| Author: | | Senior Member Registered: March, 2010 Posts: 234
12 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: September 20, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $700.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | sharp, quality is greate in my case, bokeh | | Cons: | heavy aberations | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 6
Bokeh: 8
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 8
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K7
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Now I think I’m ready to make a report about this Lens. Lets try!)
History of the purchase
I bought this lens in the May of 2012, it was used. And I bought it for my brother, who is also Pentaxian. Because he has Me as his elder Bro. Before making this purchase I already had FA 16-45 and Kit lens and some others, so I had an alternative and also tried and was looking after other Third party lenses, and actually was thinking about Sigma as a better choice. But there was a good lens with a good price in a very good placeand time, and brothers money btw %))), so it happened. I was afraid about SDM issues, I think everybody buying this lens is feeling weird about this issue, but the original owner had no SDM issues with it and I bought it. I had no reason not to believe him.
Condition and Price
It was almost like New with all stuff like boxes papers etc. Also there were two filters 77mm – UV and CPL both HOYA, I think, both used. The overall price was 700$ so it was a very good price. It was in Almaty Kazakhstan, only a few people use Pentax Gear there so the second hand prices for Pentax sometimes lower there than in the outer world)))
I tested it carefully, the SDM worked perfectly, it was sufficiently fast. But every test info is already posted I think here is almost the best link
https://www.pentaxforums.com/reviews/pentax-16-50-vs-sigma-tamron-17-50mm/introduction.html
Relationship history and my feelings about this lens
Here I want to emphasize that everything I’m talking about is just my opinion with no pretends on overall sence.
So I bought it in May and left it home while getting to my PhD studies in Novosibirsk. My brother used it and was glad with pictures quality, and the fact he do not need to switch lenses, to make portrait or landscape.
My main experience with this lens happened this August (2012) when I was on my hiking trip to Tajikistan in Fani mountain. It was a hard choice what to take – I had a several options: FA 16-45 DA 14 Da 18-55 Sigma 10-20 DA * 16-50 DA50 – 200 and DA * 50-135. And a key parameter was weight-quality. Because it was 17 day trip with heavy backpacks, so every 100 grams were counted. And chosen pack was DA * 16-50 DA50 – 200 (and I was glad because of the first lens and not very glad about the second). So I had a continuous 20 – 25 day experience of DA *16-45 Usage.
Conditions were extreme also for the technique: It was warm in a daytime and cold in the night, almost every day s was rain or snow, and in the tent it was wet climate. It was always shaking in my Photobag. I also took off the hood and mounted used UV filter(sometimes I switched it to CPL), because it was usefull. And what I can say both lens and K7 worked well for the whole trip. I will never complain about this purchase.
My K7 with DA 16-50 were always on my neck, I almost hated them))) because I also had a 28 kilo in my backpack. And there was a lot of shots both portraits and landscapes, I was very glad with this lens. It fully satisfied my needs. In the trip I had no energy and time to switch lenses so 16-50 – was the best choice.
I think this lens is a very good choice for a hard trip.
PS
Yes there were aberations, I new about them.
Best Regards.
Sergey
Now Pictures. The best reasons to talk about lenses, some portraits – cropped.
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Portraits
 | | | | | | | Junior Member Registered: January, 2018 Location: Kütahya/Merkez Posts: 27
8 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 14, 2018 | Recommended | Price: $400.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Fast Aperture, Superior Build Quality, Sharp For A Zoom Lens, WR. | | Cons: | Minor Cons: A Bit Heavy, A Bit Slow AF, Vignetting, CA. | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 6
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 7
Handling: 8
Value: 9
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K-3
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Great all around lens.
Pros:
+ Sharp enough for a zoom lens. (The edges are a little bit soft at wide open as usual.)
+ Covers the most needed focal lenghts for most jobs. (24-75mm Full Frame Equiv.)
+ Weather and Dust Proof.
+ Build like a tank. (This lens is really solid.)
+ Constant F/2.8 aperture saves lives when it comes to low-light shooting and portraits. (Especially at 50mm)
+ Bokeh is pretty good at 35-50mm f/2.8
Cons:
- AF is a little bit slow. It's not the best lens for events or street photography. (That's why there are prime lenses.)
- Heavy and big. (It looks even scary at 50mm with the hood on.  )
- It has serious vignetting problems at 16-24mm at f/2.8-4 (It can be easily fixed at post-processing.)
- It has serious CA problems. (It can be easily fixed at post-processing.)
- Manual focus ring is smooth but the range is so small, It's hard to use.
- Not the best lens when it comes to price/performance. (It definetly worth it for me but it's subjective.)
So, who should buy it?
* Beginner and enthusiast photographers who're looking for good quality all around lens for APS-C. This is the best you can find in the market for now.
* Any photographer who's looking for a WR, fast zoom lens. You don't care about anything. Simply take your camera and this lens and you're good to go. No worries at all. 
* It's subjective but most travellers prefer to carry 1 or 2 lenses with them. This lens should definetly be one if you're using an APS-C body.
Who should not buy it?
* Photographers who shoot at events a lot and need fast AF to work with. This lens performs ok, but not the best when it comes to AF. It's a little slow.
* Street photograhers. This lens is a little bit big and heavy for this neeche. It pulls all the attention when it's zoomed in, especially with the hood on. It also lacks of fast AF. Go for a prime lens instead.
A few sample images taken with K-3 and DA* 16-50mm 1:2.8 SDM (Especially pay attention to chromatic aberration and sharpness):
This image was taken using manual focus but for some reason, the stars were blurry when i focused to infinity or around infinity. They were sharper when i pulled the focus to about 1.5 to 2 meters. It's weird, I'm trying to figure it out. Note that the blur in stars also has to do with the shutter speed being 30 seconds.
Some chromatic aberration is visible in high contrast areas like the edges of the flower. It was taken at F/4 at about 35 - 40 centimeters distance from subject.
This image was taken using Pentax K-3's HDR feature at +/- 3 Stops Auto setting. The lens was looking directly into the sun (behind the archer on the right). This image shows how DA* 16-50mm 1:2.8 SDM handles chromatic aberration in harsh light, literally shooting directly into the sun but it was taken to experiment and for fun.
An "OK" shot taken at sunrise.
You can also do street photography with this lens, in fact i did quite a lot of street photography with this lens but personally, i prefer the Pentax-A 50mm 1:1.7
The starburst effect at apertures F/8-22 is also quite pleasing for me.
 | | | | | Closed Account Registered: March, 2015 Posts: 8,694
8 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: June 23, 2016 | Recommended | Price: $535.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Build quality, f2.8, weather sealing, zoom range | | Cons: | None for me. | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 9
Value: 10
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K-3
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I find the DA* 16-50 to be a fantastic lens ( now ). When I first got this lens I thought that I had got a " bad " copy. The only thing that was " bad " was my technique in using it. Very fast lenses and lots of megapixels highlight flaws in hand held camera technique very quickly. I found some of my images were tack sharp and others with some blur. It would have been too easy to blame the lens. Once I got my head around the large drop in depth of field from 50mm to 16mm at f2.8 from the same shooting distance, my keeper rate of photographs improved. Practicing good shutter release technique improved my keeper rate more again. The SDM problems that this lens has had in the past was not a deterrent for me getting it. If my SDM stops working, I will get it repaired. The fear of it breaking down did not prevent me from getting it. I would have missed out on some valuable to me photographs if I had l had let the prospect of SDM failure cloud my thoughts. All the DA* lenses are quality items. I can highly recommend the 16-50.
 | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: April, 2009 Location: Oxford, UK Posts: 2,375
7 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: June 1, 2012 | Not Recommended | Price: $961.00
| Rating: 3 |
| Pros: | Build quality, performance at f5.6 | | Cons: | CAs, poor to very poor below f5.6 | | Sharpness: 3
Aberrations: 3
Bokeh: 7
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 8
Value: 1
New or Used: New
Camera Used: Pentax K5
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I've found this lens to have great build quality and the weather-sealing is a boon in a damp climate. The autofocus isn't the fastest but it is fast enough and accurate and I've had no problems with it. There is more flare and CA than I was expecting, but then as with any lens these are only hassles if you are not prepared to work around them and/or correct in post.
Apertures:
At f2.8, my 16-50mm is so soft at any focal length as to be unusable for more than the lowest quality shot. Brick wall tests, focus tests, etc, have checked out OK so I think it is just soft, period.
At f4 it is better but still not good and shots at this aperture are really OK only for web use sharpened and reduced if the image is of something taken fairly close. My 18-55mm kit lens does a better job at f8 than my 16-50mm does at f4 or below.
The sweet spot is f5.6. My 16-50mm lens performs well at this aperture, perhaps as it was intended to. Images at f5.6 at 20-45mm are pleasing - with great contrast and Pentax colours and plenty of detail resolved fairly sharply. The image is a bit distorted at the borders at 16-18mm and gets a tad softer at 45-50mm. The sharpness is not up to the standard of my DA limiteds, but as with any lens it's the overall rendering which matters and I like it.
At f8 the lens is better than at f4 but not so good as at f5.6. One can see the sharpness and contrast beginning to go. The slide into softness, diffraction et al starts again at f9 and above.
Overall, however, for a lens marketed as pro and sold for a sky-high price, I am extremely disappointed. Maybe I have a poor copy but checking the web suggests that a lot of folks have had similar experiences with this lens. If it were an f3.5-5.6 or so kit lens for a few bucks the optical performance might be thought outstanding, but for the price (and I bought it for less than it currently goes for) this lens is a ripoff considering the very narrow sweet spot at which it hits the kind of performance its price might suggest.
I realize my rating is rather harsh. If this lens cost considerably less and/or was reworked as an f4 lens and/or had a similar performance at f4 and f8 as it does at f5.6, then I would have rated it much more highly. I would rate it at 8 for its sweet spot performance, docking points for it costing so much and for flare/CA.
Update on 23 July 2012. I have had the lenses calibrated by Pentax service here. The difference was night and day, and I can see that when properly set up this lens can produce work of good quality. Alas, within ten days of getting the lens back, the zoom and the focusing system stuck solid. I managed to work them free very slowly and carefully but there is now a loose and rasping sound from within, so something has failed or popped out. So back to the service centre again. I won't change my rating now. On song, 8 would be fair for this lens but two failures one after the other on a new lens is really deserving of a 3 at best.
| | | | | | | New Member Registered: January, 2013 Location: Ontario Posts: 10
6 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: April 22, 2014 | Recommended | Price: $800.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | build quality, weather sealing, constant f/2.8 aperture, sharpness, SDM focusing, bokeh | | Cons: | tough to understand and use | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 10
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 9
New or Used: New
Camera Used: K20D, K-5 IIs, K-3
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This lens has attitude problems.
What I mean by that is that it is an extremely stubborn lens to grasp.
On the one hand it is astoundingly sharp and produces bokeh no other zoom lens could hope to replicate. The AF is fast, quiet and accurate, the zoom ring is smooth and direct, the focus ring is well dampened and has click.through stops (it clicks at the end of the focus scale but continues spinning, which is GOOD!) The construction is awesome, and it is weather sealed. Mine has been submerged completely when my kayak rolled and still has no issues. The focal length range is extremely useful and the aperture remains a constantly quick f/2.8 all the way through.
On the other hand, this lens is moody and simply doesn't want to be consistent between copies. You really have to get to know your specific copy because each and every one of them has their own little "zone" that they perform the best in. For mine, it is at 22mm and f/3.5. For my friend's, it is at 40mm and f/4. Another copy I have observed peaks at the 35mm f/3.5 mark and yet another seems to love 20mm at f/5.6
You have to use the lens every day for at least a solid month before you even BEGIN to understand its unique quirks. Every copy seems to have a tiny focus issue which has to be adjusted in the camera. Once you dial in the AF, the sweet spot, and even its favourite operating temperature (trust me, a big difference between shooting it at 0°C and at 40°C) you will be amazed at how astounding this lens truly is.
If you are buying one, get ready for a wild ride and a long learning curve because, after a year of use, I STILL don't think I completely understand this beautiful thing.
It's my workhorse lens. The one I can depend on more than any other. The one that I simply KNOW will always pull through for me.
But there is always that little glimmer of doubt and fear of it throwing a mood swing. That fear is what ends off driving you to be better than you were yesterday.
Below are two shots taken with the lens at a recent concert.
 | | | | | New Member Registered: December, 2014 Posts: 6
5 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: November 27, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $450.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | F2,8 for whole length, sharpness at center, WR resistance | | Cons: | heavy, ring handling, corners not sharp, expensive | | Sharpness: 7
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 8
Autofocus: 7
Handling: 6
Value: 6
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K-3 II
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For this price i expected much more. Price is really the biggest downside of this lense i would say. New piece still over 1000 dollars is crazy. This lense is heavier than similar lenses. The zoom adjustment ring was very hard to turn, not pleasant to use. Autofocus is rather slow. At corners it is not sharp enough. On K-3 II body i had problems with autofocus! First it was struggling to get focus right, going back, front little bit, back again, it literally took several motor adjustments to connect the focus. What was worse, It tended to focus behind the object all the time, and even fine adjustment in the menu didnt help to solve it, but this was rather occasional problem appearing only with this body, On K-5 i didnt have this problem, it worked surprisingly great !
At center it provides really great sharpness. Aperture F2.8 through the whole length is a great feature. Overall build quality is very good and weather resistance is also very important for me.
However, i would rather recommend this lense instead -- HD Pentax-DA 16-85mm F3.5-5.6 ED DC WR. Although not so great on specification, it provides really great overall performance.
| | | | | Forum Member Registered: December, 2012 Location: Warsaw Posts: 83
5 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: April 6, 2017 | Recommended | Price: $200.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Very good to STUNNING IQ. Screw-drive-ability on K5. | | Cons: | SDM failure by the previous owner was my LUCK! | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: Used
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Interesting, how ratings of this glass do vary from 3 to 10... maybe inconsistency in QC (quality control) or in EL (expectations level) ;-)
I was lucky to get this lens in very good optical/mechanical condition really cheap due to its SDM failure. Screw drive conversion took me no more than 5 minutes.
I am user of a very good copy of the Tamron 17-50 f/2.8, so the IQ expectations were quite high. No regret: DA 16-50 produces stunning IQ results across the entire Tamron (REAL) zoom range:17,7-50mm. At 16mm centre sharpness is great from f/2,8 - from f/7,1-f/8 corners are very good, too. I'm not a landscape pro and I don't pixel-peep extreme corners shot at f/2,8 on 16mm setting. Contrast, colour and resolution is what this lens produces. Weather Resistance and Manual Focus all-time override are also two important features.
Screw-drive AF is quite fast and accurate - Pentax type :-). Only one AF correction value is required for the entire zoom/distance range, while for my Tamron I needed to remember few different values for different focal length and distance (the only reason I sold it).
Pentax DA 16-50 is bigger and heavier than Tamron/Sigma, but the advantage is that the REAL focal length on the wide zoom end is 16mm while Tamron is 17@17,7mm and Sigma is 18@19,5mm.
Considering the prices of the new lenses I'd go for well selected Tamron with confirmed, accurate AF mechanism. Tamron is more compact and also has great colour and resolution, but for the price I've paid - I am a happy man with my DA 16-50.
| | | | | New Member Registered: October, 2013 Location: Naples Posts: 10
5 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: November 1, 2013 | Not Recommended | Price: $500.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | Built, tropicalized, colors, 2.8, some optical "sweet spots". | | Cons: | expensive, inconstant optical quality, SDM issue risk | | Sharpness: 7
Aberrations: 6
Bokeh: 8
Autofocus: 6
Handling: 7
Value: 6
New or Used: New
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If we can say that STAR means "Professional"... let me say this...
Thi good zoom is NAMED "STAR" and PRICED as it...
... but, for me, it's JUST because it's a TROPICALIZED and TOP LEVELE BUILT one. IN that terms, if you need it and want to pay for it, it's ok, it's a star.
Optically, it is NOT a STAR. The 50-135 and the 60-250 are. This 16-50, if not a copy of higher quality of of the medium level, shoud not be considered a Star.
Professionally, it is NOT a STAR; because of the hight risk of SDM problem, and the cost, in terms of money and time, to fix it out of warranty.
Let me explain my opionion. I had 2 copy of that optic, and tryed another one.
Optical performance: absolutelly non constant form center to border, from wide to tele, from 2.8 to f11.
Generally, this zoom is sharp wide open only at center, where it's just sharp from 16mm to 22mm and from 40 to 50. It very sharp from 23 to 39mm.
Sharpness became better at f4. Very sharp in the center, just sharp on borders. It became very sharp all across the frame only at 5.6. The best sharpness in between 23 and 36mm. In this range it's like a star should be. But if I can appreciate the relative softness around 50mm in the use for potraits, it's such a mess in term of wide angle shots and tele shots. The same behavior it has about contrast and colour aberration, changing across focal lenght and at wider aperture.
The wide angle (16-22) is very prone to flare, low contrast, purple fingering and colour aberration until f5.6. f 4 is not so bad, but not good at all for a "STAR".
Ok, it has a very good colour rendition and tone to tone transition, as a prime, a good contrast (from f4) and some 3d effect, a very good bokeh too... but it's good like this ony at 5.6 or from 23 to 36mm, with sharpness only in the center. It's more like a "medium rank" optical quality, than a "STAR". It makes me think that it's no the best, but just the faster (2.8) one with some "STAR" features like the strong built and the tropicalization. Can it justify the price?! I think not, at least if you dont'n need it too much. The tamron and sigma 2.8 zoom is cheaper and has a not so worse immage quality. We cal live without "tropicalization" and some SMC coluours, or not?
PROBLEM n2: SDM FAILURE
Too much of them has gone, and are still broking, often after warranty exipiration. 300$ and 3 months. It's such a mess for a STAR afeter 5 year of production.
It's a total mess if we think Pentax should permitt the use of screwdrivere AF motor simply modifing 3 or 4 values of the firmware, saving us customers from loosing money and time to get fixed, with the high risk that it will broke again in a short while.
I cant' reccomend thi zoom. It has great colours, a great rendition in some "sweet spot" and a wonderfull built, but for me that's not enought. It's not a Star for me, does not value that hight price.
I would like to say "Buy it used" but with the SDM issue, It should has at least in half warranty perdiod left, that means hight price.
What can I say... try to find a usde, optically and functionally upper level copy... if you do, you will be very satisfayed, as many owners may be not at all.
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: May, 2016 Location: Bristol, Tennessee Posts: 369
4 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: December 23, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $345.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | well built, sharp stepped down, weather resistance | | Cons: | auto focus issues, soft wide open, stiff zoom | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 8
Autofocus: 7
Handling: 9
Value: 8
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K3
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I love this lens! I bought it used 4 years ago when I upgraded to the K3. Before that I was using the 18-55 kit lens. I have taken over 30k photos with this lens. I shoot mostly travel, landscape, city-scape, family photos, and this lens has the best focal range for what I'm shooting most of the time. I only break out a longer lens when shooting sports, concerts or nature. It is a solid, well built lens. This does make it heavy, but on a heavier body like the K3 I find it well balanced. The lens is very sharp when stopped down, and wide enough for landscapes. This lens is not quite wide enough for real estate indoors shots in tight places (bathrooms, walk-in closets), but you can get by, and the images are great. The constant 2.8 allows lots of light for night and concert type shots, but it is a bit soft wide open. Although for the enthusiast like me, shooting band concerts, most wouldn't notice, and it'll look much better than the kit lens. My version was converted to screw drive before I purchased it, so I don't have to worry about SDM failure, but the screw drive autofocus is a bit noisy. It's quick and accurate enough for most uses (limited only by the AF system in the camera). You're probably not going to be using this for video, but the zoom ring is quite stiff, so zooming while videoing is not going to be easy without shaking the camera. On the plus side, it'll stay put where you have the zoom set. In the photos I've taken, I've had aberrations that made an image unusable a very small number of times. Most of the time they are easily corrected. The weather sealing is great. I've had this at the beach, in a rain forest and I've not had any issues. Overall, this lens is excellent, especially if you can pick up a used, screw-drive converted copy.
| | | | | Junior Member Registered: May, 2015 Posts: 33
4 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: July 29, 2018 | Recommended | Price: $500.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | great optics | | Cons: | chromatic aberation between f/2.8 - f/4 | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 8
Autofocus: 7
Handling: 7
Value: 5
New or Used: New
Camera Used: Pentax k5II and Pentax k5IIs
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Maybe i was expecting more from this lens if i put in balance the price i paid.
I tested this lens on Pentax K-5 II and Pentax K-5 IIs , but honestly i don't know what to say. For the price i paid i was expecting more.
Cons:
- Chromatic aberration at f/2.8 and f/3.2. I got less chromatic abberation on a cheap Tamron 18-200/f3.5-6.3
- Lazy focus. I was expecting more from a SDM
- the hood is a litle bit larger. If you use this lens for holidays, is a little bit bigger with the hood on.
Pro:
- Great optics after f/4
- Sharp
- Nice bookeh
- Bright
- Great colours
- very good in details
- Solid and high quality construction
So, if you can buy this lens with less than 500euro, go for it. It is a great lens for all around/travel.
Is much more better than Tamron 17-50/f2.8 and sigma 17-50/f2.8. It captures some details that only on full frame you can see.
I also attached some pics, straight from the camera.
   | | | | | Senior Member Registered: May, 2011 Location: Hanoi Posts: 213
4 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 27, 2015 | Recommended | Price: $800.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | WR, sharpness | | Cons: | autofocus, wide angle | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: Pentax K5 IIs
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In such a good weather, the powerfull of DA* 16-50 f2.8 is clear, so there is no need for further argument.
 San Agustin Church, Intramuros, Manila, on Flickr
 San Agustin Church, Intramuros, Manila, on Flickr
 Intramuros, Manila, on Flickr
 Underground river, on Flickr
| | | | | Loyal Site Supporter Registered: September, 2009 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 7,591
4 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 30, 2015 | Recommended | Price: $670.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Tough, weather resistant | | Cons: | Somewhat heavy | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 8
Autofocus: 7
Handling: 9
Value: 8
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K-3, K-5, K-5ii, K-01
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I have had this lens for almost 3 years and have used it extensively hiking in the deserts of Arizona and Utah. So it has been exposed to extreme temperatures and rough use. It has performed flawlessly for me. I am aware of the SDM concerns but (knock on wood) I have not had problems. It is not the fastest focusing but it is silent and smooth. The IQ is very good for a zoom. Changing primes in the desert is not a pleasant prospect. I purchsed mine from Amazon Warehouse Deals listed as Very Good. It appeared unused when I received it. It has gotten hard, frequent use since but can be cleaned up to look almost as good as new. I am fond of everything about the lens except the weight.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: June, 2008 Location: Grimsby UK Posts: 224
4 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: April 17, 2013 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | sharpness, sharpness, focus speed | | Cons: | weight, ubalanced when zoomed | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 8
Value: 9
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K-5 mkii
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Having read so many bad reviews of this lens I kept my Tamron 17-50mm for nearly four years when I decided I had to try this lens myself. Lens was bought from a fellow forum user.
When I bought this lens I factored in teh cost of an SDM focus repair, touch wood mine has been fine so far, as has my four year old 50-135mm.
The build quality of this lens is awesome, it just feels quality and is bigger to hold than the 50-135mm which is also a lens of beauty.
The lenz is heavy with a 77mm front element and feels a lot heavier than the Tamron. I have read many times that the Tamron's IQ is up there with the 16-50mm as a user of both I can categorically state it is NOT. The Tamron is good value but not as good as the Pentax quality wise. The auto focus on the 16-50mm I have found to be faster and more accurate than Tamron too which tended to hunt rather a lot, the Pentax does not except under extreme conditions.
The lens profile for lightroom makes some strange distortions at 16mm, usually dragging into the corners, I have made my own adjustments to the profile which seems to work better as can be seen in the final image below.
So how sharp is it???
at f/2.8 natural light
Portraits and AF in a dimly lit club at f/5.6
 | | | | | Senior Member Registered: February, 2009 Location: Lévis, Canada (Québec) Posts: 144
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: December 19, 2018 | Recommended | Price: $475.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | Weather sealing, good IQ when stopped down | | Cons: | IQ wide open at wide angle, AF | | Sharpness: 7
Aberrations: 6
Bokeh: 7
Autofocus: 7
Handling: 9
Value: 6
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K-5, K-7, K10D
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I bought this lens used on eBay Canada to replace my 16-45mm F4 ED, as I wanted a wide angle lens with weather sealing.
The lens is a mixed bag when it comes to sharpness. The center sharpness is very high at medium apertures throughout the whole range, but wide-open, it's another story, with muddy corners and soft borders. For really sharp results across the frame, I have to stick to the 28-35mm range. The problem isn't much of an issue for portraits, as I tend to shoot at 50mm and F2.8, with the subject usually sitting in the sharp central area. Shooting wide open at 16mm is another story: F4 is usable, but the lens needs to be stopped down (to F5.6 or F8, depending on the focusing distance) to produce really sharp results across the frame. All that said, it's sharper than my old 16-45mm at F4 (the 16-45mm needed to be stopped down to F8 for good corner image quality and the center sharpness is great from F2.8, which still makes the lens more usable.
The bokeh is surprisingly good wide open and at pretty much all focal lengths: it's not buttery smooth, but it's rather pleasant for a zoom lens.
Lateral chromatic aberrations are very high throughout the 16-50mm range. They can be a real problem at wide angle, especially in the corners. I shoot RAW, so I can correct this in a single click, but JPEG users should be aware. Distortion control is nothing to write home about: there is a visible (slightly mustache-like) barrel distortion at 16mm. Thankfully, the distortion is much more manageable from 18mm. The vignetting is also pretty high wide open, which can be pleasing at 50mm, but is more of a bit of a nuisance at 16mm.
The high CAs in the corner and visible distortion and vignetting, combined with the less than satisfactory sharpness in the corners all point to the light not falling perpendicular to the sensor plane in the corners. The rear lens has a rather pronounced curvature for a modern lens, so one thing seems to explain another.
Lens flare is pretty well controlled, though not as good the 16-45mm.
Like with my 50-135mm F2.8, the autofocus is rather unimpressive: it's fast enough for most situations in good light, but it tends to hunt and be slow in low light. The accuracy is pretty good, however.
Bottom line, the lens is a good replacement for my 16-45mm, albeit an expensive one. Brand new, the lens is a bit overpriced considering its optical performances, but one of the very few that offer both weather sealing and wide angle. For the best possible value, buy the lens used (with some form of return policy, in case the SDM fails).
| | | | | Forum Member Registered: August, 2014 Posts: 59
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: November 8, 2017 | Not Recommended | Price: $349.00
| Rating: 1 |
| Pros: | Good Bokah when needed, Quite AF, | | Cons: | Super bad AC, Super Soft on edges wide open, Vignetting, heavy | | Sharpness: 3
Aberrations: 1
Bokeh: 8
Autofocus: 1
Handling: 3
Value: 1
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: Pentax K-3
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Kit lens is better, I would never recommend this lens.
I wanted a good zoom for my portraits, this was not it. Go ahead and skip it and get it out of your brain. I am looking at the 24-70 now for the replacement of this lens.
I did send it back after 2 sessions with this lens and I was super disapointed in the quality.
Contrast was OK but It could have been better.
If you are a pro or expect crisp images, this is not the lens you want.
For those hobbiest and don't care, it would make a good wide little zoom (NOT)
I do own a 18-275 which I love better, but I also own a 35m, 77m Limited and a 100 2.8. I have also owned a lot of other lenses as well and this has been the worst lens I have ever purchased.
I found super bad AC, distortion, vinetting around the edges. Auto focus was slow. Bad fringing.
It was heavy for the price as well as being super soft. I did find it to be the sweet spots as long as it was over F5 but even at that I need to shoot wide open most of the time for my kind of work... If your work is over F5 then use your judgement and don't say I warned you.
The only time I would recommend this lens is you were shooting over F5 for landscapes or if you needed it for other Geners of Photography. For portraits I would totally stay away from it. You get better quality from the regular Kit lens. Manual focus worked better than the autofocus. The autofocus was super disapointing to me.
Handling- Was very heavy, manual focus worked better than the autofocus. I was disapointed. Not only was it slow but it was soft. No crisp pretty sharp wide open. Again, for it to work right it had to be over F5.
Value- Even the value was horrible, I brought this used and was hoping for some awesome quaility but I was super disapointed in this lens and especially of how much it costed. I sent it back.
STAY AWAY! Keep with the Kit Lens! | | |
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