[carrrlangas]

Following https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/pentax-slr-lens-discussion/227944-my-thou...ut-pieces.html I finally got the time to take a walk with my new lens. I went to the Botanic Garden but I got there just in time for sunset, which I couldn´t see because the garden is surrounded by buildings.

I took some legacy primes with f/2.8 maximum aperture to compare how the DA16-50 does wide open.

M35/2.8 F28/2.8 A24/2.8

Notice all the lenses share a similar MFD.

"Test" specifics:
Every lens was shot wide open, maintaining position while changing lenses. Each pair of photos were taken within a minute of each other and exact same ISO and shutter speed. SR was on. Used hoods on all 4 lenses.
All pictures were developed with Lightroom 4.4 using "Adobe Standard" profile. Only adjusted white balance ad tint (same values for each pair). No sharpening, saturation, clarity. Nada.

So, which is which? Probably not the best samples for this but well, a caballo regalado no se le miran los dientes (You don’t look a gift horse in the mouth).

DA16-50 vs M35/2.8
A.

B.


DA16-50 vs F28
A.

B.


DA16-50 vs A24
A.

B.



My findings comparing the field samples:
All the primes have better CA, purple/green fringe control
All the primes have better edge resolution
When transporting a lens, I rather primes. When using them, I find more stability with the heavier lens (specially at low shutter speeds).
DA16-50 has better flare control and saturation.

Conclusion:
I would like the DA16-50 to have less CA, purple/green fringe. This is the one big drawback of this zoom I think.
I confess I´d also like better corner performance.. But honestly, my f/2.8 applications doesn´t require "edge to edge sharpness". If I do, f/4 should take care of it.
The more I look at the sample photos, the more surprised I am about the DA16-50. It really stands out. After all, it´s an APS-C zoom vs FF primes (using only the center, aka "sweet spot").

So, from my previous post, I found out the DA18-55WR was getting more use than my primes out of necessity / convinience / weather conditions.
Does the DA16-50 replaces the primes? sure not. Does it comes pretty close, considering the intended use? surely does.

[JinDesu]

I am going to wildly guess that the first shot is the DA*16-50, because it is consistently blurrier in the background compared to each of the respective bottom pictures. Not sure why it is though, if they were all shot wide open.

[ElJamoquio]

Focus location appears to be different for all three comparisons.

[carrrlangas]

I am going to wildly guess that the first shot is the DA*16-50, because it is consistently blurrier in the background compared to each of the respective bottom pictures. Not sure why it is though, if they were all shot wide open.

I noticed this too but...

Focus location appears to be different for all three comparisons.

... focus was set manually on the same element each time.

1st: Statue right hand
2nd: "middle" area of the leafs on the right
3rd: orange leaf nearest to the pole with the orange and white lamps.

[carrrlangas]

Here are some 100% crops comparing focus points.
It seems they are slighly different so that sohuld account for the difference in out of focus blur? The difference in the last one seems really small...
I also noticed a shift in perspective (I must have moved 1 or 2 steps forward) so I think it´s better not to pay attention to out of focus zones blur.

[c-meier]

I'd say the second shots of each set are the primes, because they have softer out of focus areas, consistent with lack of aspherical elements (except maybe the 24), and sharper in-focus areas, consistent with being primes. I might be utterly wrong, though, as I don't own any of the lenses. I even hope to be wrong and the 16-50 proving better than I thought.

EDIT: I only realized a few minutes later, I know that location What a beautiful city and what fond memories of strolling through that botanical park.

[Driline]

I'm going to go with Primes being all the B shots and the 16-50 the A shots. B shots look much sharper to me.

[carrrlangas]

You all guessed it right. The "A" pictures are from the DA16-50.

EDIT: I only realized a few minutes later, I know that location What a beautiful city and what fond memories of strolling through that botanical park.

Yes it is. I live quite near, so it is a good place to visit from time to time