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

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.

The 50-135mm is a member of the professional grade DA* family and the build quality is on an accordingly high level thanks to quality materials and weather-sealing. Unlike Tokina Pentax decided not to implement a tripod collar - this a bit of a borderline approach but a viable one regarding the...

Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

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

Heavy

I have had this lens for 12 months now, and to be honest, it is stunning.Now before I go further, I have had to drop a star in a couple of areas, for the following reasons.As I write, the current price for this lens is a mighty £920!

perfect portrait lens; Sharp; size against rivals; Weather sealing

price (at time of writing; slightly slow af (ish

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

Yes, I would recommend this to a friend

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

Heavy

This is an AMAZING lens... I love the wide rubberized zoom ring, which functions very smoothly and it has an internal focusing system (IF) the front element does not rotate so you can easily use a polarizer on it.

Consistent Output; Durable; Easily Interchangeable; Fast / accurate auto-focus; Nice Bokeh; Rugged; Sharp Clear Photos; Strong Construction

Mediumweight

This is an AMAZING lens... I love the wide rubberized zoom ring, which functions very smoothly and it has an internal focusing system (IF) the front element does not rotate so you can easily use a polarizer on it.