[RICHARD L.]

[paulh]

End of day along the river

You're getting some nice shots with your new lens, Richard

Tourists at Serra Cross Park in Ventura, Calif. DA18-135 on K10D, f/9.5

[RICHARD L.]

You're getting some nice shots with your new lens, Richard

So do you, Paul. I visited California 15 times over the years and I find your pictures so refreshing and so evocative of your corner of Paradise (like the Junipero Serra Memorial Park).

Regards

[JimJohnson]

Sunrise over Lake Superior
K-30, ISO 3200 1/20 f/5.6 - as shot by camera

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[usn ret]

Sunrise over Lake Superior
K-30, ISO 3200 1/20 f/5.6 - as shot by camera

WALL HANGER!!!! Thanks for sharing. Cliff

[HoutHans]

Snow Geese resting on the shoals, DA 18-135 mm ED WR at 135 mm FL @ f/11.



K3 + DA 18-135 mm ED WR at 21 mm FL, 1/320 sec @ f/11. Very good resistance to flare and to veiling glare.

The second one is great. I love the colours and the image is indeed perfect evidence of flare resistance. You're quite the ambassador for this lens. Now I need to start developing some of my images....

[RICHARD L.]

You're quite the ambassador for this lens.

Hans, you know, I'm just one user among thousands of DA 18-135 mm owners. What puzzles me is when critics badmouth a particular lens or photographic accessory. If I can, I acquire said lens or accessory, put it through its paces and form an opinion for myself. Very few Pentax manufactured items have proven to be junk and, if they underperform, I will say so too. I found a MINT DA 18-135 mm ED WR copy on eBay from Japan for 190 $ (a very reasonable and affordable price), ordered it and tested it like I test all my lenses. Over the years, I amassed 30 medium-format Pentax lenses (13 P67's and 17 645's) and now 30 K-mount lenses. Well, I use my equipment mostly for landscape photography with an occasional architecture stint. So, f/11 is my "usual aperture opening" and I use a tripod as much as I can. Testing this particular lens, I found it performed very well for my needs. I don't feel like an "ambassador", rather more like a "Don Quijote" trying to right wrongful, inaccurate reports that tend to malign a remarquable piece of equipment. Lenses are just tools and you must learn how to use them to the full extent of their technical potential. I look for excellent, uniform sharpness across the frame, deep contrast, nice colors and ultimate resistance to flare, caracteristics desirable in landscape endeavors. This DA 18-135 mm zoom passes the test.

Best Regards !

---

Last edited by RICHARD L.; 05-24-2021 at 06:52 AM.

[RICHARD L.]

I mounted the K3 + DA 18-135 mm ED WR zoom on my tripod and took this picture of my front bedroom window in partly overcast morning light. I noticed some "color fringing" around the upper branches of the Norway Maple that were located against a bright whitish sky. Up to now, this seems like the only weakness of this particular lens. I present the whole original shot (1/13 sec @ f/16 and 18 mm FL) plus a 4X magnification of the righthand upper corner. Despite the color aberration (CA), the image remains sharp and contrasty. Like they say in French : "c'est fendre les cheveux en quatre" (splitting hairs in four), in normal landscape pictures, this should not pose much of a problem, but it's always better to "know".

[HoutHans]

Hans, you know, I'm just one user among thousands of DA 18-135 mm owners. What puzzles me is when critics badmouth a particular lens or photographic accessory. If I can, I acquire said lens or accessory, put it through its paces and form an opinion for myself. Very few Pentax manufactured items have proven to be junk and, if they underperform, I will say so too. I found a MINT DA 18-135 mm ED WR copy on eBay from Japan for 190 $ (a very reasonable and affordable price), ordered it and tested it like I test all my lenses. Over the years, I amassed 30 medium-format Pentax lenses (13 P67's and 17 645's) and now 30 K-mount lenses. Well, I use my equipment mostly for landscape photography with an occasional architecture stint. So, f/11 is my "usual aperture opening" and I use a tripod as much as I can. Testing this particular lens, I found it performed very well for my needs. I don't feel like an "ambassador", rather more like a "Don Quijote" trying to right wrongful, inaccurate reports that tend to malign a remarquable piece of equipment. Lenses are just tools and you must learn how to use them to the full extent of their technical potential. I look for excellent, uniform sharpness across the frame, deep contrast, nice colors and ultimate resistance to flare, caracteristics desirable in landscape endeavors. This DA 18-135 mm zoom passes the test.

Best Regards !

Indeed, calling it like it is, that is what would help a lot in general as well. Ambassador is not the most appropriate term since you're really honest and knowledgeable (as shown in the ' fringing image' above (which is a challenging scenario for any lens). Above all, thanks for sharing your honest opinion on the lens and please do consider a write-up for the lens reviews section.

In the meantime, here's a sample of what I've been doing with my 18-135

[/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/2m1nh1d]Reeds[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/155361133@N02/]Hans Vedder[/url], on Flickr" target="_blank">

[JimJohnson]

I mounted the K3 + DA 18-135 mm ED WR zoom on my tripod and took this picture of my front bedroom window

Likely you would see the same CA without the house windows. At the same time, it is a non-optical surface and at an angle to the plane of the lens. As such, it will add some distortion to the image.

I learned my lesson about house window glass a few yeas ago in a big way. I purchased a used DA 55-300 and upon opening the box, mounted the lens and took a 300mm test shot through my office window of a building down the block. The image was so bad that I thought I had a deflective lens. I had a very small panic attack until I stopped to think - I live in a 115 year-old house and my office window is original glass. I had incorrectly assumed that the close distance window defects would blur with the lens focused at infinity. I stepped outside the house and took another shot and saw a comparatively beautiful image. That is an extreme example but I learned my lesson. I reduce my expectations regarding image quality when shooting through any window glass. It isn't always the fault of the lens.

[paulh]

bench with a view...DA18-135 on K10D:

[RICHARD L.]

please do consider a write-up for the lens reviews section.

Done !

---------- Post added 05-25-21 at 12:11 PM ----------

Likely you would see the same CA without the house windows.

This test will be duplicated outside when I have time but I expect the results to be similar. Thank you for your input.

Regards

---------- Post added 05-25-21 at 12:13 PM ----------

bench with a view...DA18-135 on K10D:

The Pacific is so ..... pacific. lol ! Very nice image, Paul.

Regards

[mattb123]

I mounted the K3 + DA 18-135 mm ED WR zoom on my tripod and took this picture of my front bedroom window in partly overcast morning light. I noticed some "color fringing" around the upper branches of the Norway Maple that were located against a bright whitish sky. Up to now, this seems like the only weakness of this particular lens. I present the whole original shot (1/13 sec @ f/16 and 18 mm FL) plus a 4X magnification of the righthand upper corner. Despite the color aberration (CA), the image remains sharp and contrasty. Like they say in French : "c'est fendre les cheveux en quatre" (splitting hairs in four), in normal landscape pictures, this should not pose much of a problem, but it's always better to "know".

Fortunately it's easily correctable with a checkbox in Lightroom. I've noticed fringing in a lot of lenses, even the Limited primes.

[RICHARD L.]

I guess I've been spoiled by using P67 lenses on my 645Z. I'm using only the absolute best central part of the illuminated field, thus color fringing never seems to manifest itself on digital medium-format pictures. This DA 18-135 mm zoom barely covers the APS-C photogram, so I must stop "grieving about CA" and keep this knowledge in the back of my mind so as to avoid catastrophic situations in the first place. Thank you Matt for your soothing remarks.

Regards

[Des]

mounted the K3 + DA 18-135 mm ED WR zoom on my tripod and took this picture of my front bedroom window in partly overcast morning light. I noticed some "color fringing" around the upper branches of the Norway Maple that were located against a bright whitish sky. Up to now, this seems like the only weakness of this particular lens.

It's not bad in that example Richard. You will get worse PF sometimes with leaves/branches against a sky.

I've noticed fringing in a lot of lenses, even the Limited primes.

Same here, even with HD coatings. But the coatings do help - it would be good if they were added in a refresh of the 18-135.