High quality throughout the zoom range. Very clear wide open, more than I was expecting. Improves dramatically a couple of stops down. AF is quick and sure, and it'll operate on pretty much any K moumt camera (I have twos MX bodies in the studio). If you can find one (they're out of producton), grab it. NOW!

I don't like plastic lens barrels. This is a really great lens, so handle it carefully!

There was no field for Commercial, but that's what I do. Anyway, after reading reviews on this lens I decided to try it for my *st D. I got a great price at B&H, and this lens has proven to be sharp and contrasty throughout its range. It compares to some of the old-time primes in terms of performance. It is a great widish normal to medium tele lens, a good walking around lens. AF is quick and sure, and manual focus is certanly nicely done. I don't like the plastic barrel, but I'm spoiled from my M and A lenses. Now, those were well made optics!!

Customer Service

Never really needed it except to pester them with questions, they're really good about answering.

Similar Products Used:

Pentax M 200mm f/4, Pentax M 85mm f/2, Pentax A 50mm f/1.4, the newfangled 16-45mm DA lens (what's with the no apeture ring? Hello, it's a LENS!) P{entax M 20mm f/4.

Pretty sharp at all ranges, reliable AF-system, neat contrast, easy handling & light-weight.

I don''t think this lens would react very well to falling on the floor... Anywayz, it''s a great tool for general use. Of course f4 is a bit on the lower end for available light photography tough.

The lens along with a MZ-5 costed me about $ 160,-. At that time I didn''t know this lens was so respected but I must admit that I came to be very content with the lens. The constant aperture makes life easier also...

Sharpness, Price.

Build

Especially considering the price this is a very good lens, very sharp, good contrast and a fixed aperture. Id recommend even a more experienced photographer to buy on. Not very comfortable with the slightly flimsy build though. Search one out.

Similar Products Used:

Sigma 28-105mm UC11 ( mine was very poor)

Good solid performer, reasonably crisp for a zoom. 28 and 70 ok, 50 sharp. Great outdoor composer lens Handy and light weight Good filter size 52mm

limited range viginetting at 28mm with larger filters as polarizers Have experienced some AF lens slipage at the lens camera interface.

Bought with my zx5n and used extensively with other zooms. Have been very satisfied with contrast and resolution. Lens has been prone to some AF slippage after use. Pentax replaced with a wider range lens.

Customer Service

No service requested

Similar Products Used:

Upgraded to 28-200 and 35-105 to increased range.

Sharpness, constant aperture, fast auto-focus, light weight

Light weight, rotating front element

This is an excellent choice for casual picture taking situations where a normal 50 lens may be too restrictive. This is especially important for those who scan their films or slides. It is a good match for my ZX-5n. Sharpness is very good as well as color and contrast. Ultimate resolution is certainly less than the 50mm but mainly under careful inspection. Bottom line is that this lens is exceptional value when taken into account the price.

Similar Products Used:

Vivitar 28-105, Pentax 50 f/1.7, Tamron 28-200 f/3.8-5.6, Pentax 20-35, Pentax 70-210 f/4

Awesome optical quality.

none

I don't only shoot outdoor photography, but there wasn't a "all of the above" catagory. This lens is great for anything. "Bottom Line": it's a great performer for a great price. Go get one NOW. I'm serious.

Customer Service

not for this lens.

Similar Products Used:

Fa 28-80

The lens is compact and leightweight.

I have previous experience with a bunch of Pentax smc primes, which I love because of their good optical quality, compact build and mechanical sturdyness. The 28-70 turned out to be compact, but there the good news ended. The build quality was flimsy and the optical performance was simply terrible. My lens had serious optical problems. The focal plane was not flat, resulting in pictures beeing out of focus on either side. The sharpnes at f4 was unacceptable even for small prints and didn´t improve much even at f5,6.

This is a cheap lens and it delivers cheap results. The build quality is inferior.
Since there are a lot of people who are enthusiastic about the optics of this lens, I guess that Pentax production standards must be uneaven.

Customer Service

SLR cameras and lenses are delicate things and I try to take care of my equipment by using good camera bags. In spite of that this lens managed to break (It is the only lens I have ever broken)when it was subjected to a light preasure to the front. I have some experience repairing photo equipment, so I took it apart and found that it was a plastic guide that had broken off. The good news was that it was possible to repair the guide fixture easily using epoxy glue. The bad news was that the mechanical construction of the lens was inferior in every aspect. It was simply not built to last.

Similar Products Used:

Canon 28-105/3,5-4,5
Canon 28-70/2,8

Versatility, good clarity for lens of this price.

No auto zoom.

When I bought my Pentax ZX-5n QD, I also bought 2 lenses - a Pentax SMCP FA 50mm/f1.4 and a Pentax SMCP FA 28-70mm/4.0 AL zoom (a budget Tamron 100-300 zoom is on order). The Pentax 28-70mm is a technological wonder, providing the sort of image clarity I would expect from a fixed focal-length lens. Its best images come in the middle ranges - 45 to 55mm - which is true with most zooms, with very little drop off at the farther ends of the focal lengths. For a zoom, its only an inch longer and just slightly heavier than the high-quality FA 50mm/f1.4, but provides much more utility than the 50mm in that I can frame a picture without having to move around (very nice for those times when I don't really have time or space to move before shooting). The 50mm is for competitions, the 28-70 is for everything else.

The autofocus for the 28-70 is as fast as it is for the 50mm, which is pretty darn good for a zoom lens.

The Tamron 28-80mm/f3.5-5.6 would be a good alternative if you can't find the Pentax 28-70mm zoom. The only drawback I can think of is that the FA 28-70 doesn't have the power zoom capability (neither does the Tamron), which is just fine with me as another power function would just drain the battery anyway.

A good lens from Pentax to start your quiver of lenses. Don't forget the 52mm filter for it.

Customer Service

Haven't had to use it.

Similar Products Used:

generic 70-200mm manual focus zoom, Chinon 50mm/f1.9 manual focus.

Very sharp for a zoom of this type. Constant aperature, light-weight. Fast autofocus. Worked well in underwater housing.

None noted

A real bargin. Well worth it but it looks like it may be on it's way out of production.

Similar Products Used:

Sigma and Tokina lenses.

It is very light and compact for what it does. It is reasonably sharp at all focal lengths and apertures. Very good contrast, virtually no flare. When stopped down to f/8 it is as sharp as a 50mm f/1.7 lens.

I have not had any problems, but the mechanical build quality looks a bit flimsy, so it should be treated fairly gently.

One of the best bargains among SLR lenses. For my other reviews of Pentax lenses, see

http://webhome.idirect.com/~spirop/pentlens.html

Similar Products Used:

Sigma 24-70 and Sigma 28-80. These are much more prone to flare than the Pentax.