Originally posted by rparmar Hi Tux, can you point me to where these might have been tested side by side?
The photos at
Pentax Photogallery look pretty amazing, but are too small to properly judge.
I don't think they were ever properly tested side by side. I was just comparing photos from both lenses on pbase. I'm a little biased, but I love primes. I love shooting with my F 50/1.7 and haven't used my kit lens, since I got it. Since I have this preference, I really just go for primes. My nex lens will be a DA 21/3.2 Limited. Once I get it, I'm going to sell my kit lens because I'll have the wide and normal rnages covered with two lenses. Yes, zooms can be convenient, but you can take any shot with any lens. You have to use your feet with a zoom and a prime. And the first saying applies to a lot of situations, but you need to be reasonable.
In this case, you just need to try both lenses and pick one that you like. To me, the pictures from certain primes seem sharper than that of the DA* 16-50/2.8. However, that's really subjective when you're dealing with these kinds of lenses with absolutely amazing quality. You should just pick what you like to shoot with more. It's as simple as that. To get a good idea, you should just look on pbase for photos.