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02-22-2011, 09:14 AM   #1
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Is DA*16-50 worth the price over kit lens?

The, by most accounts very good, DA L 18-55 kit lens goes for perhaps $80. The DA*16-50 f/2.8 goes for about $800 currently. So my question, is this lens worth a 10x premium? Is it 10x better than the kit lens?

I am contemplating upgrading my kit lens but I'm having a tough time visualizing what something 10 times better should look like.

02-22-2011, 09:20 AM   #2
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You should be able to find one for less than that but yes. IMO, there is really no comparing the two.

02-22-2011, 09:29 AM   #3
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there are a couple of stepping stones to this lens both better than the kit
17-70 f4 @479 and 16-45 f4 @599, not to mention the options from sigma and tamron that exist.
The kit is not a particularly remarkable lens, just good for it's price. (not consistently sharp, performs pretty good at 35 f8.0, but then the new 35 does that at pretty much all f stops)

not sure i could justify the da* to myself given the SDM history with this model, but it is supposed to be quite good in all other respects
02-22-2011, 09:39 AM   #4
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Lets not forget the Tamron 17-50 f2.8 which is less than half the price of the DA*16-50 and performs optically almost as well.

Of course the tammy is not weather and dust sealed and not SDM (good: no eventual SDM problems, bad: noisy screw drive)

Pat

02-22-2011, 09:40 AM   #5
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Do the stepping stone prices really go like this in Canada? Here the 16-45 is twice cheaper than the 17-70. It represents great value as such.

The price increase is never proportional to increase in quality when talking lenses. You always have to pay premium to get the best available. But to many buying lets say 31limited is worth the premium over DAL35 because the picture taking opportunity is priceless and only the better lens will give them the result they desire.
02-22-2011, 09:46 AM   #6
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the prices were bh photo

i didn't look at Canadian pricing as OP is in the US

in Canada on quick look at one of the cheaper dealers

da 16-45 - 369

DA 17-70 - 629

da* 16-50 - 929

the tamron runs around $429
the sigma 17-70 $549

makes more sense perhaps i copied incorrectly from bh
02-22-2011, 09:49 AM   #7
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One word answer here - Yes.

02-22-2011, 09:53 AM   #8
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The World's Best Photos of pentaxda1650mm - Flickr Hive Mind
Full-size sample photos from Pentax 16-50mm F/2.8

There's always the Sigma 17/18-50mm and Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8's.
02-22-2011, 09:58 AM   #9
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Having owned a kit lens once and now the DA* 16-50... There is a definite answer: yes. It is worth it. I know that it's (DA*) not perfect but I've gotten some stunning images out of it...
02-22-2011, 10:21 AM   #10
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It's not $800 but $1k actually. The $200 is for the 1st SDM repair after warranty, and extra afterward depends on how long you intend to keep it.
02-22-2011, 10:25 AM   #11
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Still it doesn't fail as much as EF-S 17-55 :-)
02-22-2011, 10:26 AM   #12
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QuoteOriginally posted by elho_cid Quote
Still it doesn't fail as much as EF-S 17-55 :-)
Only in your dream.
02-22-2011, 10:43 AM   #13
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QuoteOriginally posted by wlachan Quote
Only in your dream.
Just stop trolling around in every thread mentioning the Da*, OK?
According to lensrentals site almost one third of 17-55 needed repair during the year they had the production problem. That is now over as well as the DA* production problems. Even in the worst case scenario, which is RH's research the DA*16-50 was more reliable.

And you know what?
That didn't stop me recommending the EF-S 17-55 to my girlfriend. Just because it is optically the best in it's class she could get for 1.6 crop Canon. The same goes for Da*16-50 on Pentax.
02-22-2011, 10:49 AM   #14
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Ultimately, any lens is only worth the money you spend on it if you (a) gain significantly more joy from shooting with it to forget about how much you paid for the lens, or (b) you can justify the cost with getting exceedingly better optical quality out of your shots. Only you can answer these questions.

The 16-50 is an optically stunning lens, and as mentioned, the Tamron 17-50 comes very close to this kind of optical quality - with a couple of functional differences. But in comparing these to the kit lens, the results are like night and day, and shots from the 16-50 in many instances cannot be created by the kit lens even with good PP skills.
02-22-2011, 10:55 AM   #15
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I haven't owned a 16-50mm, but my copies of the kit lens have been pretty sharp at f5.6-f8. (I was stupid to sell the last one, which was particularly good.) I tried a Tammy 17-50mm--very sharp, indeed.
Still, there is another route you could take, which I found to be best for me. I don't know if you are familiar with DxO: a software that automatically corrects distortions, CA, vignetting, etc., in addition to greatly increasing sharpness and bettering contrast for the supported lenses. In a word, it does wonders to the kit lens. I find the kit lens + DxO an excellent choice for general purposes. Of course, the kit lens isn't a fast lens, but you can get 2-3 old primes between 28mm and 50mm.
So, for the price of a DA 16-45mm or Tamron 17-50mm, you could have a very nice piece of software that betters the quality of all of your images plus 2-3 primes, plus the kit lens. Just another option.
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