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02-17-2022, 11:25 AM   #1
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18-55mm kit lens is pretty good I think

Just playing around with a photo test image I like. My method(s) are anything but scientific. Did use a tripod at 2 sec delay, ISO 800 on each.


The Pentax SMC DA L 18-55mm kit lens is pretty good, I think. Or perhaps I have a pretty descent copy of it. I'm comparing, a photo taken with it, to a photo taken with the prime SMC Pentax-M Macro 1:4 100MM at f4.

Perhaps take a look at each image and try to guess which lens was used before you look at the EXIF info.... Click any of the 3 images in the center, several times, to zoom in on such image...


First, the actual test image that is stored on the computer:



Then an image from one of the lens of a paper print out:



Then an image from the other lens of a paper print out:



Comments please....

02-17-2022, 11:47 AM   #2
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I found my 18-55 kit lens to be pretty good, too!

Others have the same opinion, apparently...See the kit lens club forum here.

Mike
02-17-2022, 11:53 AM   #3
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I've always felt, ever since Amateur Photographer magazine in the sixties, that these tests, under controlled conditions of lighting etc, bear little resemblance to real world image making. This was acknowledged in the aforementioned tests, which also contained images of trees and buildings adjacent to the offices in Sutton. Unfortunately, these images were then printed (presumably for reasons of economy) on extremely absorbent poor quality paper which gave little help in assessing the results - but at least they did their best, and since the subject matter was the same for each test, it was possible to do a certain amount of rough comparison.
02-17-2022, 12:09 PM   #4
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I couldn’t disagree. My copy is also performing very well. The close up capabilities are impressive for a kit lens and I find color rendering pretty appealing too. The only thing I find myself correcting all the time is the distortion at the wide end, of course.

02-17-2022, 02:11 PM   #5
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The most notable difference in the two images is the vignetting, with the 18-55 being worse. The difference in FL though makes it difficult to be sure, as the lighting was probably not homogeneous.

That being said, I have never found anything much to complain about with the kit lens. It was the lens I got when I bought my first Pentax, the K5. Together with the DA 55-300, it served as my all-purpose kit for a couple of years until I started collecting DA Limiteds, and haven't used it much since. I took it to India once when I wanted a light lens and WR.

We have recently been hosting my son's cat, the aptly named Loki. Loki is young and mischievous. He got into my photo-gear cupboard a few days ago, and up onto the camera shelf, 1.1 metres off the ground. He pushed the K5 + 18-55 off the shelf, and it hit the carpet with a huge THUD. I came running from the next room. Both camera and lens still work perfectly! It's a good thing Pentax gear is sturdy.
02-17-2022, 02:12 PM   #6
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I recently got a 18-55 WR version and am pretty happy with it so far. It's not as sharp as a prime but I think that sharpness is often overvalued.

I have the same issue with barrel distortion on the wide end, but it corrects out super easy in post.

I managed to get some starbursts on a handheld shot which was a nice surprise. Just a bit of ghosting is visible in the upper right. Those street lamps are throwing out a lot of light so this isn't a long exposure. Pretty challenging conditions for merely a "kit" lens! On a K5 mk1, my first Pentax and I'm pleased as punch with it.

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/attachments/26-mini-challenges-games-pho...ity_plaza2.jpg
02-17-2022, 03:10 PM   #7
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There are several versions of the DA 18-55 lens. The first DA 18-55 AL that I got with my istDL was a little soft. I replaced it with the DA 18-55 AL2 which had different optics and it was noticeably sharper.

02-17-2022, 03:11 PM   #8
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Yep, I once dropped a Pentax k2000 dslr onto the hard wood floor & expected a crack or some noticeable damage; however, upon close inspection I could not even find any type of mark on the body. I probably should have been more concerned about the damage to the wood floor - smiles!

As far as the lighting goes, there was a lamp just to the left & very close to the subject, which can likely explain a lot of what may appear to be vignetting....

Last edited by Michael Piziak; 02-17-2022 at 03:18 PM.
02-17-2022, 03:24 PM   #9
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It's a good lens design in terms of sharpness, which is all this test will care about.

I think most people thought (including me) that other lenses gave more pleasing pictures. Whether that had to do with color transmission, microcontrast, contrast or a combination of these, I don't know. In fact I thought the original DA 18-55mm gave better results in terms of the colors and rendering - but then the resolution apparently suffered, so they had to release the II version.

The same optical design was also released, with a significant tweak, as the HD DA 18-50mm retractable lens. The tweak is that the ELD element (extra-low dispersion) was substituted with an anomalous dispersion glass - the same kind of special glass used in the DFA*70-200mm. That was probably done so that Pentax could market the lens, as they still do on their site, as a "high resolution lens for modern sensors" such as the 20MP and 24MP that had been recently released in the K-3, K-S1 and K-S2.

Note that the SMC version that came with the K-S2 as a kit lens states that it used an ED element - not the anomalous dispersion element. That would explain why the pictures I see with the HD version were always a bit better than the SMC pictures (HD coatings help there too but usually the difference isn't as significant, see HD vs SMC DA 55-300mm f/4-5.8, for example, the difference isn't big). The SMC DA 18-50 would be similar in quality to the older SMC DA 18-55 (II and WR Versions).

Long story short, I bought the HD DA 18-50 and could not be happier.
02-17-2022, 05:45 PM   #10
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QuoteOriginally posted by MaineNative Quote
There are several versions of the DA 18-55 lens. The first DA 18-55 AL that I got with my istDL was a little soft. I replaced it with the DA 18-55 AL2 which had different optics and it was noticeably sharper.
same here although mine soft one was from a k100d and my better copy is the dal wr which is optically the same as the al2 but plastic mount and lacks quick shift
02-17-2022, 10:32 PM   #11
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I decided to take my un-scientific test a step further and capture images taken with Pentax SMC DA L 18-55mm kit lens, only, from F 3.5 in increments up to fully closed down at f22 Photos taken using the Manfrotto table top tripod in aperture priority mode, 2 second delay & allowing camera to choose it's own ISO for each image. Single lamp light source so I wouldn't make much of vignetting. Click several times in center of any image to zoom in further. Replies and comments please!

Original image from the Desktop computer



F3.5


F4


F4.5


F5


F5.6


F6.3


F7.1


F8


F9


F10


F11



F13


F14


F16


F18


F20


F22


Again, replies and comments please!

Last edited by Michael Piziak; 02-17-2022 at 10:41 PM.
02-18-2022, 03:29 AM   #12
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18-55 is sharp across the frame stopped down with good contrast. Good for landscapes. In fact I think it's sharper than the sigma 10-20mm at 20mm.
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