[John Hales]

I know the 16-85 isn't meant for a K1 but wondered if anyone has tried it? I am guessing vignetting in the corners, but how bad? Any sample photos? Thanks

[Adam]

I know the 16-85 isn't meant for a K1 but wondered if anyone has tried it? I am guessing vignetting in the corners, but how bad? Any sample photos? Thanks

I have some on my other PC and can dig them up if you ping me this evening.

TLDR: don't use the 16-85mm, get the 28-105mm instead.

It's very far away from full frame coverage across the range. Most of the image circle outside of the APS-C area is simply black. Note that this holds true for most crop lenses that start at a very wide focal length, since those are often optimized for compactness.

[funktionsfrei]

It gives heavy vignetting. Not worth trying it.

I have used that lens on my K-5, it fast became my most-used lens. But since two years I'm using a K-1.


It would be really nice if Pentax were developing an equivalent for that lens for the K-1; no, the 28-105 falls short of being an equivalent.
It's to long on the short end (28 mm instead of 24 mm) and to short on the long end (105 mm instead of 128 mm).

Other camera manufacturers do have lenses with that focal range (for instance the 'AF-S NIKKOR 24–120 mm 1:4G ED VR' or the 'Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS II USM', at least at the shorter end), there used to be a Tamron Lens in Pentax mount (the 'Tamron 24-135mm f/3.5-5.6 AD Aspherical IF Macro SP AF'), but that's out of production since quite a while, and the one sample I've had the chance to test was rather ... soft.

At least for me, the shorter end is important; 28 mm quite often isn't wide enough. I can live with a shorter long end, currently I'm using a SMC Pentax-FA 24-90mm F3.5-4.5 AL [IF], but that one begins to show it's age (I've bought it used and it shows some wear and tear).

Maybe I'll "upgrade" with an even shorter 24-70, but I really don't need that lenses speed at f/2.8.

[bdery]

I owned the 16-85 before getting the K-1 and still use it, albeit in crop mode. It works well, I like the lens and its focal range (wider than the 28-105). So for me it's a working combo. But it will never work as a full frame lens, not even close.