessive, getting something sharp with this lens is rare to impossible, even stopped down. Bokeh looks not very nice. The 55-300, while not a special lens, is heaps better than this one. Don't waste your time and money with this lens.
| | | | New Member Registered: August, 2014 Location: Palm Beach, Fl Posts: 4 3 users found this helpful | | | | Senior Member Registered: October, 2014 Location: Boden Posts: 113 3 users found this helpful | Review Date: December 18, 2015 | Recommended | Price: $198.00
| Rating: 7 |
Pros: | Lightweight, WR, Focal Length | Cons: | Softness, Slight CA | Sharpness: 7
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 7
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 8
Value: 7
New or Used: New
Camera Used: K5 IIs
| | It's a WR single ED Screwdriven AF lens with a useful focal length.
Wide open, it's really soft, and requires f:8 or higher to obtain clean shots, but f:11 produces cleaner shots, though this means that you need to push the ISO higher than desired which can produce noisy images.
There is very slight CA, but this is negligible.
The body feels plastic and the build quality seems unimpressive.
The Bokeh is a little blocky (hexagonal), but this is to be expected with a 6 blade aperture, though this is not displeasing.
All this being said, I cannot complain about the pricepoint, for under $200 retail, it's a good knockabout lens for holidaying and walking around.
Whilst this cannot compete with the likes of the DA* 50-135, it is lighter and cheaper.
I am not worried about this being damaged. | | | | Pentaxian Registered: April, 2009 Location: Madrid, Spain Posts: 10,843 4 users found this helpful | Review Date: October 3, 2015 | Recommended | Price: $90.00
| Rating: 6 |
Pros: | Small, light-weight | Cons: | not very sharp | New or Used: New
| | I bought this to use when travelling as the 55-300mm is just too big and heavy. I also wanted a longer weather resistant lens.
This lens is small and light and easy to handle. It vignettes quite strongly when used on a 35mm film camera (more so than the 55-300mm).
The problem with this lens is that it's just not very sharp. Stopping down to f/8 (or better yet, f/11) helps but not to a huge degree and at these focal lengths and apertures it often becomes necessary to boost ISO in order to get adequate shutter speeds. At normal viewing sizes the images are OK but zoom in a little and it soon becomes clear that this is not the best lens around. The sharpest images are from around 135mm. I ended up deleting quite a few images because they were just not satisfactorily sharp.
Having stated all that, in good light this lens is capable of producing images with good colour and contrast. It's small size, light weight and weather resistance make it a good travel lens when good light is expected, as long as you're not going to crop heavily or print large.
A few sample photos.
Mount Rainier by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr
Heron by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr
Sea lions sleeping in the sun by Jonathan MacDonald, on Flickr
| | | | New Member Registered: April, 2015 Posts: 7 2 users found this helpful | Review Date: May 18, 2015 | Recommended | Price: $115.00
| Rating: 8 |
Pros: | Light weight, WR, fast to focus in good light, price | Cons: | Not so sharp | Sharpness: 7
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 7
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 9
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K-30
| | Wasn't really expecting much of the lens but I was pleasantly surprised. I did not have any WR lens nor did I have anything in this focal range, so I thought... 2 birds.
I am overall really happy with the purchase! It was fairly inexpensive and the lens does give me piece of mind in not so great weather.(I do live in London).
You can check out a photo I took this weekend, it was raining a fair bit(thanks WR! Thanks gigantic hood!) https://www.flickr.com/photos/132737605@N05/17545372189/in/dateposted-public/ | | | | Senior Member Registered: November, 2011 Location: Black Rock City, NV Posts: 175 5 users found this helpful | Review Date: January 26, 2015 | Recommended | Price: $115.00
| Rating: 9 |
Pros: | Wow, very sharp. Easy to handle. Pretty fast to focus. | Cons: | Not as fast as HSM/Ultrasonic motor. Usual sound of screw drive. | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 10
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K-5
| | Bought this lens used in almost perfect condition a few days ago so this is an early review. Also, I painstakingly adjusted the micro focus before use. On my camera it was a +6 which is pretty normal for this camera. If you don't do that for your lenses before reviewing and evaluating your lens you are selling yourself short.
I wanted to get some modern range overlap and extension to go with my new generation Sigma 17-70. Also, I wanted a WR lens for a trip I do in the summer that is brutal on cameras where I only dare use WR lens.
Today was a lovely day at the beach here in So. Cal and took this new to me lens out for a spin. Very happy with the weight and handling. It was not too obtrusive for candid shots. Was really surprised at how sharp and in focus it was at all its lengths. It was able to do really well at continuous auto AF for the surfers. I was really shocked at how nice the bokeh was and the sharpness of the seagull and crane. A really lovely addition for cheap. If this lens fits your kit I would recommend it especially for less than $120 bucks.
Photos I linked to are out-of-camera JPGs shot in Bright mode on my K-5. No other PP. https://www.flickr.com/photos/eddaytona/16182842000/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/eddaytona/16184034219/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/eddaytona/16370253355/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/eddaytona/16182876460/in/photostream/ | | | | Junior Member Registered: November, 2014 Location: New York City Posts: 49 2 users found this helpful | Review Date: December 7, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $249.00
| Rating: 8 |
Pros: | Light weight|WR|Inexpensive | Cons: | Slow focus for action sports | Sharpness: 7
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 7
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 8
New or Used: New
Camera Used: Pentax K-5IIs
| | I picked this lens since I wanted to make sure I felt comfortable switching from Canon to Pentax, it didn't make since to drop a lot of money in case I would have returned the camera. But it's a keeper as well as the lens, this is a good, inexpensive and light weight if you just want a walk-around lens that you can take out in inclement weather. I'll be looking to upgrade this to the 18-135mm Pentax WR lens in a few weeks, I was going to get another Sigma 17-70mm like I had with my Canon because I love the sharpness but you can't beat a weather resistant lens. It rained all day Saturday and I was out there taking photographs! | | | | Veteran Member Registered: December, 2007 Location: Vancouver, BC Posts: 1,016 8 users found this helpful | Review Date: April 1, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $179.00
| Rating: 9 |
Pros: | Piece of junk...just awful, Pentax is DOOMED, etc... | Cons: | Everything...just AWFUL... | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 7
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: New
Camera Used: K5
| | I'll let this horrid, handheld image speak for itself. I don't know how Pentax will survive, Canikony way better, whine, *****, moan, all my images are ruined, etc. etc....
Actually, I think it's the best deal in the history of photography.
Cheers,
Cameron
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