| Author: | | Showing Reviews 1-15 of 44 | | Junior Member Registered: February, 2012 Posts: 33 | | Lens Review Date: May 19, 2012 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: N/A
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | cheap and cheerfull!!! | | Cons: | none | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 8
Value: 8
New or Used: New
Camera Used: k-r
| |
can get very good results from the lens!!!
   | | | | | New Member Registered: April, 2012 Location: Prague Posts: 1 | | Lens Review Date: May 2, 2012 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: $75.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Inexpensive in 2012; IQ ; Build quality; | | Cons: | Nothing with a kit lens | | Sharpness: 7
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 7
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 8
Value: 8
New or Used: New
Camera Used: K-5
| |
Good kit lens. I bought a new one in 2012 cost around 75$, good price because I do not want to spend more money for a kit lens with WR. The Image Quality is fine...Everything is fine... | | | | | Site Supporter Registered: July, 2010 Location: New York Posts: 365 | | Lens Review Date: April 27, 2012 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: N/A
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Good overall performance, fast autofocus | | Cons: | Soft at 18mm near minimum focusing distance, limited zoom range | | Sharpness: 7
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 8
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 8
Value: 9
New or Used: New
Camera Used: Pentax K-5, Pentax K-r
| |
Part of K-r kit. The lens is reasonably sharp (better than most competitors, though not ideal) in the majority of use cases and has good bokeh, but does show distortion at the wide end and some chromatic aberration in regions of very high contrast. Flare resistance is excellent, a testament to the quality of the time-tested SMC coatings. The filter ring does not rotate on focus, unlike most competitors as well. The lens does get soft in the corners at 18mm near the minimum focusing distance due to field curvature, but this is not a common usage scenario. A common limitation of this type of lens is a limited zoom range, but this is a minor problem considering that this is intended to be an inexpensive lens.
Overall, this is a very good kit lens, and it shows that Pentax can deliver quality optics even when the lens needs to be cheap.
| | | | | New Member Registered: April, 2012 Posts: 4 | | Lens Review Date: April 10, 2012 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: N/A
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | Compact, light, sharp & cheap. | | Cons: | Lack of contrast, plasticky (if that's even a word) and no hood. | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 6
Bokeh: 6
Autofocus: 7
Handling: 7
Value: 7
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: Pentax K-x
| |
A good & inexpensive lens to have. Light, sharp & compact. But lack of contrast, plasticky (the downside to being light) and it would be nice to have a hood come with it. But overall, a good lens to start off with.
| | | | | Forum Member Registered: September, 2010 Location: Bourgoin-Jallieu, France Posts: 67 | | Lens Review Date: January 19, 2012 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: $60.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | None | | Cons: | None | | Sharpness: 7
Aberrations: 6
Bokeh: 6
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 7
Value: 8
New or Used: New
| |
This is just a kit lens. It gives a nice cheap start with that new DSLR, it's also very lightweight, but don't expect anything out of the ordinary. I can't think of any pro or con...
Don't buy it separately, used or new! If you want this lens and don't want a new camera, just get either the DA or the DA WR versions, they go for about the same price used and you'll get some extras such as distance scale, quick-shift, and a hood.
| | | | | New Member Registered: January, 2011 Posts: 3 | | Lens Review Date: January 15, 2012 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: $0.01
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharp Sharp and Sharp, inexpensive. | | Cons: | The front element and face plate don't look cool. :) | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 10
New or Used: Used
| |
I found this lens in the trashcan LOL - really! As a reference I own over 350 lenses and have used them all just within the past 20 months or so. So you can guess I'm taking pictures almost everyday. Part of "my thing" is to test, rate, and repair lenses in order to buy, sell, trade, and recommend them. I have four other zooms that cover this range and a considerable number of primes within it - about 70. This lens is by far the best of the other zooms and snuffs most of the primes as well.
I use this lens on my mirrorless Panasonic GH1 so I can't be 100% confident of what the corners look like on a digital APS-C camera. Although µ4/3 is not very much smaller so I would assume any soft corners would show up on the µ4/3 - especially if it were bad. With the centers and µ4/3 corners being so very sharp however I doubt it suffers from any corner softness. I also can not comment on it's autofocusing speed or accuracy.
Many of Pentax's budget lenses approach the IQ of semi-pro models from other manufacturers and this lens is no exception! It's not a prime so those expecting it to possess the same qualities as fast prime lenses might feel a tad let down (or happy that there's no CA which most primes suffer from) but apples to apples I would pit this lens against semi-pro and pro models without hesitation. And I'm fairly certain it would not place at or even near the bottom of the list if I were to do so.
I'm quite impressed not only with the quality of this lens but also that Pentax is cool enough to offer it for a VERY reasonable price! Especially considering other crop lenses of similar IQ sell for many times this lens's MSRP. If I had to say anything bad about this lens it would be that the focusing ring was too plasticy feeling - the rest of the lens isn't, just the focusing ring. The rest of the lens feels quite solid unlike most other budget and kit lenses do these days.
As I understand it the 2011 and all subsequent models are additionally weather-proofed! Sweet!
The DA L 18-55 can be had for under $50 new so if you're even wondering about this model you can stop doing so and just get it! It ROCKS!
Here's a sample taken wide open at 18mm as seen by the GH1 and a 100% crop of the same:
From The Panasonic GH1 with an adapter from RainbowImaging.biz 
100% Crop From The Above Image | | | | | Senior Member Registered: July, 2011 Location: Niterói, Rio de Janeiro Posts: 239 | | Lens Review Date: October 2, 2011 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: N/A
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Compact, sharp for a kit lens if stopped down, feels good | | Cons: | Just a little slow and plastic mount. It's good enough for a kit lens | | New or Used: New
| |
The lens actually feels good on the hands! It feels a bit cheap because its light. But thats good. Stop down to f8 and you will get acceptable photos.
______________________________________
Editing after only 3 months of use.
______________________________________
I really like this lens. Of course, it can't match the sharpness of a simple 50mm 1.7, but it's acceptably sharp. At 18mm, its very wide and you don't even have to stop down to get pretty good photos. It's great for panoramas and interiors.
At 55mm @ f5.6 it's very soft. It's kinda funny, but you can use that to your advantage, creating some soft portraits. Stop it down to f8 to be acceptable.
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: April, 2011 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 104 | | Lens Review Date: September 29, 2011 | I can recommend this lens: No |
Price: N/A
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | Included with camera, wide angle, somewhat sharp | | Cons: | poor color rendition, poor bokeh | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 5
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 10
New or Used: New
| |
This lens was one of the kit lenses for my K-x. It's just not a very good lens, but at least it is better than some of the previous kit lenses Pentax has used in recent days. Color rendition is quite poor when compared to primes.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: April, 2010 Location: Sydney NSW Posts: 511 | | Lens Review Date: September 28, 2011 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: N/A
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | PQ, Price, size | | Cons: | Slow, Focus ring abit indecisive. | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 8
Value: 9
New or Used: New
| |
A tricky lens to rate as it came with our Kx and if the Kx could come body only I would have got a Pentax 16-45 instead.
However for what is basically a free lens (and will always be available cheap on 2nd hand market) it is exceptional value. Its also tiny small and light for a lens that kicks off at F3.5 and actually built quite well.
For sunny situations it will be stopped down anyway and it has great colour and has a nice character which I always notice when I change lenses with my Sigma 17-70. However I do MF alot and the focus ring is tiny and has abit too much play in it aswell.
So to sum up a lens perfectly matched to the beginner Kx Kr models but if you needed that size and range get a 16-45 instead its just more flexible.
| | | | | New Member Registered: May, 2011 Location: Jerusalem Posts: 11 | | Lens Review Date: September 7, 2011 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: N/A
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | Sharp in centre from 35 to 55 | | Cons: | Soft borders even stopped down, stay away from wide open | | Sharpness: 6
Aberrations: 5
Bokeh: 8
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 9
Value: 8
| |
This was part of a k-r kit and as such it's a good lens to start with, especially for beginners like myself. So where to start ?
This lens focuses very fast, although I had to fine adjust the focus using the in-camera feature of the K-r due to some back-focus issue. I don't know if it's the len's or camera's fault, however. The manual focus is not that reliable on this lens.
At wide end this lens is horrible, cell phone cameras take better pictures there. However, things begin to improve significantly at 24mm and from 35 to the 55 the image remains good in centre. The borders and corners are low quality, at least in my sample. I found out that from f6.3 to f11 this lens is pretty decent. You can buy cheap lens hood on eBay if that is an issue for you, personally I didn't notice any substantial difference in the image quality with the hood on, although it gives the lens a better look. Once you know the len's limits and not expecting a high end performance out of a 50$ lens, you"ll do just fine. I recommend taking several pictures each time and choose the ones you like afterwards, the fast focusing do help there. I personally don't shoot raw, I don't have the time nor the patience to post process, I think that takes the fun out of the photography experience.
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: March, 2008 Location: New Brunswick Posts: 199 | | Lens Review Date: September 1, 2011 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: $40.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Weight (very light), useful focal lengths, close focus ability | | Cons: | poor sharpness before f/8, purple fringing | | Sharpness: 6
Aberrations: 6
Bokeh: 5
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
| |
Typical standard zoom kit lens, with a plastic mount. I don't mind the plastic in a kit lens, makes it lighter more portable in my opinion (I would prefer my primes to have metal though). Quite soft from wide open, vignette at 18mm till f/5.6, string purple fringing tendencies.
AF is relatively fast and accurate, and it has a good close focus ability. The sharpness is good from f/8 to f/16 at the long end, f/5.6 to f/8 near the short end. For $40, you're getting a useable lens with AF that offers good sharpness around f/8, great for outdoor usage. Definitely recommend.
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: July, 2009 Location: 14er Country Posts: 209 | | Lens Review Date: August 30, 2011 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: N/A
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Small, Light, Optical Over-Achiever | | Cons: | Vignetting and Corner Sharpness Wide Open | |
Originally I picked this up to be a hiking lens. It featured a useful range of focal lengths for that purpose and it was oh, so light. As I began using it, I started to realize that this is a remarkable lens! If you avoid the extremes (don't shoot wide open at 18mm if you can help it, in other words), it will satisfy most users, most of the time. Yes, there are many better optics out there, but none of them will offer the versatility and performance/price ratio of this little wonder.
Because of all of that, I use this as my every day standard zoom, even with my K-5. I'm sure that lens snobs will sneer at such a lowly lens on a K-5. I really don't care. The DA L 18-55mm helps me to get the shots I like with very little penalty in terms of price or weight. I'd call it one of the most over-achieving lenses in Pentax's line-up. If you're looking for a light and/or cheap standard zoom, it's hard to beat this one.
| | | | | New Member Registered: August, 2011 Location: Boston Posts: 1 | | Lens Review Date: August 27, 2011 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: $100.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Weight, sharp, incredible for a kit | | Cons: | It's only a kit? | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
| |
Some people's reviews of this lens are just stupid, like the guy on the first page "Primes are better."
Well thanks for that Sherlock Holmes.
Seriously, for less than $100 this is an excellent lens - it's sharp, it's light, the focus is fast and accurate, the colours are good, the bokeh is good. If you want pro level lenses for less than 6 times the price, you need to be dropped into some water to wake you from your INCEPTION like dream.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: June, 2011 Location: Israel Posts: 128 | | Lens Review Date: August 18, 2011 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: N/A
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | Pretty good quality | | Cons: | No hood, aperture | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 9
Value: 7
New or Used: New
| |
This lens is pretty good. I got it with my Pentax K-r kit, so it is technically one of my first lenses. The quality isn't top notch but it still is pretty decent.
The things I don't like about this lens is that the aperture isn't so hot, only f3.5 at 18mm... and then at 55mm its at f5.6. So it doesn't work so well in low-light situations. Also they didn't include a hood. 
So yeah, I wouldn't recommend getting this lens, unless you already have it, or you're on a budget. There are much better choices. It still works fine though!
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: July, 2011 Location: New Mexico Posts: 67 | | Lens Review Date: August 16, 2011 | I can recommend this lens: Yes |
Price: N/A
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | came with my k-x; low cost; not bad at 35mm f8 | | Cons: | soft wide open at 18mm, 24mm; no hood | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 7
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 10
| |
I think that this lens is not bad at all. Certainly not the quality of some of the other Pentax favorites, but for average applications it works for me.
It is very handy for outdoor shots, at f6-f11. For 4x6", 5x7" prints, and web pics, I find it does very well.
I have taken quite a few test shots, that include an indoor resolution test using an 8x11 test pattern, indoor scene with two vases with different colors and textures, indoor newsprint test, and multiple outdoor scenes. Other lenses tested against include the 55-300 DA L at 55mm, and the Super Takumar 55mm f1.8. In my old eyes:
1) At all apertures, the 18-55 at 55mm beats the 55-300 at 55mm. Sharpness and color rendering are better.
2) To my surprise, with over 200 test shot comparisons, it more than matches the Super Tak 55mm at f5.6 and iso 200. As a matter of fact it edges out the Tak 55.
3) At f8 - f11, the Tak 55 becomes better.
4) At all focal lengths, constant iso (like iso 200 or 400), the pics get better as it is stopped down.
5) On my copy, the 18mm performance is better than I thought it would be. My opinion, however, is that the lens is best at f6-f8 at 24-30mm.
All in all, considering that it came for practically nothing with the k-x, it is an outstanding value for what it is. Weighs almost nothing and is easy to leave on the camera as a walk-around lens in reasonable outdoor situations.
I would rate it as a 7.5, but have to go with an 8 here.
| | |
;)
;)
