DA 50-200mm WR: the compact wonder

I have always found the DA 50-200mm f/4-5.6 to be an interesting lens. This versatile zoom telephoto lens complements the DA 18-55mm kit lens very well, being almost similar in size and weight. I've owned the original DA 50-200mm twice, a lens that offers great value and the compact dimensions makes it handy for travel or for those times to go with a small setup.



The first copy I bought was a used one and it was an average performer. I sold it when I acquired the DA* 50-135mm, I guess it's the same story with a lot of other Pentax users who upgrade their consumer zoom to a higher grade, fixed aperture pro-grade zoom. But the DA* 50-135mm while fantastic in image quality, is also a much bigger and less discreet lens and so I picked up my second copy of the DA 50-200mm from a liquidation sale. Better image quality the second time round and again I sold it to a friend on a whim. Big mistake, buyer's remorse.



So with that for a preamble it's the third time to hunt down the DA 50-200mm and this time round there is the new Weather Resist offering from Pentax. The same compact dimensions but with a change in the grip pattern of the focus and zoom rings, a red O-ring on the lens mount and surprise, surprise, a change to a 49mm filter size.



I must say I'm very pleased with the new Weather Resist version that I am currently using. The WR version proved itself when I was on holiday on the Gold Coast. On one particular day, there was light rain and continuous strong winds that were blowing very fine sand as I was shooting. I didn't bother to use any filter and the lens' SP (Super Protect) coating proved effective.



The question that invariably comes up is how does it stack up to the DA 55-300mm and the DA 18-250mm consumer zooms. The DA-55-300mm is obviously better suited for longer telephoto applications and the optical quality at the long end is surprisingly good enough that the occasional long tele shooter should seriously consider this lens instead of the excellent but more expensive F/FA or DA* 300mm telephoto primes. But there is no escaping the fact that the DA 55-300mm is also bigger, heavier and more expensive than the DA 50-200mm. The former's longer focus throw makes it easy to hunt focus in low light. The DA 50-200mm focuses and locks focus quicker than the DA 55-300mm and on a personal note, even with Shake Reduction, hand holding at 300mm is a lot trickier than at 200mm.



I've never used the DA 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 superzoom and hopefully I never will. To me the promise of being able to use such a wide range of focal lengths comes with plenty of trade-offs. Barrel distortion at the wide end moving to pincushion distortion at the long focal lengths, light falloff at the corners, obvious chromatic aberrations are the norm for a superzoom though the DA 18-250mm is one of the better ones around. I will concede those who are adverse to changing lenses or find it impractical to change lenses in the field might find a place for it but for me the "Jack of all trades, master of none" label always comes to mind.