For a lens having 7+ X zoom ratio, I'd say that for it to only double in length when zoomed between it's extremes, was actually pretty darned good. Measured from the front surface of the filter thread to the body contact surface it actually extends from 85mm long @ 28mm FL to 135mm long @ 200mm FL.

On a film body, this single lens covers most of the commonly used focal lengths from wide angle to medium telephoto and it suffers, IMHO, from some very minor compromises at the long end. It's a great lens to have in your arsenal for the occasions when only one lens can go on the trip. It's light enough at only 501gr to carry around all day too.

The Pentax version is a very useful 'walkabout' lens. It has its critics, but I love it. I used mine very effectively to take some aerial shots of my local area. Having the effective range of 42 - 300mm (approx) made it an ideal lens to use on that, and many other occasions.

If I have to take one body + one lens out for the day, the SMCP-FA 28-200mm AL (IF) is the lens I use.

Chris, I sent you a PM. I have a spare one of these lenses.

I suppose there's not much chance that Kinder can make an egg big enough to give us all a pleasant surprise ! ! !

Your sensor needs cleaning Pete. Top left and top right of the 'line of trees' shot shows evidence (little round 'n grey blobs) of dust.

To me, these latest pics are rather ordinary, more like a quick grab record shot, but nothing much worth recording.

You've produced better shots than these in the past. For a while, why not post pics that you think are 'killer' pics, only your best work that contains some challenges for critique instead of "not the best technically" or just "nice".

PIE = Pentax In Europe (apparantly, should've guessed )
PIE = Photo Imaging Expo (possibly)
TLA = Three Letter Acronym
OP = Original Poster
FWIW = For What It's Worth
AFAIK = As Far As I Know
AFAIR = As Far As I Remember/Recall

Most Of It = Geek Speak

Translate to english please !
TLA is a three letter acronym too, but most people know about that one. PIE? No comprendo.

Same here.

And if you use RAW capture you get another +/- 3 stops latitude which probably iliminates the remaining 1%.

So, it's perfect shots every time then . . . and no excuses

Dunno if I agree with that George, you are selling some rather good lenses after all.

Since this site is going to be revamped, and in parallel to the idea of having a critique section, does anybody else think that an FAQ section might be useful, if only to give Matt more time to come up with some useful howto's and PS actions

There does seem to be an awful lot of repeat questions that might save us time in reading/responding if we had an FAQ section to address them. You know the one's I mean, if not, "Will my old manual Pentax lenses work on a Pentax DSLR?", that kind of question.