[psychdoc]

[I have not seen a thread in this section for this lens. Hope I have not overlooked it. If I did a mod can move it].

In any case, just got this lens and I have only used it for one day. I was hoping it would be a walkaround lens for me for events when i dont want to carry the pentax 50-135 with the tamron 17-50. As people have noted, you can shoot at longer lengths like 135mm provided the person is not far away. So I was satisfied with shots 1 and 2 but shot number 3 the person was at a distance and the 50-135 lens would have done the job better. Shot number 4 was at 18mm and the tamron 17-50 would have been better. But one cannot really compare them. Overall I think it does what it is supposed to do [for amateur photographers like me]?

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Last edited by psychdoc; 07-05-2012 at 03:04 PM.

[audiobomber]

Psychdoc, I'm not sure how the 17-50 would have done any better in your last photo. You focussed on the flag in front of you and it's sharp. The building is outside the depth of field (in the bokeh), therefore it is not sharp. What aperture did you use?

Lots more photos and discussion here:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-slr-lens-discussion/134615-pentax-...s-samples.html

and here:

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-slr-lens-discussion/179869-da-18-1...ml#post1986272

[psychdoc]

Psychdoc, I'm not sure how the 17-50 would have done any better in your last photo. You focussed on the flag in front of you and it's sharp.

The exif data should be with the pics. It was shot at f16. It has been cropped at the edges. But it was also at iso 80 which meant shutter speed turned out to be borderline. Also this was done without any calcualations and no tripod as I was passing by it. Now that I think of it, with the 17-50, most of my shots that were better were done more methodically and taking my time to check settings etc. I think the lens being labelled as a walkaround made me take shots 'walking around' and snapping away...I havent had time for more shooting after that. I need to think of it as a more serious lens, then I will be more methodical in shooting

[mgvh]

(There is an 18-135 thread in the SLR Lens forum, and I posted this there, but it seems like we should be building up this thread in the lens samples.)
Took the 18-135 as my only lens on a long day hike in the mountains of Montana along the East Rosebud. Here's Elk Lake. Photo is untouched except for being resized down. Note that it is at 18mm, and some have complained that the lens is weak at the wide and tele extremes.
Pentax K-x, 18 mm, ISO 200, 1/500 sec, f8

[audiobomber]

Nice one mgvh.

Note that it is at 18mm, and some have complained that the lens is weak at the wide and tele extremes.

135mm, f5.6:



18mm, f3.5



Pixel level crop from above (K-20D)

[Vicboy]

I've had the 18-135mm WR with me ever since I got the K-5.

EXIF is linked on top of image.

Comments:

1st: At this focal length, it isn't sharpy, but if the light is controlled nicely, it looks good.
2nd: Sharp at these focal lengths.
3rd: Spotlight overhead. I find it well controlled.
4th: Sharp at this focal length too. Extreme contrasts you see on the spotlights are tolerable.
5th: Look at that flare... It's aight considering this one had its clarity up'd.
6th: I loved its colors, and stars aren't so bad as well.
7th: Even at that focal length, I still find the pics usable and very good.
8th: Sharp enough. Distortion is visible tho.

I like the 18-135, it's been with me and has always been that lens I use if I don't know what focal length to use. I love the fact that it's weather resistant, and I always put it up to the test. Always loved the color and bokeh it produced.

Overall, I think it's a great lens, but its long telephoto range is not impressive. Portraits and landscapes would come out nicely tho.

[ramseybuckeye]

I just got this lens recently with a new K-30. I've been very happy with the combination. Yesterday I decided to put to a test. I took it to a professional soccer game. In the past I have taken my old K20D and a variety of lenses, with mixed results, usually mediocre at best during night games. This was a night game and I shot these in TAV mode. I tried all types of shots, the crowd, the game, etc. These are straight out of the camera, shot in raw, converted in LR3, saved at 40%.

This was from 80-100 yards away, a crop follows::



This guy was about 40-60ft away, crop follows:



This guy is sitting next to me:


At the beginning, still some light in the sky:


Focused at the corner of the stands, about 80 yards away:


On the field in front of us, about 30-40 yards:


Maybe 15 rows in front of us, crop follows:

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Last edited by ramseybuckeye; 09-30-2012 at 06:24 PM.

[psychdoc]

I recently completed 30 days of daily shooting with this lens and mostly trying out the wider end to continue with testing it as a walkaround. I like it.

Especially for outdoor shooting its probably just the right walkaround. Here are a few shots:









The 30 days of pics are located here:
psychdoc's Album: Single in September 2012 - PentaxForums.com

[Glenn5995]

Greetings everyone,

I have lurked on the forum for some time now and have learned much. This is my first post. I purchased a used K-7 earlier this year My first lens purchase was the Pentax SMC DA 18-135mm WR. I thought it would work well as a general purpose "walk around" lens and have not been disappointed. I have much to learn yet and my photos are quite lacking compared to many here on the forum, but they have improved and I hope they will continue to. As there are only a few posts here in the 18-135mm thread, I thought I would contribute a few I have taken:


100mm, f/5.6, ISO 100


115mm, f/5.6, ISO 200


135mm, f/5.6, ISO 200


53mm, f/5.6, ISO 200


36mm, f/5.6, ISO 200


3 photo bracket HDR - , ISO 100

[neilfuller]

I went to Jessops at the Metrocentre last weekend and they have loads of Pentax kit in stock, I took this on the 18-135mm at ISO 3200 and haven't touched the shot. This guy was a rep from Pentax and he was really helpful (and patient). This lens felt and handled great so will be buying it probably with the K30 as an extra body plus with the cash back it's a bargain

[David L]

Ive got it for two weeks and I find this lens is not bad at all...the center of image is as sharp as many primes..and AF is quiet and super fast. You just need to bear with vignette, or crop the image

[MPrince]

The 18-135 is my go-to lens when I'm shooting at a variety of focal lengths and don't want to take the time to switch lenses.

[BrianK]

I just came back from a 19 day trip to China. I took the K5 and the 18-135 lens as my main camera combo. I also had a long zoom Panasonic point and shoot. I shot over 4500 images and some video with the two cameras and almost 3/4 were shot with the K5 and the 18-135. I had taken a couple of limiteds with me but found that we were on the move most of the time (organized tour), so it was not very easy to change lenses.

The 18-135 was a very useful lens for this type of trip. A couple of times I wished I had the 55-300 but, because of the haze in the air in China, the longer lens would not have been useful. Most shooting was done well within the range of this lens and it performed very well with the K5 at high ISO with night shots on the Yangtze and other locations. I am very pleased with this lens on the K5.

I would have taken the K30 and this lens but had not determined the battery life with that combination. With the K5 and the 18-135 I got close to 900 shots on the first battery and only changed it out because I did not want to risk missing any shots.

I would recommend that you look at this lens as a walk around lens.

Image one is of the Great Wall and Image two is an example of fashion in China today.

[Nick Siebers]

I'll throw a few in. Good travel lens; kept it on for almost the whole trip, can't immediately tell which ones I used the FA 43 for. That means it kept up. Not terribly sharp at the edges but doesn't bother me yet.

Panda, doing what he does:

(Lighting a bit flat, but panda sits where he will)

Python, having a snack

(A rare occurrence, hard to watch but impossible to look away.)

Wood ducks

[Hegemon]

sorry for posting these in two threads but they both had the 18-135 as subject

DA 18-135mm pics:


















































It's the only lens I take with me when I go on vacation and I love it! for the other 400+ pictures I took with it (except the NYC November set):

Flickr: The Last Hegemon's Photostream