Pentax 'K' 200mm f/2.5

womble · Joined: 28 Sep 2009 Posts: 987 Location: Hertfordshire

I have been looking for one of these for a sane price for a while. I was lucky to find one in Canada a short while back.

SMC Pentax 'K' 200mm f/2.5 lens on a Pentax K2DMD par Kris Lockyear, on ipernity

I decided to use it for my "Single in..." lens for February. It has been a bit of a challenge as a 200mm lens on ASPC is quite a long focal length for daily use. I have, however, been trying...

Gandhi, Tavistock Square par Kris Lockyear, on ipernity

Green man in black and white par Kris Lockyear, on ipernity

Bicycles par Kris Lockyear, on ipernity

Daffodils redux par Kris Lockyear, on ipernity

Five par Kris Lockyear, on ipernity

Thunder-eggs Are Go...! par Kris Lockyear, on ipernity

Blue tit par Kris Lockyear, on ipernity

Look left par Kris Lockyear, on ipernity

Best wishes, Kris.

scsambrook · Expire: 2011-11-18

They look pretty good to me - and it seems very compact for its specification. It's a lens I've never even handled !

Did you get whacked for VAT and 'handling charges'?

womble · Joined: 28 Sep 2009 Posts: 987 Location: Hertfordshire

fwcetus · Joined: 12 Jun 2015 Posts: 303 Location: New England

The K 200/2.5 is a ~very~ sweet lens.

And, interestingly, the K 200/2.5 shares the same 6-elements-in-6-groups design with three other highly regarded Pentax telephoto lenses -

SMC "K" 200/2.5 -

SMC "K" 135/2.5 -

S-M-C Takumar 135/2.5 (model 2) -

SMC A* 200/2.8 -

Of course, the newer A* 200/2.8 does use ED glass for a couple of elements, but the similarities are, I think, quite interesting (and not coincidental).

However, I am just a bit dubious that the K 200/"2.5" is truly an f/2.5 lens -- I think it might actually be a nominal f/2.8 lens:

For one thing, it is physically ~very~ similar to the A* 200/2.8 (both with 77mm filter threads, and with seemingly identical front element diameters).

For another, I found (many moons ago, when I had both concurrently for a while) that wide-open K 200/2.5 exposures did not seem different from wide-open A* 200/2.8 exposures (except for a wee bit of a color difference -- ~IIRC~, the K might have been slightly warmer).

And for a third, the arithmetic: 200mm FL / 77mm (filter thread, which is certainly somewhat generously wider than the clear aperture diameter) = a too "optimistic" f/2.6.

Or, another way around: 200mm / 2.5 = 80mm (somewhat wider than even the filter threads).

But, maybe my math, or my lens knowledge, is shaky...

Gerald · Joined: 25 Mar 2014 Posts: 1196 Location: Brazil

womble · Joined: 28 Sep 2009 Posts: 987 Location: Hertfordshire

I have the 'K' 135/2.5 and one of the S-M-C Tak ones but I don't remember the version number. I don't have the A series lens.

The 2.8 or 2.5 discussion has come up elsewhere and my gut feeling is that it probably is 2.8. Pentax wouldn't be the first company to exaggerate the speed of a lens!

Here is today's image.

SAR 22D par Kris Lockyear, on ipernity

K.

stevemark · Joined: 29 Apr 2011 Posts: 4066 Location: Switzerland

Here's an image of the lens itself, mounted to a Pentax MX SLR with Motor Drive:

Apparently, both the camera as well as the lens have seen a fair amount of (professional) use. The camera had been used at a local police station (together with a 2.8/28mm Pentax M lens). The 2.5/200mm came from a different seller - and because it looked quite beaten nobody was really bidding. Camera, motor drive and Pentax 2.5/200mm did cost me < CHF (USD) 100.--. The optics are fine - no scratches, no fungus or haze -, and I really should use it at least sometimes for some potrraits Wink

S

Doc Sharptail · Joined: 23 Nov 2020 Posts: 1211 Location: Winnipeg Canada

That K2-DMD is quite a camera.

I had one short term while the shutter resistor was being replaced in my EL-2.
It seemed to work reasonably well with the lone 50mm I had with it...

-D.S.

flavio81 · Joined: 20 Mar 2022 Posts: 35 Location: Lima, Peru

caspert79 · Joined: 31 Oct 2010 Posts: 3217 Location: The Netherlands