If you have a Pentax Q-series camera, you almost certainly already have this lens - it's generally bundled with the camera.

If you have a Q but not this lens, there's a strong case for getting it - it's field of view is equivalent to a DSLR's 28-83mm (on a Q or Q10) or 23-70mm (on a Q7 or Q-S1), making it perfect for 'general photography' or as a 'walk around lens'. The maximum aperture of f/2.8 zoomed out gives it reasonable light-gathering ability, although the tiny size of the Q system means you won't get the same shallow depth of field f/2.8 would win you on a larger system.

It's plenty sharp for personal use and certainly for photos intended for social media. However, while I think it is possible to produce professional quality results from the Q system, this probably isn't the lens to do it with. (Instead consider the 01 prime or the expensive 06 and 08 zooms). The colour rendition is good, but the sharpness and contrast only adequate. Adding a hood to the lens (I use a screw-in, third-party metal hood via a far-eastern eBay seller) does help somewhat with the contrast in many conditions.

The action of the zoom ring and the focus ring are smooth and easy to use, and the autofocus quick and accurate. If you have an older copy of this lens, you may need to update its firmware (downloaded from Pentax/Ricoh, and copied to an SD card in the camera) for best autofocus results.

If you have a Pentax Q-series camera, you almost certainly already have this lens - it's generally bundled with the camera.If you have a Q but not this lens, there's a strong case for getting it - it's field of view is equivalent to a DSLR's 28-83mm (on a Q or Q10) or 23-70mm (on a Q7 or Q-S1), making it perfect for 'general photography' or as a 'walk around lens'. The maximum aperture of f/2.8 zoomed out gives it reasonable light-gathering ability, although the tiny size of the Q system means you won't get the same shallow depth of field f/2.8 would win you on a larger system.It's plenty sharp for personal use and certainly for photos intended for social media. However, while I think it is possible to produce professional quality results from the Q system, this probably isn't the lens to do it with. (Instead consider the 01 prime or the expensive 06 and 08 zooms). The colour rendition is good, but the sharpness and contrast only adequate. Adding a hood to the lens (I use a screw-in, third-party metal hood via a far-eastern eBay seller) does help somewhat with the contrast in many conditions.The action of the zoom ring and the focus ring are smooth and easy to use, and the autofocus quick and accurate. If you have an older copy of this lens, you may need to update its firmware (downloaded from Pentax/Ricoh, and copied to an SD card in the camera) for best autofocus results.

The Pentax Q is an odd camera. It tries to pretend to be like a SLR with interchangeable lenses, but sports a tiny compact camera sensor. It's small with the 50mm prime lens but still too big to put in a pocket. With the zoom lens the Q becomes more versatile but gets even bigger - big enough to mean you'll probably end up using the zoom lens as a carry handle. The zoom lens is well made, robust and has a smooth zoom action. Optically it performs well, if you remember that this little SLR pretender is a remarkable compact class camera.