pentax DA50-200

anybody know where i can get hold of one of these lenses ?

http://www.warehouseexpress.com/index.cfm?photo/slr/pentax.html?cd=20061212

out of stock matey...already tried !

How's about http://www.parkcameras.com/ then.

Is this lens as good as the 18-55 kit lens?

Second question: are there other lenses made by, say, Tokina, Sigma, Tamron, etc., in the same approximate focal length that are as good or better than the Pentax 50-200?

Ted

I'm sure the 50-200 is better.

It depends what you're looking for. If you want a brighter lens, then Sigma do a 70-200 f2.8 - but you might choke when you see the price. Pentax do an 80-200 f2.8 - but you'll die when you see the price, should you ever be lucky enough to find one for sale!
The Pentax has the legendary SMC coating - and this shouldn't be underestimated. Having tried several other makes, I've settled on 100% Pentax lenses. However, I know many are satisfied with third party lenses.
But for compactness, optical clarity, and cost - I think the Pentax is pretty hard to beat!

(I personally have the Pentax SMC-FA 80-320 which I got very reasonably second hand, and fits in with the other lenses I already have, but the 50-200 is still very tempting).

Hope that helps,
Matt

I appreciate your thoughts on the matter, Matt. Acting on this information and the comments of others on the internet, I went ahead and ordered one. With the current Pentax rebate plan, my final cost will be approximately $159USD. Much better than last fall, when the cheapest over here was about $260.

Regards,

Ted

Ted

Your last post came as I was composing this but just to let you know I have the Pentax 55-200 DA and I am quite pleased with it. It is the perfect compliment to the 18-55mm on my DS and these two very compact and light lenses will give you a 28-300mm equivalent range. This lens is probably not the quality a professional would demand but it is one of the best I have ever been able to afford other than old used manual primes I have picked up. It is definitely better than the Pentax 18-55mm DA. The one feature the Pentax DA's will have that 3rd party lenses don’t is the ability to manually focus in auto-focus mode, a big plus in my opinion.

Regards

Drew Peabody

Drew:

I notice that you describe your lens as a "55-200 DA." Is "55" a typo, or is it a different lens than the one I just bought?

Ted

Typo, sorry.

I feel better (was beginning to suspect I might be missing out).

I ordered my 50-200 from www.BuyDig as they had the best price. Apparently many others have done the same thing as BuyDig can't keep them in stock. I ordered mine the day they ran out. The next shipment won't come in for 7-8 days. Consolation? I'm first on the list. In the meantime I'll continue using my adapter.

Ted

First on list didn't mean much. They refunded my money. Said their order never came in.

I'll keep looking.

Ted

Phew, I was very worried for you Ted. I did some research on BuyDig when you ordered and found many unhappy customers that had ordered goods from them only to have their credit card charged even though they back ordered the item. I'm not suggesting they are dishonest, just poor business practices but I think you should feel very glad you got your money back. In my opinion the best price isn't always the number one criteria. I find it is worth the extra few dollars to either purchase locally (no shipping costs) with a 100% return policy within 15-30 days or research the feedback carefully for an impecable on-line dealer.

Good luck

Drew

PS: The more I use this lens the better I like it. Very good walk about lens.