Which is best

Pentax SMC F Auto Focus 35-80mm f4 Zoom Lens KAF Exc

Or

Pentax SMC-FA 28-80mm F3.5-4.7

Any thorts

Thorts?

Ah! Yeth, they are both ethentially the thame thort of thing, namely thoom lentheth dethigned tholely for thingle lenth reflekth camerath, in thith cathe Pentakth camerath.

Thome utherth thuggetht that the firth ith thuperior to the thecond, whereath otherth thay the oppothite ith true.

Wait! Horrorth! Did you mean thoughtth? OK, I've cort your drift.

According to Stan, neither is held in especially high regard, and the latter is prone to break. The best that was said about it was this: "I'm very pleasantly surprised by this lens! I have been using the "EOS" system . . ."!

So, keep the price and your expectations down and you may be pleathantly thurprithed.

G

thank you!!!!
I'm after a good mid range i have the standard 18-55mm and a 150-200 what would you recommend is a good one to get ?

I presume you mean a 50-200.

The best bet (but not the cheapest) would be the FA 24-90; followed by one of the FA 28-105 lenses, either the (big, heavy) 1:4-5.6 power zoom or the (newer, smaller, lighter) 1:3.2-4.5.

Of the latter two, I suspect that the former probably has the edge, optically, but the latter wins on portability.

If you want to be quirky, I am still a great fan of the old M 75-150. No AF, no AE, but a lovely lens nonetheless. They were very popular in their day, and as a result can be picked up for next to nothing on Ebay. And then you'd have the pleasure of owning a real lens, made of metal and glass.

G

How about the 100mm macro?
or were you set on a zoom?
the macro makes a great portrait lens and macro to boot....adds way more versitility.....

No review on Stan's, but if cost is a consideration then there is the SMCP FA 28 - 90mm, which was supplied as a kit lens on the later MZ series? I have seen them seliing on Ebay for £25 - 30.
Anyone with experience of this lens?

Some images can be found at
http://www.pbase.com/cameras/pentax/smc_pfa_28-90_35-56

Found 1 review at:
http://photosig.pcphotoreview.com/mfr/pentax/35mm-zoom/PRD_388187_3128crx.aspx#reviews

I've no experience with the 35-80 but I have had one of the 28-80's (I wrote a review some years back and it's available online at http://www.photo.net/equipment/pentax/fa28-80). It's not a bad lens (I've seen worse from Pentax) and it was fine as a start however I actually found the later FA 28-200 a better performer where their ranges overlapped.

I've always heard that the 28-70 F4 was a considerably better performer but I've never owned one myself (although I've heard some build quality woes).

I have got a pentax 35-80 silver see image below


cheap ebay had this at £40 camara shop £15 i thort bargin he had a 100 Macro but only k mout not a ka plus it looked like it has had a hrad life
so now i have a 18-55 (came with camara) a 70-200 and now a 38-80