[tibbitts]

Before I attempt to measure the exact amount of barrel wobble in my DA 16-45, I'm curious if anyone else has attempted to measure barrel wobble, and if so:

1. how you measured

2. how much wobble you found.

If possible, I'd like to test using a similar method to what others have done. I'm not aware of a maximum manufacturer-specified tolerance for wobble, but certainly if there is one, I'd be curious to know what it is and how it's measured (for any lens, actually, not just the 16-45, although by most accounts, and my own experience, the 16-45 is one of the worst offenders.)

[Ben78]

With the lens sitting on a V block use a dial indicator to measure the movement.
The movement is significant, personally I think it is the biggest downfall of the lens, other than the CA. It is super sharp and has awesome colour and rendition. If Pentax had done a better job of the build quality they could have called it a *

[EarlVonTapia]

The movement is significant, personally I think it is the biggest downfall of the lens, other than the CA. It is super sharp and has awesome colour and rendition. If Pentax had done a better job of the build quality they could have called it a *

I agree with this. It is why I sold mine and moved on to other lenses.

The barrel wobble is significant enough to affect picture quality.

It's a shame too since it's quite super at 16mm.

[tibbitts]

With the lens sitting on a V block use a dial indicator to measure the movement.
The movement is significant, personally I think it is the biggest downfall of the lens, other than the CA. It is super sharp and has awesome colour and rendition. If Pentax had done a better job of the build quality they could have called it a *

Although it looks and feels like a lot more, I'm seeing about .035in. (at 16mm) on my dial indicator. It's not the best dial indicator setup - I may try again later.

[Ben78]

I measured mine at 3.2mm 0.125" at 16mm. I wouldn't be complaining if I was getting 0.035!

[tibbitts]

I measured mine at 3.2mm 0.125" at 16mm. I wouldn't be complaining if I was getting 0.035!

I found that by clamping the lens to a table I was limiting the movement of the front element. But I can still only measure .065" by using somewhat more creative clamping. That doesn't sound like a lot, but is sufficient to see edge resolution issues on vertical images, at least with newer bodies. I didn't notice any degradation with my K100, but whether that was due to the lens not having as much wobble back then, or just the lower resolution sensor, I don't know. I really don't think my lens has deteriorated from (moderate) use, but since the change would have been gradual, it's hard to know for sure.

I'm still curious if anyone has had their lens serviced and can report to what degree it was possible to decrease the wobble.

[Ben78]

I've had my DA16-45 disassembled (long story, there is a thread about it though) and whilst I had it apart there was no apparent wear, and no serviceable adjustment to the wobble.

[Daedbird]

I've had my DA16-45 disassembled (long story, there is a thread about it though) and whilst I had it apart there was no apparent wear, and no serviceable adjustment to the wobble.

that stinks there is no adjustment