[macTak]

I saw this link on the other forum and thought some here might be interested. It's a reasonably extensive review of the DA 18-135mm with comparison to the DA 18-55mm WR and DA 17-70mm. Note that it is in German.

http://www.tzcobretti.de/Testberichte/TestberichtDA18-135.pdf

[GeneV]

It is a very thorough review. The biggest issues tend to be silght decentering, which the reviewer feels should not occur in lenses in this price range. It seems that was an issue with an even more expensive Pentax lens some time back--leading to a serial number database.

[azimuthal]

O yeah the 16-50 had decentering as standard feature.

[Clarkey]

Thank you very much for this - It is good that they compared the logical choices. I would love to have seen the 16-50 to round out the group, but I guess then they would have to have looked at the 16-45mm as well, and the 18-250mm, which this lens replaces.

I'm actually sold, for me the slight letdown in sharpness is made up for in colour rendition, bokeh, range, weight and size, very fast, silent focus (It focuses fast on the K-7 too - just tried it) and generally good distortion and CA control.

This is a much, much better lens than the historical FA 28-200mm I used to have.

As to the decentering - it is a bit of a letdown, but how many group elements does this have (11)?

Sorry, one more quibble, no distance scale or Hyperfocal markings.

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Last edited by Clarkey; 01-02-2011 at 12:21 PM. Reason: decentering comment.

[goldenarrow]

How does one translate this PDF file into English? Thanks for any ideas.

[Exo]

Learn how to spreken zie deutsch?

[goldenarrow]

Nein!

[Clarkey]

Open the PDF, Select all, copy, open google translate, dump in as text, translate, select the RHS column, copy, open your favourite text editor and dump in.
I'd post it here, but it is copyrighted.

[georgweb]

I usually squeeze it through the google translator, Google Translate.

In this case it'd be probably best to download the PDF once (it's the private site of the reviewer) and then copy and paste single blocks of text.

There's a test pic with a mannequin with a german flag draped around her. Just imagine your country's flag there for an easy translation :-)

Just kidding, have a great new year.

[goldenarrow]

Thanks for the ideas! I tried to use Google Translate and it barfed, saying that the file was too big. They have a 10mb limit and it just goes over. I might try again after editing it in Adobe Acrobat and see what happens. I will not post it, since, as you say, it is copyrighted.

[goldenarrow]

Did the paragraph-by-paragraph copy and paste. Correct me if I am wrong, reading Google Translate is like listening to someone sing underwater - not quite sure what I hear or see.

Seems like a decent review with the lens showing strengths in contrast, color, flare control, little PF, good AF speed, and really nice bokeh. Less good were average CA and OOF color, the decentering issue mentioned above, average sharpness at 135 (but very consistent across the frame) and typical PF for this zoom type at the long end. Sharpness at 18mm was excellent in the center but average softness in the corners with f/5.6 best. At 55mm, Excellent sharpness in center and borders very good with f/8 marginally better than f/5.6. Vignetting wide open seemed 2x as bad at the long end than the short end for some reason. Distortion at 18mm pronounced which is usual for this kind of super zoom.

Price in Euros needs to come down, according to the author, for him to replace his current wide-to-short-tele Pentax lens. I can tell that he liked using it. Conservative 7/10 rating.

So, sounds like average at the extremes and excellent-to-very good in the middle focal ranges but with many strengths through the whole 18-135 range. Looking good, except for the decentering, which is a concern.

[Clarkey]

Did the paragraph-by-paragraph copy and paste. Correct me if I am wrong, reading Google Translate is like listening to someone sing underwater - not quite sure what I hear or see.

Snip....

Yes the suject verb order is flipped relative to most english sentences. I'm glad you got it in the end.