Mid-range zoom for K20D

On Mats advice I went looking for a good 24-90 and the only good ones I found were in the USA and only selling that side of the water, so I went the 17-70 route.
With the current £50 cash back it brings the price just under £300 from Clifton Cameras.

The cash back and pending price rise made up my mind to go for it now.

I have only had it for a day but the focus is very fast, quiet and accurate on a K10 with the latest software loaded.

Jim

I was just about to add to the thread that you should consider the Pentax 17-70 SDM!

It was my favourite lens I think, although I was quite fond of the 16-45 as well.

Very good value now too at around £300!

I have found in a nearby photo dealer a mint 24-90, mine for £250. Is this a good buy? Or should I go for the Pentax 28-105 which I notice Microglobe have available for £167. Which is the better optically?
Also I could do with an autofocus zoom that goes up to 300mm. Don`t want a superzoom (not good enough image-wise) but can`t afford several hundred pounds. Is the Pentax 55-300 the best buy?

The 24-90mm is a great lens (just ask Mattmatic!) and mint examples go for maybe £150 on eBay. Is it worth £250? Only you can say.

The pentax 55-300mm is excellent, buy it with confidence.

I bought my 24-90 at over £300 when new, from Park Cameras. You could always make an offer to the dealer (especially if you give cash - save them the credit costs ). They can only say no after all... so you've got nothing to lose

The 24-90 is superb. The colour is sublime, and the sharpness excellent. It does suffer from a little CA on the edges of the frame on the K20D - but this is easily and instantly corrected in Silkypix when shooting RAW.

That said... the new 17-70 does look extremely tempting On my 24-90 I often use the 40-70 range, and the 17mm end would be much more useful than 24mm. The 16-45 is also a superb lens. Incredibly sharp and very useful range... but I tend to want 50-90mm range quite a lot (portraits etc). However, the bokeh on the 24-90 is nicer (IMHO).

If I had some spare dosh I'd really like to try out the 17-70mm (but then I'd also rather like the 16-50 DA* and 50-135 DA* ) The joys of Pentax LBA

Matt

I think £250 is a lot to ask, even though it`s mint. I`ll see if he`ll take £200.
Any views on the Pentax 28-105 f3.2-4.5?
Thanks for yor thought on the 55-300 John. Will trawl the internet for the best price.

I haven't used the 28-105 3.2-4.5, but others who have done tend to say good things about it.

I used to have the much larger power-zoom 28-105, and that was very good.

In this day and age, £250 is much too much for the 24-90, good though it is. It was an excellent choice for ambling around with in the days of film, but now you would need to supplement it with something a little wider.

G

Decided to go for the Pentax 28-105 f3.2-4.5. Have bought it (from Microglobe) but still waiting for some half-decent weather to try it out!!