[kshapero]

Dang, was ready to pull the trigger on the DA* 55mm (I am a prime guy who wants WR) but now spooked by the Auto-focus issues. What now? Or is the AF issue on this lens exaggerated?

[kshapero]

Newbie WR question: If my lens is not a WR model, would that not make a "water opening" at the lens mount, thereby negating the WR aspect of the K-5 body itself?

[HEEGZ]

Newbie WR question: If my lens is not a WR model, would that not make a "water opening" at the lens mount, thereby negating the WR aspect of the K-5 body itself?

Yes. You can pick up the 18-55 WR for very cheap and the quality is good stepped down. However, I wouldn't hesitate to buy the 55mm for the water resistance. Buy new and return it if you have trouble with it.

[Adam]

If you just need the weather sealing I'd get the kit lens, as the screwdrive AF is faster, lol (IQ is worse, though)

Adam
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[creampuff]

Well speaking as a recent DA* 55mm f/1.4 owner, I was puzzled why my initial pictures were generally ok but weren't really tack sharp even with AF adjustment in the custom menu. Where I am, once you buy the lens and walk out of the camera shop, there is no such thing as returns. Having seen how sharp this lens can be, I decided to send my lens and K-5 for calibration to Pentax Japan. Pentax Japan replaced the sensor and adjusted the AF calibration. According to the job sheet they didn't do anything to the lens. Suffice to say the DA* 55mm and my other lenses now don't suffer from focus issues both indoors and outdoors. My DA* 55mm lens delivers consistently sharp images even at f/1.4.

So in a nutshell I'd still recommend the DA* 55mm because it is a stellar lens. I like it because I seem to find it easy to visualize the FOV even before picking up the camera and looking into the viewfinder. I've owned the FA 50 f/1.4 three times (love/hate relationship), the A 50mm f/1.4 twice and the Voigtlander 58mm Nokton f/1.4 SL II and I feel the DA* 55mm beats them all. I think many who may encounter sharp focus issues with this lens perhaps need to get their camera's AF module adjusted. It worked for me because my camera currently has no lens requiring any AF adjustment.