Which 35-70mm zoom?

Have seen two lenses for sale.The Pentax A 35-70mm 3.5-4.5,and the Pentax A 35-70 f4.The latter is twice the price of the first(both still reasonably priced,however)and I was wondering which was considered the best and why.This is my first post to any forum so bear with me,please!Oh,yes I have aK200d,smashing camera.

Have a look here.
Oh, and elcome to the forum
Davex.

Zoom lenses with constant apertures will always command more money than those with variable ones - the former are generally considered to be the "pro" optics and the latter "consumer" optics.

In the real world, once stopped down to about f/8 I doubt you'd notice much, if any, difference between them.

I have used both of these lenses and actually still have the F3.5/4.5.

The constant aperture F4 is possibly sharper, but as Hefty comments, once stopped down differences are marginal.

What you may find more significant regarding ease of use, is that the F4 is a two touch zoom (separate zoom and focusing ring) as opposed to the one tough F3.5/4.5.

The F3.5/4.5 is also a more compact lens. It takes 49mm filters and weighs around 240gms as opposed to the F4 , which takes 58mm filters and weighs around 330gms.

Regards -Steve

When I used film cameras I used the f4 version a lot - it's very versatile and has continuous focusing down to a magnification of around 1:4 which is not at all bad for almost macro shots of flowers, etc.

If you get a good one it will serve very well, but watch out for worn examples with really slack focusing.

I have an older (1993 vintage) Tokina 28-70 ATX f2.8, Which is simply beautiful. I can't fault it. If you can afford it, try for one of these or a Sigma equivalent.

Regards