Originally posted by LeDave But I definitely agree with his statement that Pentax offers the most for their glass at the price. The DA* 16-50 can go as low as 611 right now at Ritz discount. But when I look at a similar Sony lens with a fixed aperture of 2.8 which is the 16-35 and 28-70, I see that they are at 1600+ which is more than twice the cost of Pentax and the build quality is not even close and it's not even weatherproof either. All of the Sony's zoom that are under 1,000 are nowhere close to the quality of the DA* 50-135 and DA* 16-50 either.
Comparing the DA* 16-50 w/Sony (Carl Zeiss) 16-35 is not an apples-apples comparison, though. Putting aside the focal length differences, the DA* is designed for crop sensors, whereas the Sony is a FF design. Also, in terms of presitge, the Zeiss lens is beyond the Pentax. I don't know what the performance discrepancy is between the 2 lenses, but at least in terms of reputation, you're comparing a Camry with a BMW 550i.
I'm not saying Pentax doesn't offer great value compared to other camera brands - in fact, I think Pentax offers the best value - but watch what you are comparing.