Ok guys, just to be fair, here is my say regarding the DA12-24.
all of you guys, Alex, creampuff, robin, and Wheatfield are partially correct with regards to CA.
in some situations, CA does appear, and in some, Don't appear. it can be horrible, especially against subject with backgrounds with strong highlights.
I had some shots taken with my 18-55 WR and DA12-24 at 20mm taking the same objects ( outside the Vancouver Museum on a sunny day) and displaying a different degree of CA. the kitlens was ok with regards to CA control but horrible with distortion, sharpness and contrast. the DA12-24 however got some strong CA, especially in the blue channel (most times).
I'm not saying that the kitlens nor DA15 dont have nor display CA. but what I'm saying is that the DA12-24 is more easily succeptible to CA as far as my use of it most of the time goes. there are steps however to avoid, minimize, or correct CA. it can be troublesome for some and can be negligible or easily solved by others.
honestly, I love my DA12-24 and rather disappointed with my kitlens. it is because I can work my way easily thru the CA that my DA12-24 displays. and NO, I dont have a defective copy (lol).
kitlens may have better CA control, but it failed my standard for architectures and landscapes.
if you want to work your way around CA, as I had mentioned several times, shoot at f8 and over or try to avoid shooting at wide open at the wider focal range (12mm-16mm but still very workable), shoot carefully (angle and positioning), avoid shooting objects with strong highlights and over and finally use some pp CA correction tools if you want to use it at faster apertures under harsh conditions.
btw, here is an example that I took with the DA12-24 shot at 12mm with an f5.6 opening.
I did some excellent CA corrections on the image. notice the highlight reflections on the bumper, those were full of CA's initially before I made the corrections afterwards. it only took me a few steps to remove 'em (less than a minute I think). as far as concerns with desaturating the other colors, judge for yourself if there is really a need to worry about it.
lastly, if you think that CA correction is a tedious work for you, just shoot B&W.