| Author: | | Senior Member Registered: October, 2019 Location: Mississauga ON Posts: 175
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: February 2, 2023 | Recommended | Price: $400.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Yes | | Cons: | | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 1
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K-3 II
| |
This is over my expectation in levels ... Excellent provide another grade of photography.
| | | | | | | New Member Registered: March, 2022 Posts: 1 | | Review Date: May 4, 2022 | Recommended | Price: $750.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Compact for the focal lenght, versatile and great build | | Cons: | None so far | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K1 and K5
| |
This was my first "PRO" lens that I bought and it was everything I hoped for, on the K5 it has enough range to do some wildlife and on the K1 it's great for portraits, events and landscapes, it's really sharp but fringing can be an issue at times. Excellent build quality and weather sealing, ideal for tropical areas (like where I live). I definitely recommend this lens, I have more than 5 years with it and always find use for it, very practical.
   .
| | | | | New Member Registered: April, 2020 Posts: 2 | | Review Date: April 1, 2022 | Recommended
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | small size, built quality, colours, bokeh, contrast, sharpness, 77 mm filter, aluminium build, weather fitted | | Cons: | no | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: New
Camera Used: K1
| |
Very fast and compact lens on K1 FF, perfect for theatre, concerts, available light and portrait shots. Use it also for indoor sports and nature shots.
Never had purple issues.
| | | | | Forum Member Registered: May, 2021 Location: Melbourne, Victoria Posts: 72
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: September 11, 2021 | Recommended
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Beautiful IQ | | Cons: | | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 9
New or Used: New
Camera Used: K1
| |
I have actually had this lens since forever but just decided to add a review, because it doesn't get enough love from Pentaxians and gets some undeserved hate.
I bought it for wildlife originally and intended to use it with a teleconverter - only to discover there was no teleconverter available at the time. (I have since purchased the DA 300mm F4 and 1.4X teleconverter, which are my most used items.)
For a long time it didn't get much love from me becuase I was shooting APS-C and 200mm is a bit too in betweeny on APS-C. That all changed when I got the K1. 200mm is a great focal length on FF. It works for landscapes, astro, portrait (including dance and music performance) and for wildlife, where you are wanting to taking in the animals' environment.
| | | | | | | New Member Registered: February, 2017 Location: Blekinge Posts: 11
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: February 27, 2017 | Recommended | Price: $370.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Bokeh, sharpness, colors. Silent focus. | | Cons: | Nothing so far | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K7
| |
I was searching 70-200 but got this as I found a nice deal. 
Just love it. Best lens so far. It has sharp image, nice colors, beautiful bokeh.
Sometimes quality (sharpness) of photos varies in series, but I think it's human/environment factor. If it would be lens it would be different between shoots.  Now in good condition (lightning angle?) it keep doing nice images no matter what.
 | | | | | Senior Member Registered: May, 2011 Location: Hanoi Posts: 213
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 27, 2015 | Recommended | Price: $800.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | holy fast autofocus, sharpness | | Cons: | non colar-ring | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: Pentax K200D
| |
Someone could complaint about the speed autofocus of pentax lenses. Maybe, they would change their minds when shooting with holy DA* 200mm. It would be perfect adding the colar-ring.
 Pink garden, on Flickr
 HLUer, on Flickr
 HP, on Flickr
| | | | | New Member Registered: August, 2013 Posts: 17
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: September 20, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $900.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Very Sharp, Colors, Fast aperture | | Cons: | Purple fringing | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: New
Camera Used: Pentax K3, Pentax K30
| |
  I was a bit reluctant to buy it first but after testing it and seeing how sharp and beautiful colors it produce, I was left with no other option than to own it. Its a wonderful lens.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: November, 2009 Location: 'Merica! Posts: 209
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: April 12, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $1,200.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Stunning optical and build quality | | Cons: | No tripod mounting ring | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 9
Value: 10
New or Used: New
Camera Used: K-5IIS
| |
The lens looks, feels and behaves as a precision instrument. The build quality is phenomenal. As a weather sealed system on the K bodies it makes a perfect outdoor companion for any conditions. The hood mounts solidly and provides further rain shielding and fair weather glare protection. I appreciate that the hood is plastic. It is light weight and can be inexpensively replaced if needed.
This lens works for hand held shots as long as you can get a high enough shutter speed to reduce camera shake induced blur. The bigger 300mm version has a tripod mount ring. I wish the 200mm did as well. I would say it is just short enough and just light enough to do hand held work. A monopod is useful to add stability when shooting this lens, even at higher shutter speeds.
Between the f/2.8 bright aperture and the shake reduction built into the K bodies, you can reasonable work this lens hand held down to at least the traditional 1/200th second minimum shutter speed for this focal length and likely lower if you have steady hands and calm winds.
I personally find the 200mm focal length and the APC size sensor to be ideal for both indoor and outdoor sports actions as well as nature images and outdoor portraits. The shallow depth of field and pleasingly smooth bokeh for near subjects works well for isolating subjects. The auto focusing has to be experienced to be appreciated. The internal motor is silent and fast. A real revelation when compared to the screw driven focusing of the lesser lens in the Pentax lineup.
Optically this is perfection. Wide open there may be minor fringing or artifacts found by pixel peepers. I have not found anything that offends me. As I normally find f/4 to a more reliable place to shoot not because of any limitation of the lens but because f/2.8 is often too shallow for me to consistently hit focus on the desired subject in action shots. And in full daylight at ISO100 is still maxing out the K-5 at 1/4000th shutter in some scenes. f/4 brings the shutter down below its limit and still provides more than enough speed to capture the action.
Buy this lens. Just do it. You will not be able to get the !#$ eating grin off of your face when using it.
| | | | | New Member Registered: December, 2013 Location: wellington new zealand Posts: 21 | | Review Date: December 23, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $900.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | light sharp ,weather sealed. | | Cons: | none its pentax | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 8
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 9
New or Used: New
Camera Used: k3.k511s,LX FILM
| |
THE 200MM 2.8 IS A LOVELY LENS ON THE K3 I CANT FAULT IT,ITS A FAST TELEPHOTO LENS YES ITS AUTO FOCUSING IS NOT AS FAST AS CANON OR NIKON BUT I HAVE NEVER HAD AN OUT OF FOCUS SHOT YET. | | | | | Forum Member Registered: November, 2008 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 88
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: December 23, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $700.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Build, weight (relative to what you get...), WR | | Cons: | Clutching at straws... Monster hood? | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 8
Value: 7
New or Used: New
Camera Used: K5 & K20
| |
Love this lens, I use it as a walk around telephoto, forcing me to see as the lens does. I find it ideal as a go to candid lens at events (used it at a wedding and it was great). Got a bad rep for purple fringing, but hand on heart this hasn't been a remote problem for me! Out of 2000 ish shots I've got one that has been ruined by it (sun reflecting off waves) but I can't think of any lens that wouldn't in similar circumstances.
On a K5 (and better) it really shines as the ISO no longer mashes your images with the speeds required - if you have an older camera seriously think of upgrading before buying this. Another note is the build - seems a definate step up from the 16-50 and the 55 stars, really tight and solid with not a lick of lightweight plastic.
Overall the clarity of this beast is spectacular, been really chuffed. The only caveat is the hood literally doubles the size.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: April, 2011 Location: LODINGEN, Northern Norway Posts: 275 | | Review Date: October 16, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $917.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Christal sharp, well built, possible to carry | | Cons: | Nothing | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K-5 "Originale"
| |
I just love it. Its christal sharp from full opening.
Its small (for a 200 f/2,8) and does not weigth a lot.
For general telephoto its fantastic.
Autofocus could be a tad faster.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: July, 2012 Location: Wiesbaden Posts: 283
1 user found this helpful
| | | | | New Member Registered: October, 2012 Posts: 18
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: October 24, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $1,237.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Everything everything everything everything except availability in NZ | | Cons: | Availability in New Zealand / had to get it from B&H | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: New
Camera Used: Pentax K-5
| |
What a seriously amazing bit of glass.
It is 100 billion percent sharp - so much so that it'd be nice to have more MP to resolve it, and I never thought I'd say that with 16MP. The K-5 IIs would be nice to see with this lens on it.
Really I just wish Pentax would remain the "cheaper" brand that they were in the 90s and naughties and stop trying to be Nikon with their prices - but damn they have CanNikon BEATEN with their quality, in my books.
| | | | | New Member Registered: October, 2012 Posts: 24
4 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: October 18, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $1,550.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharp, Long & Fast. | | Cons: | Expensive (see review) | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: New
Camera Used: K-7 & K-5
| |
There goes a saying with cars:
"Cheap, fast & reliable - pick two." Meaning that you will only ever get 2 of the three.
I think the same goes for lenses but with 4 things:
Long, sharp, fast & cheap - pick three.
This lens picks the three - it leaves cheap out, but at least it picks 3 - some lenses only pick 2 of those qualities.
So if you want something long and cheap - buying something cheap, but you'll leave out fast and probably leave out sharp (or good IQ in general) - but this I think is good value, when you consider that it is actually as good as something like the Sigma 150-500. That's a perfectly good lens - but when you see how sharp THIS lens is at f4, or f5.6 - you see that cropping to the equivalent of 500mm is no problem - so then this IS a 200-500 (at least) zoom, only it's smaller AND faster than the Sigma which forces you to f6.3 by the 500 end. This can be just as sharp at f5.6... so there you go, it's an alround better option, just a bit more expensive.
| | | | | New Member Registered: June, 2012 Posts: 8
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: October 17, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $1,465.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Much quicker to list the negatives | | Cons: | Price | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: New
Camera Used: Pentax K-5
| |
I suppose when you add up ALL the aspects you can rate a lens on, you end up with quite a few, but this is a really simple review so I'll give a score out of 10 for each aspect:
Image quality: 10/10 - That's a given. It's a *star prime. I've never seen anything less from them.
Focussing: 9/10 SDM is very fast, at least on this lens. It can keep up with my kids running towards me in day light.
Handling: 10/10 Nice, chunky stoutness that makes keeping it still very nice and reassurring. Also fits in bags attached to the camera.
Accessories (hood, pouch etc.): 10/10 - People have complained about the hood but I don't get it? It clicks on very nicely and feels like it'd be $100 by itself. The little sport to turn a CPL filter is great too. The pouch is great with a sort of belt/carry handle.
Aesthetics (what it looks like): 10/10 - I think that most Pentax lenses, but especially the DA stars smoke ANY competition for sexiness.
I won't give a score for price because if you get it cheaper it's cheaper and if it's full retail price... well it's still a good price but it's different so, I can't rate anything except the price I got it at, which is irrelevant.
So all up it's a score out of 50 and it gets.. 49/50. To me that's worth whatever it costs.
| | |
![SMC Pentax-DA* 200mm F2.8 ED [IF] SDM Review RSS Feed](https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/images/rss/rss_feeds14x14.gif)
![SMC Pentax-DA* 200mm F2.8 ED [IF] SDM](https://www.pentaxforums.com/lensreviews/data/34/SMC_Pentax-DA-star_200mm_F28SDM.jpg)
![SMC Pentax-DA* 200mm F2.8 ED [IF] SDM](javascript:update('https://www.pentaxforums.com/lensreviews/data/34/SMC_Pentax-DA-star_200mm_F28SDM.jpg');)
![SMC Pentax-DA* 200mm F2.8 ED [IF] SDM](javascript:update('https://www.pentaxforums.com/lensreviews/data/34/smc_Pentax-DA_200_2_8_EDIF_SDM_star_optics.jpg');)
![Buy the SMC Pentax-DA* 200mm F2.8 ED [IF] SDM](https://www.pentaxforums.com/content/camerapics/pentax-button.gif)
![Read our SMC Pentax-DA* 200mm F2.8 ED [IF] SDM in-depth review!](https://www.pentaxforums.com/content/homepage/pflensseal.gif)
![Add Review of SMC Pentax-DA* 200mm F2.8 ED [IF] SDM](https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/images/digitalvb/pentax_red/buttons/addreview.gif)
![Buy the SMC Pentax-DA* 200mm F2.8 ED [IF] SDM](https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/images/digitalvb/pentax_red/buttons/buylens.png)
