Originally posted by Des Comparing apples and oranges?
Not for me, no. I need something in the wide-ish to normal-ish range with WR for taking out in the rain and on the beach. I have the range fairly adequately covered in fast glass already, so it is really only the WR that I'm missing. I had the 18-135 and, while a good lens, it's nothing special. That said, the choices are the 16-85, the 20-40 and the (star) 16-50. Unfortunately, they all have their downsides...the first two are not as fast as I'd ideally like, and the third has some unfortunate build issues and a step up in price. Given that the star lens's price seems to me an awful lot to pay for something with such a high chance of early failure, the other two are left standing.
The 20-40 and the 16-85 are both similar speed, both DC, both HD, both WR, both APSC, both in the wide-ish to normal-ish range, both kinda similar price...just one has that Limited 'dust', the other has more range. So to me, more like comparing a cox's apple and a pippin.