I kayak a lot and keep my k-7 in a pelican case and have a pentax optio w60 that I keep handy for shots. Generally, I have either my 21 mm limited or my 35 mm macro on the k7, with a long zoom in the case in the off chance I want to try taking pics of birds.
I keep the k-7 in P mode when kayaking, because I usually don't have enough time to take my hands off my paddle to really fiddle with the camera when in conditions. I think I Have the auto ISO limited to going up to 400 ISO. I decided recently that I really should be using a WR lens while kayaking and that the 18-135 would be a good compromise where I could do wide angle shots that are normally my landscapes while on the water and get a reasonable zoom if I try to sneak up on a bird and I could crop to make it appear closer.
Generally, I can tell a huge difference in the quality of my pics when I look at the ones I took between the point & shoot w60 & what I take with the k-7... However, looking at the pics that I got between my w60 & the 18-135, I gotta say, the point & shoot did a far better job... The only time I was impressed with the 18-135 WR was when it was sunny & when I was zoomed all the way in - otherwise, I got a lot of noise, softness, the pics seemed flat, and just well... generally crappy. I know I can get good pics out of my other lenses (I've got the 16-45 zoom in addition to the primes) in similar conditions & camera settings and I know I've read favorable reviews on this lens. So did I get a crappy one, should I adjust something in my camera (I did play with the exposure comp some which wasn't an improvement), or is this about par for the lens? Right now, I'm pretty much going to return it.
So here's some examples: Optio w60:
18-135:
optio w60:
18-135:
optio w60:
18-135mm:
YOu can see more examples of both cameras, here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/ImmunoGirl/OptioW60Vs18135MmWRZoomOnK7#
I tried to just post ones that were mostly comparable shots between the 2 cameras. I maybe got a handful of shots that I would consider really good out of the 18-135mm, but that's not enough to make it worth while carrying the k7 or that lens while in a kayak...
Any suggestions? How about the 70-300 WR or the 50-200 WR? Am I likely to hate those, because I really hate the 18-135 at this point.
One of the really good ones out of the 18-135:
Trying to take pics of moving birds was disappointing, it did as well as my point & shoot:
Pics from the entire trip:
https://picasaweb.google.com/ImmunoGirl/AnacostiaRiver