| Author: | | New Member Registered: April, 2022 Posts: 1
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: April 9, 2022 | Recommended | Price: $500.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | autofocus, sharpness, handling, light | | Cons: | sometimes CA | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 10
Value: 8
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K10D, K-3, K-3 II
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I have really enjoyed shooting this lens. I loved the handling, very well built. Very smooth zoom ring. It has a decent AF for casual activities. Even on K-10D the AF was very accurate and snappy. I would definitely recommend this lens, especially when you can find it very cheap these days.
| | | | | | | New Member Registered: January, 2022 Posts: 2 | | Review Date: January 18, 2022 | Recommended
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharpness, Size, Boke, Colors | | Cons: | big lens hood | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: New
Camera Used: K3iii
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my best zoom lens at all...
| | | | | New Member Registered: March, 2020 Posts: 29
1 user found this helpful
| | | | | Junior Member Registered: January, 2020 Location: Wrocław Posts: 33
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 4, 2021 | Recommended | Price: $400.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | sharpness, WR, bokeh, IF, IZ, silent AF | | Cons: | slow AF in LV | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 7
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: KP
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I use smc DA*50-135/2.8 for 6 months with my Pentax KP. It is amazing in every way, from 3.5 is as sharp as DFA100 macro... It gives extraordinary unique, warm color, out-of-the-world contrast with object isolation and super pleasant bokeh thanks to its 9 aperture blades. It also handles very well in poor lighting conditions. AF in LV is a joke, but through OVF it is not bad. It is my best pal during hiking trips and trekking in autumn and winter.
   | | | | | | | Site Supporter Registered: May, 2016 Location: Bristol, Tennessee Posts: 369
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 4, 2021 | Recommended | Price: $405.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | well built, compact, nice bokeh | | Cons: | auto focus issues, soft wide open | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 7
Handling: 9
Value: 8
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K3
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This lens is sturdy and well built, yet compact enough to take with you for when you need a bit more reach. This is a great lens for portraits. I have used it mostly for portrait sessions or as my long lens before I obtained my DA* 60-250 F4. I had a DA 55-300 before I had the DA* 50-135, and I almost always preferred a cropped picture from the DA* 50-135 over an uncropped DA 55-300, so much so that I stopped carrying the DA 55-300, unless I knew I was going to be at the extreme end. On the other hand, I can't say I'd leave the house ever with just this lens unless I was only doing portraits, because I'm almost always wanting a bit wider shot than it can provide. So if you're doing portraits, this is a great choice. If you're doing anything else, it's a great second lens.
| | | | | Pentaxian Registered: November, 2013 Location: Barcelona Posts: 659
4 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: October 4, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $450.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Quality Image, decent AF, non heavy at all. Images pop up | | Cons: | AF is quite slow for sports. SDM usually fails | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 7
Handling: 10
Value: 9
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K3, K5, K3II
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I bought my copy knowing the SDM motor was broken.
So following a tutorial I have converted it to screwdrive mount.
I don't care much as I use to use my lenses for motorsport.
This lens is great. The image quality is fantastic and the bokeh even at F4 is delicious.
Yet, for my taste, my likes and the use I give it to its a bit too slow in the AF. I have shoot motorsports with it and can do the work, the range is fantastic in apsc (70-200mm equivalent) and its not heavy at all. But that AF is not the best. My Sigma 100-300mm f4 beats it every day, and I wonder if the Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 would beat it easily every other day also.
Yet it creates delicious images when doing portraits
 _IMG6969 by Daniel Gonzalez Aguilera, en Flickr
 _IMG6964 by Daniel Gonzalez Aguilera, en Flickr
 IMGP6516 by Daniel Gonzalez Aguilera, en Flickr
It does work well in low light environments
 _IMG5980 by Daniel Gonzalez Aguilera, en Flickr
 _IMG6048 by Daniel Gonzalez Aguilera, en Flickr
 IMGP6575 by Daniel Gonzalez Aguilera, en Flickr
And for motorsport purposes if you are close enough to action, you get good results. (my copy has even been champagne sprayed into)
 _IMG2015 by Daniel Gonzalez Aguilera, en Flickr
 _IMG1678 by Daniel Gonzalez Aguilera, en Flickr
 _IMG0473 by Daniel Gonzalez Aguilera, en Flickr
 _IMG0347 by Daniel Gonzalez Aguilera, en Flickr
 _IMG0327 by Daniel Gonzalez Aguilera, en Flickr
 _IMG0435 by Daniel Gonzalez Aguilera, en Flickr
 _IMG0235 by Daniel Gonzalez Aguilera, en Flickr
 IMGP6558 by Daniel Gonzalez Aguilera, en Flickr
It is also a Grid Killer, shoots thru glass in the cars as a knife in butter. Smooth and silent, but precise.
 IMGP6634 by Daniel Gonzalez Aguilera, en Flickr
 _IMG2898 by Daniel Gonzalez Aguilera, en Flickr
 IMGP6744 by Daniel Gonzalez Aguilera, en Flickr
 _IMG2958 by Daniel Gonzalez Aguilera, en Flickr
 _IMG3016 by Daniel Gonzalez Aguilera, en Flickr
 _IMG3048 by Daniel Gonzalez Aguilera, en Flickr
Update 2021:
I have been using this lens also for some more time and for some more races and it just works. It is NOT the fastests AF lens, but you can always pre-focus it and shoot in MF.
 _IMG9343 by Daniel Gonzalez Aguilera, en Flickr
 _IMG7487 by Daniel Gonzalez Aguilera, en Flickr
 _IMG5501 by Daniel Gonzalez Aguilera, en Flickr
 _IMG5768 by Daniel Gonzalez Aguilera, en Flickr
 _IMG5875 by Daniel Gonzalez Aguilera, en Flickr
 _IMG9865 by Daniel Gonzalez Aguilera, en Flickr
 _IMG1802 by Daniel Gonzalez Aguilera, en Flickr
 _IMG7908 by Daniel Gonzalez Aguilera, en Flickr
 _IMG0410 by Daniel Gonzalez Aguilera, en Flickr
 _IMG9887 by Daniel Gonzalez Aguilera, en Flickr
The best part for motorsport is that it is quite a compact lens so it is not intrusive to anybody having a chat, or working.
Yet as I said before I doubt wheter a Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 would work better for me.
This is a lens that is no wonder if you can carry it around as its light weight, no issue to add it in the backpack for a weekend with the 2 cameras, flash/es, long lens short lens, laptop and so on.
| | | | | New Member Registered: January, 2020 Posts: 5
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 8, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $257.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Beauty lens , Sharp | | Cons: | Af | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 7
Handling: 8
Value: 9
New or Used: Used
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 | | | | | Site Supporter Registered: January, 2013 Location: Ottawa, Canada Posts: 4,188
4 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: April 15, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $850.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Optical qualities, Size, Focal length range, 'all weather' | | Cons: | Autofocus (see below) | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 9
New or Used: New
Camera Used: K-3 II, K-5 II
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The Pentax DA* 50-135 was one of the first lenses that I bought in late-2011 after getting my new K-7, and it has been one of my most-used lenses. As a lens that I rarely leave at home, it easily receives c.a.m’s 4.5-star Gold rating of Highly Recommended!
The optical qualities are excellent. The lens is sharp across the field, with very good performance even in the corners at most settings. While the lens is usable wide open across the focal length range, I’ve noticed a slight softness at f/2.8 compared to other commonly-used apertures, especially at the longer end. However, I’ve never had a concern about distortion, vignetting, or aberrations, and the colours, contrast, and overall rendering are superb. In particular, the bokeh is typically pleasing at wide apertures.
At a mass of just under 700 grams, I find this lens to be comfortable to carry and handle. It is significantly smaller and lighter than my Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 HSM – which illustrates a strong benefit of the APS-C format. It’s a versatile lens that pairs nicely with my DA 20-40mm Limited. The lens has proven itself in a variety of shooting environments, including trail hikes, cityscapes, concerts, and portraits.
Autofocus
My copy was afflicted by autofocus issues four times during 2012-2013, during the height of many user reports of ‘SDM failure’. Warranty work included two new motors, cleaning, adjustments, calibration, and “gearing and clutch cam ring” repair. On the fifth instance, the AF seized again and the lens could not be focused manually. At that point, I converted the lens to ‘screwdrive’ mode, and it has worked flawlessly ever since.
I have conducted a rigorous AF Fine Adjustment (AFFA) calibration, assessing the settings at 50, 90, and 135mm; at focus distances of at least 30 x focal length; and variably focusing from the minimum focus distance and infinity positions. I found that the optimal AFFA setting varied according to focal length and focus direction; the optimal setting that gives the sharpest autofocus at all focal lengths is AFFA = +3 when focused from the near position. So, I simply preset the focus to the near side of the subject before each shot, which is an extra step but not a big deal. Note, however, that the AFFA is a function of both the lens and the camera acting together, so this issue may not be entirely a fault of the lens itself. This detail – and the SDM issue – is reflected in my lower rating of ‘7’ for AF.
Edit. On my new K-3 Mark III, the AF accuracy has only a minor dependence on focus direction. Focusing from the 'far' side, the optimal AFFA setting is +2; from the near side, -2, with little difference in focus sharpness between the two. An AFFA of zero works fine for either direction. I have upgraded my score for AF to 8.
The AF accuracy is typically spot-on and the shot-to-shot focus consistency is very good. I tend to take pictures mainly of static subjects, and I find that the autofocus is sufficiently quick and assured on my K-3 II. I don’t find that the screwdrive movement is annoyingly noisy, but it’s certainly more noticeable than the nearly-silent SDM mode. On the other hand, the screwdrive focus action is somewhat faster than the SDM, and it works.
- Craig
 | | | | | New Member Registered: November, 2018 Posts: 1 | | Review Date: February 19, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $400.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | sharp from 3.5; reasonable size and weight | | Cons: | slow autofocus; a bit soft at 2.8 | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 7
Handling: 8
Value: 9
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K-70
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Decent size and weight, well balanced on my K-70. Good sharpness from f3.5 but a bit soft wide open at 2.8. Autofocus is a bit slow but OK to use as portrait lens. Like many other users reported, my copy does not work well with the HD 1.4x teleconverter (rather soft until f6.3).
| | | | | Pentaxian Registered: November, 2014 Location: Washington, DC Posts: 1,749
4 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 10, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $400.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Rendering; focal range; sharpness | | Cons: | autofocus | |
This was my first 'pro' level lens, and WOW is it a good lens! I had been using my HD DA 55-300 as an event lens, as it runs (if I remember correctly) around an f/4-4.5 for a good portion of its range. I found myself needing the extra stop of light indoors, and so I sprung for this lens. I was at first concerned, coming from the 55-300, that this zoom range would be restricting. This has not proved to be an issue in the least! It is a very versatile range with good quality.
I got it used with a failed SDM and had it converted by our good 'ol local Pentax Forums convertor, and now it runs great on screwdrive. It has a weird thing still that at 90mm it will back/front focus horribly - so I learned to avoid that focal length for autofocus. The focus isn't great, and I find it difficult to trust at f/2.8. Especially at 135mm, which isn't quite as sharp as the other focal lengths, it is easy to miss the focus by a hair. So I generally shoot at f/4, but f/2.8 is indoors doable with care, a monopod helps.
The rendition and colors are fantastic, so is the sharpness. It is a great lens. I've started taking this and the DA21 limited as a simple fairly compact two lens combo for events, and it works out really nicely. It has proven leagues above the HD DA 55-300, but there are still some impediments that I deal with for the low price I got it for.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: June, 2018 Posts: 131
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 8, 2020 | Recommended
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Useful zoom range, good IQ | | Cons: | I’ll be upset if the autofocus packs up. | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 8
Autofocus: 7
Handling: 7
Value: 8
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K3ii
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I had the Sigma 50-150mm f2.8 but it wouldn’t work properly on my K3ii so I replaced it with this. I’m very pleased I did. Both are sharp but I much prefer the colours on this and I like that it is weather sealed too. It’s large but not unwieldy and autofocus is only slightly slower than I would like. It could be sharper wide open but it’s much better from f4.
| | | | | Pentaxian Registered: September, 2017 Location: New York Posts: 1,206
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: November 29, 2019 | Recommended | Price: $650.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharpness, Color, contrast, build quality, overall image quality, silent focusing, lack of CA, lack of PF, bokeh | | Cons: | Focusing speed | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 7
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: Pentax K-3II
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I hold this lens in very high regard and I don't take my camera gear anywhere without packing this lens too. It's possibly my most used lens. While I can't say it's the sharpest, it's definitely very sharp. The colors produced are fantastic and need barely any touching in post. Bokeh can seem a bit busy in certain circumstances but otherwise is very nice as well. Autofocus is definitely kind of slow but it also has a very long focus throw. If the throw was shorter, autofocus would definitely be faster. That said, the lens acquires lock quickly and is very quiet. I only hear a very low squeak when starting.
All told, it is the one lens I absolutely love using and the one I do not want to do without. If Pentax ever upgrades the lens while keeping the IQ the same, I will definitely be purchasing it.
| | | | | Junior Member Registered: May, 2012 Posts: 30
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: October 2, 2019 | Not Recommended | Price: $2,500.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | muy afilado. punto dulce... 90mm - f4 | | Cons: | motor de enfoque se pego temprano | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 3
Handling: 8
Value: 5
New or Used: New
Camera Used: k20 -k5
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a pesar de que lo utilizo en MF ya que se pego el motor de enfoque ,lo compraría nuevamente por su calidad de imagen excepcional
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: May, 2010 Location: WA Posts: 176
5 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: October 1, 2019 | Recommended | Price: $455.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | SHARP | | Cons: | Some report AF issues | |
I rented this lens in 2015 for a weekend trip to a race track. I needed a lens with moderate range, great image quality, and decent low light performance. My previous lens were good kit lens, the 18-135mm and the 55-300mm.
This lens surpassed all of my expectations.
Image Quality is fantastic. Great colors, excellent contrast, and sharp photos. I was amazed to see my test shot of a race car 500 feet away come out sharp. The lens rarely came off the camera the rest of the weekend. I came away with larger amount of sharp photos than I had previously done. The autofocus was great, weight was fine for hand shooting.
By the end of the year, I made sure to purchase my own copy. It has since been my go to lens, more so than my Tameron 70-200 F2.8.
My only complaint is that it stops at 135mm.
 | | | | | Site Supporter Registered: March, 2016 Location: Pietermaritzburg Posts: 432
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: July 28, 2019 | Recommended | Price: $400.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharp, great bokeh, great IQ | | Cons: | Slow(ish) autofocus | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K20D, Kx, K3
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This is by far the best lens I’ve ever owned. It’s fast and sharp, with a beautiful bokeh. I bought this together with my K20D, second-hand for $700! At the time I didn’t really know what * series lenses were, but found out pretty quickly!
From flowers to wildlife to landscapes, this is a versatile lens. It has macro like sharpness at the closest focal distance, and yet will give good IQ at longer ranges too. Because of this you can crop fairly tightly and still get a good photo. I've used it with the 1.4x rear converter, but it seems to soften the image slightly?
The fact that the barrel doesn’t extend when zooming or focusing makes it impervious to dust, drizzle and snow. Although it’s not what you’d call light, I prefer the solid, well-constructed feel of the lens, and the weight makes it well balanced to boot.
In conclusion, all I can say is that if I was forced to sell off all my gear, this would be the last to go.
Roadside Flowers
Goodyear Eagles
Spotted Eagle Owl
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