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01-08-2019, 08:55 AM - 1 Like   #16
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My wife likes taking the 28-105 out on her K-5
I like the 18-135 on my K-3.
On the K-1 it's always the 28-105.

------------------------------------------

So the 28-105 wins the contest taking 2 out of three.

But you still might be one of the "ones".
To me, it's about flexibility. I'd rather have an 18-135 image than nothing. She'd rather have nothing if the shot might not meet her standards.
It's a personal decision. So in my house it's 1:1. If asked, I'm sure Tess would say "get the 28-105." (But she also has a Tamron 17-50) Ask me and it's "get the 16-85 or 18-135 depending on how important the extra flexibility of the 18-135 is to you, or the IQ of the 16-85."

The 18-135 isn't a bad lens, but it does require some discipline in FL selection. From 70mm-135mm , it's not all that good for landscape as it lacks edge sharpness, but excellent for portraits and pseudo macro (flowers etc.) as it has excellent centre sharpness throughout it's whole range.


Last edited by normhead; 01-09-2019 at 06:57 PM.
01-08-2019, 09:26 AM   #17
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I had a 24-135mm F2.8-F4 when I originally went APS-C and didn't find the focal length all that useful (it had been a great walkabout lens with film) so for me I don't think a 28-105 would be all that useful on APS-C. Would be useful on FF of course.
01-08-2019, 10:46 AM   #18
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I would keep the 18-135. I have booth and I like the extra zoom range it gives. What if you never buy a FF?
01-08-2019, 01:34 PM   #19
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Like others have said, with a 28-105mm lens you'd have no wide angle at all. Especially since you are just getting into photography, you would be doing yourself a disservice to be without wide angle capability. It is really hard to beat the choice you have made, and that includes quality.

The DFA 28-105mm DC WR lens was designed for a full-frame (FF) sensor camera body, namely the K-1. On it, there is plenty of wide angle. Your DA 18-135mm lens on the K-1 would be nearly unusable due to its being designed for a smaller sensor, APS-C, so its smaller-cut elements would cause vignetting (a darkening the image corners) when used with the larger sensor, except Pentax is again unique in that their K-1 can be switched to APS-C format, using only that portion of its larger sensor, to accommodate APS-C lenses, but with resolution reduced to about the same as 16mp APS-C sensors. Pentax did a fine job with their FF-oriented DFA 28-105mm lens, which even on a FF body does not match the zoom range of your DA 18-135mm lens on your APS-C type body, and especially since having a very fine 24mp sensor! A DFA zoom lens on a FF body would have to be one of 28-200mm to (almost) match the image size you can get with your lens and camera. Your lens zoomed to 70mm provides an image size about the same as 105mm on a FF body. But your lens can deliver a wider aperture of f/4.5 at 70mm, which the DFA lens cannot do at 105mm. Wide open at 105mm it would be at f/5.6 instead. As you gain experience, you will come to see how this can be advantageous for you in certain important applications.

If you want to visually see how very capable your lens really is, there are only a few test comparisons to confirm what you have already seen posted on this forum. But don't pay attention to test chart shots- unless your hobby is photographing test charts. And many reviews are simply the results of machine evaluations like DXO, with which there are too many variables, with different results with different sensors, etc. to reflect real-world use. I believe more in looking at comparative images. Just google the name of your lens: Pentax DA 18-135mm DC WR review, and in the listings will appear a test review by Imaging Resource. Pay no attention even to their opinions. You have two eyes of your own and presumably good vision. Go directly to the still life scene- test shots of real world objects! Offered are wide-open aperture at different focal lengths, where the lens will be at its greatest disadvantage (least performance), and again at mid-aperture f/8 where it will be at its best. Click on a category. Then click on the center of the image, which will be the edge of the basket. You will get a huge blowup, bigger than you would view in normal viewing of an image. You can move around the image from there. Check the detail and sharpness of the figures on the Hellas and Fiddler's Elbow bottles, among others, as well as the writing on the Samuel Smith bottle. This covers a broad central image area. To check edge performance, go over to the far brush and circular numerical scale.

I'm sure you will find that comparisons with other fine lenses proves your lens is doing very well, indeed. One very highly-rated zoom lens by Pentax is their HD DA 20-40mm f/2.8-4 DC WR Limited, which costs far more than your lens, with a great build quality but a much reduced zoom range. You can google it and bring up the same test. Of course your lens can't do f/2.8 at any FL, and its edge performance is not as good, but otherwise, it gives a very good accounting of itself in the same range, especially if you are not shooting wide open. That combined with all it can do, and its very good build for the cost, makes it very special.


Last edited by mikesbike; 01-08-2019 at 01:53 PM.
01-08-2019, 02:24 PM   #20
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I'm fairly certain nearly all full frame cameras have an APSC crop mode. The d810 Nikon does.
01-08-2019, 03:37 PM   #21
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thanks guys for the reassurance. I should stop reading these reviews online. Will stick with the 18-135mm.
01-08-2019, 07:51 PM   #22
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Next thing, is be sure not to have your mode dial set on the "green" auto, as it will disallow many adjustments as well as disable many controls, but have it instead set on "P" for full automatic-exposure Program operation.

Then, go to the Custom Image menus. You can access these via the info button, which brings up a links screen for adjustments. Now the 4 buttons surrounding your ok button will serve for navigation. The first section on the links screen will likely be the Custom Image section, and therefore should be pre-selected. Hit the ok button to open the section. Again by default, the camera will most likely now be set to the "Bright" category, which is best for most shooting needs. Hit the info button again to open the menu and to adjust parameters. Tab down to the Sharpening adjustment, which by default in this category will be up by 1+ from center. Leave this as is. Just use your thumb dial to implement Fine Sharpening by putting an "F" by the"S. then hit ok, and then ok again, now turn off the camera. You are done. These are important measures.

The reason it is necessary to do this is because the camera's default settings are conservative. The reason for this is because for certain uses, it is best left under-done. For example, under-done may be best for portraiture in order to be flattering for certain subjects, especially older people. So when you shift to the "Portrait" category of Custom Image, it will remain untouched by the change you made in the "Bright" category.

Later, you could increase the Sharpening level in the "Natural" category up to 1+ to match that of the"Bright" setting, and add Fine Sharpening there also. It has less contrast and a more toned-down color palette. Then be sure to return to "Bright" for most uses.

Eventually, if you go into shooting RAW images, you will be attending to all this in post process, doing the sharpening, etc. on your own with each image. But for convenience and for time saving, an optimum setup for out-of-camera results is even then a good idea to have available.


Last edited by mikesbike; 01-08-2019 at 08:00 PM.
01-09-2019, 10:06 AM   #23
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Perhaps the "Sharpness" setting could be described as crude rather than conservative, and Mike's suggestion for changing the default sharpness is certainly worth implementing. Both "Fine Sharpness" and "Extra Sharpness" give better results, and I now use the latter on the K-70. As Mike has also written, keeping the Custom Image set to "Bright" is a good starting point for general photography, although the actual settings within it are somewhat subjective, my preference being to centralise all the parameters, i.e. to zero.

Philip
01-09-2019, 01:12 PM   #24
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I don't have the 28-105mm, so I really can't comment on that lens. I do have the 18-135mm and the K-70 (along with a variety of other pieces of glass, including WA), and I have to say that the 18-135mm spends more time on the camera than any other lens, and by a significant margin. It is very versatile, so if I'm not sure exactly what I will be shooting (when traveling, for example), it's my "go to" lens. As others have said, you might find losing 10mm on the wide side to be limiting, more so than on the long side.


In any case, enjoy your new K-70 with either lens!
01-09-2019, 01:46 PM   #25
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QuoteOriginally posted by rickc118 Quote
I don't have the 28-105mm, so I really can't comment on that lens. I do have the 18-135mm and the K-70 (along with a variety of other pieces of glass, including WA), and I have to say that the 18-135mm spends more time on the camera than any other lens, and by a significant margin. It is very versatile, so if I'm not sure exactly what I will be shooting (when traveling, for example), it's my "go to" lens. As others have said, you might find losing 10mm on the wide side to be limiting, more so than on the long side.


In any case, enjoy your new K-70 with either lens!
That's the thing. So many people slag it it's embarrassing to reach for it, but it's always on the K-3.
01-09-2019, 02:40 PM   #26
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I have both lenses, the 18-135 and the 28-105:





The 28-105 is a better lens on k1 (FF) than the 18-135 on the k5/k3/etc, but in aps-c I prefer the 18-135 because it's a more versatile lens.

The 28-105 on my k1:

01-14-2019, 04:31 PM   #27
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Dan, hopefully, by now you've gotten the basic setup done and have had decent weather to get some shots, and maybe experiment a bit. When you're ready, I've got a simple assignment for you which involves control by you over the camera's decisions, so you can see the outcome. It could involve shots of a stationary subject, or of a friend or family member, in good weather conditions for such shots. Good, bright daylight with some high, thin clouds for even lighting would be very good conditions.
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