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Pentax DA* weather sealed lenses?

Photon-hunter

New member
I don´t seem to find any reviews of Pentax´s "new" DA* weather sealed lenses (16-50 2.8 and 50-135 2.8). Are this lenses available yet and if so can anybody coment on them or piont towards some reviews?

Regarding bodies, what would be the main differences between the K10 and the soon to be released K200?

Thanks in adavance for your kind replies.

Erik.
 

Lili

New member
I don´t seem to find any reviews of Pentax´s "new" DA* weather sealed lenses (16-50 2.8 and 50-135 2.8). Are this lenses available yet and if so can anybody coment on them or piont towards some reviews?

Regarding bodies, what would be the main differences between the K10 and the soon to be released K200?

Thanks in adavance for your kind replies.

Erik.
Photon I don't think they are out yet. The K200 still has a Penta Mirror instead of a Penta Prism.
 

nostatic

New member
I just bought a K10d today and briefly had the DA* 16-50 2.8 lens. It is nice, but I didn't realize that my body was at firmware 1.0 instead of 1.3, so it couldn't use the superwave focusing. I ended up taking the lens back because frankly the kit 18-50 lens is *really* good. Instead I swapped for the low priced 50-200 but I'm not happy about it...the manual focus ring is quite gritty and it jumps some.

The K200 is a smaller body and has scenes/programmed modes. The K10d doesn't have any scenes and is a hefty mid-size body. I looked at both the e510 and K10d and to me it was no contest. The viewfinder in the K10d is big and bright, and the camera just feels right. I didn't play with the K100d, but it is about the same size as the e510.

The K20k and K200d look to be *great* cameras. I bought the K10d because it is a bargain at the moment.
 

Photon-hunter

New member
Thanks for your answers. Just a few quick ones...

Nostalgic: Got me confused here, couldn´t you simply update the firmware to use the Sw focusing? Is the kit lens really THAT good? What makes me interested in the "*" version is the weather sealing and of course the 2.8. I believe Pentax made a great move adding image stabilisation and weather sealing on an "entry level" camera..I am intrigued.

Erik.
 

nostatic

New member
and example of the SR:





It is sensor-based so yes, it works with any lens. Yes, I did update the firmware after taking the lens back, but the reality is that I shot probalby 90+% of the time with a 105mm macro on my dslr. I'm spoiled by good glass and a fast prime lens. There also have been reports that the qc on the 16-50* is pretty absymal, with a lot of returned lenses. One guy is waiting for his 3rd one. The 50-135* supposedly has been great.

I took back the cheap long kit lens (50-200) and bought the Pentax 100/2.8 macro. I'm going to pick up their 10-17 zoom and a used manual focus 50/1.4. Then I've got pretty much all I need for what I like to shoot. I'm hoping to experiment with the 10-17 in Hong Kong as my previous wa zoom was a 12-24.
 
F

flagger

Guest
Oh yes.. the K10d shake reduction works well on both SMC pentax lens and well anything else you can mount on it.. like the attached picture shows :thumbup:

(yes that is an M42 135-2.8 Pentacon lens, stopped down as well!)

On the K10d if the lens is not known the camera asks you for its focal length so that the SR can work correctly. (For non KA (ala M42) you will need to remember to allow non auto aperture lens in the menus).

cheers
Graham
 
P

Paul Stenquist

Guest
The DA*16-50/2.8 and the DA*50-135/2.8 are weather sealed. I've shot with both in pouring rain on the K20D, which is also weather sealed. No problems. There's really no comparison between the DA* 16-50 and the kit lens. Of course, the DA* is far faster, but it's also much sharper at the corners at any aperture below f8. And the in-lens autfocus motor (SDM in Pentax vernacular) makes it much quieter and much quicker to focus. It's far better in continuous autofocus mode.
 
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