Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Consistent Output; Durable; Easily Interchangeable; Rugged; Strong Construction

Heavy

I shoot a lot of pictures for a school web page of various school events. I looked at this lens for a while mainly to use for basketball games and events in low light in the auditorium. When I received a couple of checks that were unexpected I bit the bullet and bought it.

fast; quiet; sharp lens

None found so far

What Digital Camera tests the Pentax smc DA 50-135mm f/2.8 ED (IF) SDM lens to find out if it's as good as the price suggests.

I bought this lens to travel in Asia where the weather is Humid and rain.. SO far I tested the lens in Sichuan province in the forest to shot panda: Rain and humidity did not affect at all the camera and the lense (the big lens hood in the end turn out to be a really good protection for the lens...

Sharpness; Colour rendition; Quality

Lens hood far to big

Helluva lens. From f3.5 and up has never let me down. Early I tried the 2.8 in unsuitable situation (hasty glamour shoots in nature etc) and was frequently underwhelmed but now I understand it better - its just brilliant.

Quality; handling; weather resistance; quick shift

SDM (always in the back of my mind)

Bought this lens with some trepidation because of concern over SDM failures. I "needed" a lens in this range and 3rd party lens makers really didn't have what I wanted. There were reports that the SDM was remodeled in 2012 (hope that was true and not industry talk) because of the failures in both...

Purchased this lens to replace a 70-200 f2.8 which I found to be heavy and difficult to handle. I use a K5 camera with grip, this lens is just perfect, balances beautifully with this camera and the 50-135 focal length is so much more useful than the previous lens.

Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

Consistent Output; Durable; Rugged; Sharp Focus; Strong Construction

Heavy

superior optical quality. extremely fast focus on K7, even in low light.

While Pentax got left behind a little at the dawn of the digital age, their recently announced lens roadmap shows they are coming back with a vengeance. This optic is the first in a series of professionally specified lenses to hit the marketplace.

Good build and feel with dust and moisture sealing; Excellent optical performance; Fast and quiet autofocus

Slight distortion at each end of the zoom range; Expensive; although worth the money