Love - Hate, Pentax 16-50mm?

nah · 04-09-2012, 10:55 AM

Anyone feel the same way about the 16-50?

There are days when I use it and the results I get are great. You look at the images and it's such an awesome lens...

Then there are days when you shoot with it and it's terrible. You think about selling it.

It's just probably my lens, but the sharpness at infinity focus is terrible. Focus overall is kind of all over the place too...

AKum8 · 04-09-2012, 11:13 AM

Same feelings for me. I don't use it so much because occasionally shots results as so great, some times just as normal.
I believe that I just have a better feeling with other lens than with 16-50, I don't truly understand that lens.

mano · 04-09-2012, 11:38 AM

The problem of good days and bad days I get with all my lenses, so in my case at least the fault probably lies with the photogrpher ;-).

I found the results I got with the 16-50 to be among my personal best during the time I used it. My reason for selling the lens had nothing to do with the quality, I just found out that in most cases I preferred working with primes and as a snapshot lens it was just to big.

nah · 04-09-2012, 03:29 PM

Originally posted by mano

The problem of good days and bad days I get with all my lenses, so in my case at least the fault probably lies with the photogrpher ;-).

I found the results I got with the 16-50 to be among my personal best during the time I used it. My reason for selling the lens had nothing to do with the quality, I just found out that in most cases I preferred working with primes and as a snapshot lens it was just to big.

I have no problems when I use my 35mm Ltd. I'm happy with all the shots I get from it, be it landscapes, macros, or portraits.

Verglace · 04-09-2012, 05:35 PM

I love mine, no issues with it, since I got it, my k-5 felt complete with the lens it should have, before that I just never got the same sense of completeness and harmony with the camera when I had my DA limiteds.

**wizofoz** · 04-09-2012, 05:50 PM

I got mine recently, and I'm trying hard to fall in love with it. I have it's sibling DA* zooms (50-135 and 60-250) and love them both, but the 16-50 just doesn't have the same impact on me. Maybe I'm just not a 'wide' shooter? Dunno

MegaPower · 04-09-2012, 06:21 PM

I really love mine and it's been great with my K10D, Kx, K7.

sharpness is not a problem but the only concern for me is CA.

disya2 · 04-09-2012, 09:05 PM

Originally posted by nah

...

It's just probably my lens, but the sharpness at infinity focus is terrible. Focus overall is kind of all over the place too...

That was my initial experience with that lens too (mounted on K-7). The problem is that the lens can focus past infinity and if you have back-focusing issue the lens will try to focus "farer" than infinity resulting in soft images. Somewhat later I re-calibrated it. Even +10 in AF microadjastment was not enough so I had to get into debug menu and enter +140 there (and reset microadjustmen value in non-debug menu). After that I was able to get very sharp pictures at all focusing distances. The above issue was with K-7 but for K-5 I just had to make +2 AF micro adjustment. If you have a K-5 then I suggest you to mount your camera on a tripod, turn on Live View and focus on some distant object using contrast-detection AF, take note on distance scale on your lens and then turn off the Live View and focus using phase-detectaion AF to see the difference.

Caat · 04-10-2012, 04:15 AM

I think at the extremes the lens is not as strong as perhaps it should be for it's current price: 16mm f/2.8 doesn't show off what the lens can do elsewhere in its range. I got it before the prices rises a few years ago and I think for what I paid (~£450) it represents fair value for me - it rains a lot where I live! But for it's current price it's a harder sell.

But it's capable for great things, and I very much like it's rendering and contrast.

PePe · 04-10-2012, 05:01 AM

I have no issues with AF. Of course it could be a lot faster, but that is a different story...
Generally speaking I am quite happy with the image quality, with the exception of wide open at 16mm.

robgo2 · 04-10-2012, 09:16 AM

I have never had problems focusing my DA*16-50 at infinity. Excluding user error, your issue may mean that there is something wrong with the lens, the camera body or the combination of the two. I would suggest sending both to Pentax repair to find out and fix the problem.

Rob

liukaitc · 04-10-2012, 10:23 AM

what I can say is it is a lot better than kit lens
I sent out my 16-50 for repair, so now my primary lens is kit lens, took a lot img recently, the impression is my img come out softer.
When I was using 16-50, I am not 100% content about the img quality, but now I think it is very good zoom lens.......

nah · 04-10-2012, 10:10 PM

It being as dodgy as it is, I can't believe Pentax is now selling this lens for $1499. For that price the Canon 24-70mm (ver 1) blows it out of the water optically.

RossCo · 04-10-2012, 10:32 PM

This is the lens that lives on my K7. I have taken 20,000+ images with it. When I have images that I am not happy with I can usually find what I did wrong. If something happened to mine I guess I would be spending the $1,499 to replace it.

rvannatta · 04-11-2012, 09:30 AM

Originally posted by RossCo

This is the lens that lives on my K7. I have taken 20,000+ images with it. When I have images that I am not happy with I can usually find what I did wrong. If something happened to mine I guess I would be spending the $1,499 to replace it.

Amen. I've got about the 8th from the oldest one listed in the serial database here---from 2007 I think it's on my 3rd camera body. when I first got it i worked as a screw mount for a while before a software upgrade came out allowing the SDM to actually be supported... it remains my
lense of choice.

04-09-2012, 10:55 AM	#1
nah Senior Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: New Westminster, Canada Photos: Gallery Posts: 282	Love - Hate, Pentax 16-50mm? Anyone feel the same way about the 16-50? There are days when I use it and the results I get are great. You look at the images and it's such an awesome lens... Then there are days when you shoot with it and it's terrible. You think about selling it. It's just probably my lens, but the sharpness at infinity focus is terrible. Focus overall is kind of all over the place too...

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04-09-2012, 11:13 AM	#2
AKum8 Forum Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Milan Posts: 89	Same feelings for me. I don't use it so much because occasionally shots results as so great, some times just as normal. I believe that I just have a better feeling with other lens than with 16-50, I don't truly understand that lens.

04-09-2012, 11:38 AM	#3
mano Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Posts: 151	The problem of good days and bad days I get with all my lenses, so in my case at least the fault probably lies with the photogrpher ;-). I found the results I got with the 16-50 to be among my personal best during the time I used it. My reason for selling the lens had nothing to do with the quality, I just found out that in most cases I preferred working with primes and as a snapshot lens it was just to big.

04-09-2012, 03:29 PM	#4
nah Senior Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: New Westminster, Canada Photos: Gallery Posts: 282 Original Poster	Originally posted by mano The problem of good days and bad days I get with all my lenses, so in my case at least the fault probably lies with the photogrpher ;-). I found the results I got with the 16-50 to be among my personal best during the time I used it. My reason for selling the lens had nothing to do with the quality, I just found out that in most cases I preferred working with primes and as a snapshot lens it was just to big. I have no problems when I use my 35mm Ltd. I'm happy with all the shots I get from it, be it landscapes, macros, or portraits.

04-09-2012, 05:35 PM	#5
Verglace Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Posts: 468	I love mine, no issues with it, since I got it, my k-5 felt complete with the lens it should have, before that I just never got the same sense of completeness and harmony with the camera when I had my DA limiteds.

04-09-2012, 05:50 PM	#6
wizofoz Site Supporter Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Melbourne, Outer east. Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,695	I got mine recently, and I'm trying hard to fall in love with it. I have it's sibling DA* zooms (50-135 and 60-250) and love them both, but the 16-50 just doesn't have the same impact on me. Maybe I'm just not a 'wide' shooter? Dunno

04-09-2012, 06:21 PM	#7
MegaPower Veteran Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Hong Kong / Irvine, CA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 636	I really love mine and it's been great with my K10D, Kx, K7. sharpness is not a problem but the only concern for me is CA.

04-09-2012, 09:05 PM	#8
disya2 Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Photos: Albums Posts: 91	Originally posted by nah ... It's just probably my lens, but the sharpness at infinity focus is terrible. Focus overall is kind of all over the place too... That was my initial experience with that lens too (mounted on K-7). The problem is that the lens can focus past infinity and if you have back-focusing issue the lens will try to focus "farer" than infinity resulting in soft images. Somewhat later I re-calibrated it. Even +10 in AF microadjastment was not enough so I had to get into debug menu and enter +140 there (and reset microadjustmen value in non-debug menu). After that I was able to get very sharp pictures at all focusing distances. The above issue was with K-7 but for K-5 I just had to make +2 AF micro adjustment. If you have a K-5 then I suggest you to mount your camera on a tripod, turn on Live View and focus on some distant object using contrast-detection AF, take note on distance scale on your lens and then turn off the Live View and focus using phase-detectaion AF to see the difference.

04-10-2012, 04:15 AM	#9
Caat Veteran Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: United Kingdom Photos: Albums Posts: 927	I think at the extremes the lens is not as strong as perhaps it should be for it's current price: 16mm f/2.8 doesn't show off what the lens can do elsewhere in its range. I got it before the prices rises a few years ago and I think for what I paid (~£450) it represents fair value for me - it rains a lot where I live! But for it's current price it's a harder sell. But it's capable for great things, and I very much like it's rendering and contrast.

04-10-2012, 05:01 AM	#10
PePe Pentaxian Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Helsinki, Finland Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 597	I have no issues with AF. Of course it could be a lot faster, but that is a different story... Generally speaking I am quite happy with the image quality, with the exception of wide open at 16mm.

04-10-2012, 09:16 AM	#11
robgo2 Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: New Mexico Photos: Albums Posts: 1,125	I have never had problems focusing my DA*16-50 at infinity. Excluding user error, your issue may mean that there is something wrong with the lens, the camera body or the combination of the two. I would suggest sending both to Pentax repair to find out and fix the problem. Rob

04-10-2012, 10:23 AM	#12
liukaitc Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: New York Photos: Albums Posts: 1,008	what I can say is it is a lot better than kit lens I sent out my 16-50 for repair, so now my primary lens is kit lens, took a lot img recently, the impression is my img come out softer. When I was using 16-50, I am not 100% content about the img quality, but now I think it is very good zoom lens.......

04-10-2012, 10:10 PM	#13
nah Senior Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: New Westminster, Canada Photos: Gallery Posts: 282 Original Poster	It being as dodgy as it is, I can't believe Pentax is now selling this lens for $1499. For that price the Canon 24-70mm (ver 1) blows it out of the water optically.

04-10-2012, 10:32 PM	#14
RossCo Forum Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 53	This is the lens that lives on my K7. I have taken 20,000+ images with it. When I have images that I am not happy with I can usually find what I did wrong. If something happened to mine I guess I would be spending the $1,499 to replace it.

04-11-2012, 09:30 AM	#15
rvannatta Pentaxian Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Apiary, Oregon Photos: Gallery Posts: 1,181	Originally posted by RossCo This is the lens that lives on my K7. I have taken 20,000+ images with it. When I have images that I am not happy with I can usually find what I did wrong. If something happened to mine I guess I would be spending the $1,499 to replace it. Amen. I've got about the 8th from the oldest one listed in the serial database here---from 2007 I think it's on my 3rd camera body. when I first got it i worked as a screw mount for a while before a software upgrade came out allowing the SDM to actually be supported... it remains my lense of choice.