I guess I should elaborate a little on this lens (SMCK45-125/4)as some others are suggesting replacements that dont make sense in the context of what I think the lens's best purpose. I dont believe you can get high quality, reasonably fast, constant aperture zooms that are going to cover the entire "old" standard range of 28-200mm (35mm film format) with only one lens. The best way to do this was to use TWO zooms, a short zoom in the 28-80mm range and a long zoom in the 80-200 range. Now with APS these numbers get shifted downward so you would be looking at approx a 18-55mm lens and a 55-135mm lens. The whole point of the subject post, the SMCK 45-125mm lens, is that it can serve as the "long zoom" in a pair of high quality zooms designed to cover most of the range you will need for most applications. Combined with a good short zoom (like the DA16-45 for example), you end up with much better quality than any 16-135mm lens would give if even possible with constant aperture and low distortion. To me the suggestions of 28-200 lenses and 28-70 lenses for APS format make no sense in this context because they do not cover the APS "standard" range of 18-135mm that a pair of good zooms can. You would still need a wider lens for both a 28-200 and a 28-70 lenses (when used on APS) and in the case of the 28-70, you would need a longer lens too, which would mean you would need THREE lenses to cover the standard range of 18-135mm which is really too much and somewhat defeats one of the main purposes of using zoom lenes in the first place which is to minimize lens changes. So what I am trying to say here is that the SMCK45-125 can make for a really good LONG zoom of a pair of lenses when combined with a good SHORT zoom, like the 16-45 etc., all on APS format of course. jco
-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of John Whittingham Sent: Thursday, March 01, 2007 4:13 AM To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List Subject: Re: Alternative to the DA50-200/4-5.6 ? - Try the SMCK 45-125/4 On Wed, 28 Feb 2007 18:55:34 -0500, J. C. O'Connell wrote > I tried a SMCK 45-125/4.0 zoom for the > first time today on my istDS. I really > like the zoom range on APS, feels like a > good ol' 70/80-200/210 on 35mm (actually its about 68-188 equiv). > The 45mm focal length on the > short end is very welcome( even wider would be nice) . I > dont think I would like a 70-210 lens on APS, it's starting point > is too long for a lot of situations... > > This particular lens is very sharp, contrasty, good saturation, no > distortion visible at any focal length, and no CA. It's a constant > aperture F4.0 to boot. I do not > think I will be buying any slower 50-200/4-5.6 DA lens > in the near future. > > heres a simple sample image : > > http://jchriso.com/temp/SMCK45-125SAMPLE01.jpg > > Next Batter up, the rare cult classic 60-120 ATX Tokina F2.8 lens, ( I > know, 60mm is too long for a general purpose medium zoom, but this > baby is constant F2.8, should still be good for portraits ).... > > laters, > jco John, Looks quite impressive, better still, they fetch very little secondhand so there's bargains to be had........or there was! I'll be keeping the Tamron 28- 75 XR Di indefinitely, great lens, bought from a list member. John ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------- The information transmitted is intended only for the person to whom it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. If you have received an email in error please notify Carmel College on [EMAIL PROTECTED] then delete all copies of it from your systems. Although Carmel College scans incoming and outgoing emails and email attachments for viruses we cannot guarantee a communication to be free of all viruses nor accept any responsibility for viruses. Although Carmel College monitors incoming and outgoing emails for inappropriate content, the college cannot be held responsible for the views or expressions of the author. The views expressed may not necessarily be those of Carmel College and Carmel College cannot be held responsible for any loss or injury resulting from the contents of a message. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---------------------------- -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
