[Stratman]

So does the Pentax kit...

I never liked it, for the same reason. Maybe I got a bad one, but it always had issues with AF
at either end of the focal range, and I was just not impressed with the build quality. Now
that I have the Sigma 18-50 f/2.8 Macro as a walkaround, it really puts the cheap kit lens in
it's place. The trash. Maybe I'm being the lone dissenter here, but even the crappy Minolta
plastic zoom I have on my Maxxum works better. i wouldn't use one again if it was given to
me.

hmmm, RH in cognito? lol

[stevebrot]

So does the Pentax kit...

I never liked it, for the same reason. Maybe I got a bad one, but it always had issues with AF
at either end of the focal range, and I was just not impressed with the build quality. Now
that I have the Sigma 18-50 f/2.8 Macro as a walkaround, it really puts the cheap kit lens in
it's place. The trash. Maybe I'm being the lone dissenter here, but even the crappy Minolta
plastic zoom I have on my Maxxum works better. i wouldn't use one again if it was given to
me.

Personally, I am continually amazed at the results I get from the kit, despite the plastic look/feel. I have had no problems with AF and my only complaints have been distortion at 18mm and the small aperture. Maybe you did get a bad copy.

As for the Sigma...glad you like it. It should be better than the kit at 7X the price. I decided to pass on that one and will likely be replacing my kit with the Tamron SP AF17-50mm F/2.8 once it is available here in the US. (Wider angle and somewhat better performance than the Sigma for about the same $$).

Steve

As a side note...the reason I went with my K10D as opposed to similar offerings from N and C was at least partially based on the quality of the kit lens. The competition not only feels crummy...they also perform poorly (particularly the C product).

[pentagor]

Some pics from my KIT lens:

[bdann]

So does the Pentax kit...

I never liked it, for the same reason. Maybe I got a bad one, but it always had issues with AF
at either end of the focal range, and I was just not impressed with the build quality. Now
that I have the Sigma 18-50 f/2.8 Macro as a walkaround, it really puts the cheap kit lens in
it's place. The trash. Maybe I'm being the lone dissenter here, but even the crappy Minolta
plastic zoom I have on my Maxxum works better. i wouldn't use one again if it was given to
me.

Maybe you got a bad one. I've had a pretty good experience with the Pentax kit lens, and as this thread displays, others have as well. For a kit lens, it's pretty darn good.

[hinman]

Few of my photos from my beloved kit's lens

Thoughts on Pentax DA 18-55 - Hin's Tech Corner

@ 23mm, f/8


@ 31mm cropped, f/8


@ 18mm, f/8


@36mm f/5.6


@50mm f/9.0


And my memorable 1st photo in 1/2 second shutter on 1st day with my K100D is with the kit's lens hand-held

1/2 sec, f/4.5, 38mm, iso 200, -1/2 EV, hand-held

I have a hard time pushing myself to sell my 1st lens purchased with my K100D body. I thought about selling it like others in marketplace and so far I have been reluctant to do so even though I have a couple of lens overlapping the focal range:

• Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 Di Macro (my best portrait zoom)
• Pentax SMC FA 28-105 f/3.2-4.5 (my best walk around)
• Tokina 19-35 f/3.5-4.5 (my wide zoom sharp wide open)

[stevebrot]

Personally, I am continually amazed at the results I get from the kit...

I forgot to include one of my "kit pics"...



@55mm f/8 1/125 sec (hand-held), no post-processing except for Lightroom raw import

Here is a 100% crop. So pleasant to not see CA (well, maybe a little red/cyan) or purple fringing!

[7.62lew]

Here is a recent one with the kit lens. I really don't know what I'm doing, but I am having fun learning. I was messing with a polarizing filter on this one.

---

Last edited by 7.62lew; 06-20-2008 at 08:25 PM.

[jgredline]

Folks...Great stuff...You are all making want to break out my Kit lens

[w6wat]

I shot these today under cloudy skies. They are cropped to post here, but you can see how nice they came out. I used the kit lens, and all were shot at 55mm with natural light.

Even though the lens produces some disappointingly "flat" images at times, these images clearly demonstrate the ability of the lens to maintain three dimensions. I shot the same subjects with some of my favorite glass today, including some prized zooms and a few of my primes. I'm surprised to say the best images were achieved with the kit lens.

[JasonS]

I love my kit lens too:
Def has some vignetting, but for the money its the only wide I have. I'm considering something like the Sigma 10-20mm to fill my lust for wide angle.

[heatherslightbox]

If the kit lens had a little more reach (like to 70mm), I might not have gotten the Sigma 17-70. I think the images the kit lens can produce are on par with the 17-70 (unless you're a pixel peeper). At this point, I'm planning on keeping both, but the thought has crossed my mind of eventually getting rid of the Sigma and using the money towards one of the Ltd primes (or a 1:1) macro in an effort to lighten the weight of my kit.

For the price, the 50-200 can produce some amazing images for it's price, as well. As a matter of fact, I have my F70-200 up for sale in the marketplace, one of the reasons being that it's so heavy, in comparison to the 50-200 (about 10 oz. difference).

Other than the tele-zoom, I'm not making any rush decisions on what I'm going to do, but I'm going to make it a point to use both the kit and 17-70 over the next few months and save up some money and then I'll go from there.

Heather

[nanok]

LOL, this is what I was thinking.....

heh. glad you guys like those shots. but i must be realistic: seeing what people post here most of the time, it is bound to make you think "uggh.. what have i got?.. okay.. back to the drawing board".

anyway, by the looks of it, seems we have a winning kit lens. i am actually working hard to convince myself not to use it sometimes (as much as i love my 50/1.4 smc-m, in 60% of cases or so, the kit lens can do pretty much the same, for instance; ofcourse the smc-m is sharper, and so on, but at the end of the day.. )

[Mikhail]

I too love my kitlens. IQ wise it is hard to beat in its price bracket! Compared to the, for eg, Canon kit lens it is amazing! Build Quality, Image quality, focus speed are all better than the canon version.

Click for larger version.







Thanks

[oshiva]

yes I'm very pleased with the kit



This is Patrick Mezas, sculptor in Almere, the Netherlands.

[axl]

most of these - especialy the page 2 shots - are taken with DA 18-55...
User Photo Gallery - Uploads Posted By axl
I can't say much bad about that lens. It was really great first lens indeed....