William Robb wrote: >If you are looking for a 70ish to 200ish, the Pentax FA 80-200 >f/2.8 is well rated, and fits your budget (B&H $1299.95). There >doesn't seem to be a whole lot else out there in what I am >presuming to be your desired quality range (I expect you want >"pro quality) that fits Pentax AF. I couldn't find reference to >anything in a longer zoom for Pentax AF. The Tamron 70-210 f/2.8 >doesn't seem to be available in our lens mount (at least >according to B&H, I could be wrong), but Tokina has an 80-200 >f/2.8 "pro" in Pentax AF which I have heard good things about, >and they also have an 80-400 (slowish, f/4 to 5.6) that is >available in our mount. >I have no first hand experience with the latter two lenses that >I mentioned, but I have used the FA 80-200 f/2.8, and was quite >pleased with it's performance. >Note, I don't recall if the Pentax has macro or not.
No, the Pentax 80-200/2.8 doesn't do macro but it *does* focus a foot and a quarter closer than either of its Sigma or Tokina f2.8 competitors (and the Tamron isn't available in Pentax AF mount). This is a significant difference at 200mm. It is a superb lens. Buying a used one was my best photography purchase this year by far. I think one of the consumer or "prosumer" Sigmas in the 80-200 or 100-300 range goes to 1:2 but I'd not make that kind of compromise myself. Better go for a really good 80-200/2.8 and get another lens for macro. -- Mark Roberts www.robertstech.com - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
