Pentax FA 28-200 F3.8-5.6

By Steve Graham

Focal Length min 28mm, max 200mm
Aperture - max F3.8-5.6, min F22
Close Focus 0.52m (1.7ft)
Weight 0.465kg

Build

This shell of this lens is of a plastic construction, and it's quite light despite the extensive zoom range it covers. A flimsy but effective bayonet mounting hood is included, and unlike other Pentax lenses it's possible to put on and take off the lens cap while the hood is fitted - a very useful feature. The lens does look like the Tamron it really is, with the Pentax name seeming purely cosmetic. Large 72mm filters are required - I use the Cokin P system with the appropriate adaptor ring.

Optical

A 14 group, 16 element design, with a wide 28-200 range, this is most definitely a compromise lens. Bearing that in mind the performance is certainly acceptable. Stopping down to F8 or F11 is advisable where possible, but the results wide open aren't too bad. There is some distortion at the wide end, and the long end is a touch soft - there are also slight signs of image falloff in the corners throughout the zoom range. For everything except flare resistance this lens seems the equal of my FA 28-80 F3.5-4.7 and FA100-300 F4.5-5.6 - for flare it's the worst lens I've ever used, so be careful shooting into the light and use that hood at all times. Close focusing ability is amazing for a lens of this type, but the payoff does seem to be significant focal length changes when focussing.

Handling

This is a two touch design with a large zoom ring and smaller (but still useable) manual focus ring. The viewfinder image is quite dim, due to the small maximum aperture, so manual focusing could be difficult. Auto focus performace is quite good on the MZ5 and Z1p, and the internal focusing and non revolving front element are useful bonuses. The lens does lengthen considerably towards the long end of it's range, but is quite compact at it's shortest length.

Compatibility

Results with this lens (mostly used on a MZ5 in Program mode with Matrix metering) have been very good in terms of exposure, so no compatability problems are evident.
One thing that people have complained about is using the wider settings with the built in flashes (RTF) of various Pentax cameras. This isn't restricted to just this lens, but it a function of it's size - my 28-70 F2.8 has the same problem. Removing the hood helps quite a lot.

Price

I paid around 2000 Hong Kong Dollars (approximately 250USD) for this lense, which is a bit less than the 299USD that B&H quote.

Conculsion

A good compromise lens, capable of acceptable results with substantial cost and weight savings over the traditional combination of 28-70 and 70-200 lenses. As a flexible lens for use on family days out this would be an excellent choice.

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