| Author: | | Veteran Member Registered: July, 2013 Posts: 389 | | Review Date: October 23, 2015 | Recommended | Price: $140.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | extremely fast AF, lightweight, compact, QuickShift, retractable, wide-angle | | Cons: | none so far, 18-50 is 18-50... :) | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K-3
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I bought the lens for a a bargain from a user that jumped ship to m43ds.
First i have to say that he didn't send the hood with it. So i can not say how it would perform with the original pentax hood on.
When used in harsh light and at 18mm, pictures tend to get a bit soft from the stray light... i guess the hood would do very good compensation here.
Stopping down 2-3 steps helps you out here.
I would not like to use it on its extremes(18 or 50mm) wide open, but the same applies to every other lens IMHO.
Overall i got to say, it performs like a charm. With this lens mounted on a K-3 in green mode, you feel like having the fastest and best Point'n'Shoot ever in your Hands.
The lens is light and the lens is fast when it comes to AF. Just a few days ago i tried a canon, and compared its SDM AF, to our Screw-Drive with a very fast lens on, and i had to admit the Canon was way faster...(But hey, no wonder. Screw-Drive though F:2.8)
BUT WITH THIS LENS the PENTAX K - 3 BEATS the sh.. out of Canons DSLRs... its just like you could just push the shutter release button. No wait... Aim, press ... Voila!
i was blown away. Really!
Yes it may feel cheap. maybe the construction didnt cost that much, it doesnt feel massive like DA* lenses or maybe a fat'n'fast Tokina would, but man this is indeed a performer.
only minus on this plastic sister is distortion due to the construction... but it is not that bad.
BANG for the BUCK? ----> 99,9% I give it: all thumbs up.
Use a hood!
| | | | | | | New Member Registered: March, 2016 Posts: 2
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 17, 2020 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Super light, super compact, silent, wr, acceptable IQ, Aceptable AF | | Cons: | Piece of sh*t manual focusing, feels fragile, not equal fine AF adjustment at 18 and 50 | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 8
Value: 9
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K70
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Was about to sell this lens for not seeing its strong point. Weather resistant WR, quiet in focus, acceptable quality at maximum aperture at 18 and 23mm (f: 4, relatively bright, with +4 AF fine adjustment), light, small, cheap ... Acceptable at maximum aperture at 50 mm but with AF fine adjustment to +7. There is no point in buying the 23mm limited. AF is screw and 5 times more expensive, it is not wr and 5 times more expensive, similar portability, only 2/3 brighter and 5 times more expensive, fixed focal (very cool and 5 times more expensive, incredible appearance but 5 times more expensive, 18-50 very ugly when opened but 5 times cheaper, do you care about the appearance or functionality? There are things that I do not understand, I suppose that making a zoom is more expensive than a fixed lens but we still get bent.
Summary: Relatively bright at 18 and 23 (f4)
Relatively sharp on a k70
Silent
Wr
Super light and compact
Super cheap
Very good 23mm f:4, good sharpness, low distorsión and vignetting.
With the f 35-70 3,5-4,5 (compact, light, sharp at maximum aperture, super fast focus, relatively bright) it can be an off-road kit for those who can't carry much gear like me. Taking the 35-70 by default and leaving the 18-50 for situations where you need silence, wr, or 18-24mm.
A more than valid tool in this consumerist world of photography in which more than photographers we are collectors of material, fixing our energy, many times, more on the material than on the expression.
Save PENTAX.
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Estuve a punto de vender este objetivo por no ver su punto fuerte. Resistente a la intemperie WR, silencioso en el enfoque, aceptable calidad a máxima apertura a 18 y 23mm (f:4, relativamente luminoso, con +4 AF fine adjustment), ligero, pequeño, barato...Aceptable a máxima apertura a 50mm pero con AF fine adjustment a +7.
No tiene sentido comprar el 23mm limited. AF es screw y 5 veces más caro, no es wr y 5 veces más caro, similar portabilidad, solamente 2/3 más luminoso y 5 veces más caro, focal fija (muy cool y 5 veces más caro, increíble aspecto pero 5 veces más caro, el 18-50 muy feo al abrirlo pero 5 veces más barato, te importa el aspecto o la funcionalidad?
Hay cosas que no entiendo, supongo que fabricar un zoom es más costoso que una lente fija pero nos la siguen metiendo doblada.
Resumen:
Relativamente luminoso a 18 y 23 (f4)
Relativamente nítido en una k70
Silencioso
Wr
Super Ligero y compacto
Super barato
Muy buen 23mm f4 (nítido, poca distorsión, poco viñeteo)
Con el f 35-70 3,5-4,5 (compacto, ligero, nítido a máxima apertura, super rápido enfoque, relativamente luminoso) puede ser un kit todoterreno para los que no quieren llevar mucho trasto como yo. Llevando el 35-70 por defecto y dejando el 18-50 para situaciones en las que necesite silencio, wr, o 18-24mm.
Herramienta más que válida en este mundo consumista de la fotografía en el que más que fotógrafos somos coleccionistas de material fijando nuestra energia, muchas veces, más en el material que en la expresión.
Salva PENTAX.
| | | | | New Member Registered: October, 2016 Posts: 4
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: April 18, 2020 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Compact Size, Weather Sealed, Totally Silent DC Motor | | Cons: | Fiddly to extend the lens | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 10
Bokeh: 7
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 6
Value: 8
New or Used: New
Camera Used: K-S2 K-3 K-1
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A much undervalued lens, ideal for prime lovers who would like to carry a weather sealed lens in a coat pocket to switch to when the weather changes ..... really decent IQ and fast IQ - My fuller thoughts at https://youtu.be/P6zavgew2do | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: September, 2017 Location: Medellín Posts: 1,322 | | Review Date: December 23, 2019 | Recommended | Price: $80.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Collapsible, compact, light, silent AF, WR, cost effective | | Cons: | | | Sharpness: 7
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 8
Value: 10
New or Used: New
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Nice, light and compact. Does the job when you just want a small APS-C kit. I just wish it had better starbursts with the seven aperture blade diaphragm, but then again it pairs well with the DA15/4 (really spoils you and costs many times more).
| | | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: February, 2019 Posts: 2,009 | | Review Date: October 6, 2019 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Image Quality, Price, Silent, Light, WR | | Cons: | Manual Focus | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 7
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 7
Value: 10
New or Used: New
Camera Used: K-S2
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I've got this lens with the K-S2. The body costed less with the lens than without, so it was a no-brainer to choose this one.
I have been surprised to the general image quality of this little lens. Really, people should not push this one aside because it is a "kit lens". This one can really do wonders despite its low price. Its autofocus is fast and silent, and it is still my only WR lens (among my 7).
The retractable system could be better, but when you get used to it, it is perfectly safe to use, as long as you don't try to retract in or out while not mounted on a body.
The most irritating part is the "focus by wire" system. There is a very noticeable delay between turning the focusing ring and the effect ; besides, there is no way to know if we reached the minimal range or infinity, no way to know in which direction I should turn the ring to reach infinity. Really, forget about manual focus with this lens.
| | | | | Pentaxian Registered: May, 2010 Location: now 1 hour north of PDX Posts: 3,897 | | Review Date: July 6, 2019 | Recommended | Price: $30.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Limited-prime size, very good image quality | | Cons: | retracting lens a bit fussy | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 9
Value: 10
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K-5
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I picked up an "as-is" (probably untested) for a silly-good price.
I have used several copies of both 18-55 and 18-135 for lower-priced WR lenses. I did not expect this to keep up, and feared that the as-is label would reveal an issue. I have found none.
The compact size, WR and silent focus are the big sellers. Image quality is as good as other kit types. Distortion at 18mm feels improved over the 18-55, as does bokeh in most conditions I have used. None of my 18-135 copies were great beyond 80mm so stopping at 50mm is not a big problem - though it suggests another DA70 is needed 
Its one weak point is retracting the lens, which occasionally needs a light press on the front rim to get started. I'm happy with the small amount of play when the lens is extended though, so if that's the price I shall gladly pay it! Extending the lens is no problem at all, just retracting.
I haven't shopped for a hood yet; I know the DA21 design is the standard for the HD version of this lens. I perfer a round screw-in type anyway as I can put a polarizing filter behind it and adjust the polarization by turning the hood.
I am very happy with the lens and would feel so for much more money; my bargain copy shoots the value score to the top.
| | | | | Pentaxian Registered: May, 2015 Location: Zagreb Posts: 624
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: June 1, 2018 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | | | Cons: | | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 7
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 9
New or Used: New
Camera Used: pentax kp
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I love this lens because it's a small zoom.
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That's something I cannot find in this size - in Pentax lens division.
I order it from e bay,
as an unpaired kit without the body.
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I read reviews, and decide to give it the try. For 100 dollars it's a good value.
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Sharpness in f:4 is a bit creamy, but in 5.6 on zoom end it's better, and acceptable.
I owned old kit, and this is better.
Lens is plasticy but yet solid feel, and I don't mind for that, because I want lighter combo.
And with KP it's paired very well
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I haven't try lens on small aperrtures like f16, or smaller.
From what I see, it's a great value, and only lens in this size - to be zoom.
Bokeh is not big plus, because of starting point at f:4 in wide end, but you can get one with 5.6 in Zoom at 50 mm. And it's not bad at all.
Creamy touch, with no distortion. Love it.
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All in all - if you want the nice compact all around zoom lens - I think this is the only one, and it satisfied the needs
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: July, 2007 Location: North West UK Posts: 390 | | Review Date: October 21, 2017 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Compact, great IQ, silent AF, Pretty fast focusing | | Cons: | Not fast, a bit plasticy | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 8
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: New
Camera Used: K-3. K-70
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It is a nice little fast focusing lens. What more do you want from a "kit lens"?
Not the fastest aperture in the world, but the size and IQ more then compensate. AF is a bit of a good one, a lot faster than the screw focus and a heck of a lot faster than the SDM and first generation DC focus lenses.
The IQ is very good for this type of lens, beating even the 18-55mm WR of older models. Shame the focal length is a little less and the aperture is not so fast.
Worth having? Yes of course! Compact, silent and very useable.
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: August, 2016 Location: Irvine, CA Posts: 100 | | Review Date: January 22, 2017 | Recommended | Price: $120.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | compact, DC focus, sharp (when calibrated), weathersealed | | Cons: | typical slow kit lens, lose 5mm on long end compared to 18-55 | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 8
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: Used
Camera Used: K-3, K-S2
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I needed a compact, weather-sealed 'pedestrian' zoom that would accompany us on our first snow day to the mountains, and the 18-50 was the perfect lens when combined with the K-S2.
It's not that flimsy; I've used other retractable lenses (m4/3 kit zooms) and the 18-50 lens is quite secure. The button to release the zoom mechanism is a bit annoying though, since it falls readily at-hand and is easily accidentally-pressed, but other than this slight annoyance, handling is decent.
I hate the fact that it has threads for the hood, but buying the hood separately is a pretty steep cost...and you still don't get the cap! So, I found a cheap 58mm clip-on style petal hood that works great. I may find another clip-on hood and see if I can do some Dremel magic to adapt it on the bayonet.
For a compact and weather-sealed zoom lens, this is an amazing bargain. It's sharp within expectations and the color output is nicely saturated - just the way I like it. It focuses quickly and quietly, the latter is a tremendous advantage compared to screw-drive lenses.
Downside - obviously not as sharp as my DA 40/2.8 Limited or my Sigma 50/2.8 macro...both of which are exceedingly sharp, but again, manage your expectations accordingly.
For my needs, this lens fits the bill...though I have frequently been tempted with getting a constant-aperture zoom...but I sure don't want to deal with the size of that zoom (hello, 16-50, you 1.5 pound monster).
Sample pictures using the K-S2 and 18-50 below (SOOC jpeg, reversal film filter):
Sample picture with K-3 and 18-50 below (slightly edited with Rawtherapee):
 | | | | | Forum Member Registered: February, 2014 Location: Warsaw Posts: 76 | | Review Date: November 27, 2016 | Recommended | Price: $140.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Small, very light, resonably sharp, silent focusing, WR, cheap | | Cons: | weak construction, slow | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 9
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 9
New or Used: New
Camera Used: K-70
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For its price lens is good, light, small and relatively sharp also wide open (but still slow).
From my initial tests it looked like this lens might been sharper then my favourite Pentax F 35-70.
Further tests reviled that it is sadly not as sharp but close. (DAL is sometimes sharper wide open) Auto focus is silent reasonably fast but not super accurate ( Pentax AF).
Small, light and cheap. Great lens to carry with you in case of emergency i.e. bad weather conditions 
Limitations are obvious, it is rather slow and doesn't seem to be very rugged, auto focus is average some photos are clearly not in focus, sharpness is OK.
Stating that it is super sharp is not true but it is decently sharp and very sharp as for cheap kit. Lens can produce very good images and is worth buying especially instead of old kit which is bigger less sharp gives more aberrations and have slower and louder AF.
 | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: July, 2014 Location: Nagoya Posts: 577
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: September 2, 2016 | Recommended | Price: $80.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Small, light, silent focusing, WR, cheap | | Cons: | Some CA at 18mm, not the fastest | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 8
Value: 9
New or Used: New
Camera Used: K-S2
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It should tell you a lot that I replaced the 18-135 I got as a kit with my K-S2 with this lens. The 18-135 was not worth the large amount of money I paid for it - terrible CA and edge and corner performance, heavy and unbalanced on the K-S2.
This lens is better in every regard optically, and is much lighter too. The only point at which I've found the kind of fringing that annoyed me on the 18-135 at every focal length is at 18mm on very high contrast edges, and it's been very easy to correct using ACR. The focusing is silent and fast, and the WR is very nice to have too.
Overall rendering and sharpness won't set the world alight but it is good, particularly for the price. Distortion is present at wide angles but is easy to correct in software.
The handling is ok, although I'm rather undecided about the retractable barrel. The compactness is great, and makes the camera easy to pop in a bag when you want to take it out. Extended, it is pretty solid - I haven't noticed any barrel wobble. The retraction itself is a little clumsy though - the turn is a little too far for one twist of the wrist, and it sometimes binds a little on the retraction if you don't release the button as soon as you're past the 18mm mark. I also worry that I might smack the small, exposed extended end on something.
Overall, I like this lens quite a lot. It certainly makes a better kit than the 18-135 - save yourself the money with this one and buy a second, better lens for longer focal lengths.
| | | | | New Member Registered: January, 2014 Posts: 11 | | Review Date: August 12, 2016 | Recommended | Price: $82.78
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | small in size, built-in motor, quiet focusing, rather cheap prize | | Cons: | no for the prize | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 7
Autofocus: 10
Handling: 10
Value: 10
New or Used: New
Camera Used: K-30
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What an awesome kit lens. It's portable and well made. The noise is almost zero(compared with those screw driven lenses). I use it as a wide angle lens only, so I'm not sure about the 35mm and 50mm parts, but I'm very satisfied with the 18mm part. The fact is all other wide angle lenses are far more expensive than this one, no matter prime or zoom.
My copy seems to backfocus somewhat on my K-30, so may be I'm not able to release its full power, but in my case, the Chromatic Aberration is kind of severe, rather visible at the edge between high contrast zones. Apart from that, I would say the sharpness can be better, but I'm comparing it with da35/2.4. When stand among other 18-55 lenses, there's no problem at all.
So, after all I would definitely recommend this lens, if you can get it at a reasonable price. Please look at pictures for real performance.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: January, 2013 Location: Kansas City, KS Posts: 1,612
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 4, 2016 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Lightweight, quickshift, WR, sharp, nice zoom range | | Cons: | Fiddly to retract, slow aperture | |
I got this lens brand new, bundled with my Stone Gray K-S2, from B&H. It took me a long time to get around to using the lens extensively, partially because I prefer manual focus lenses, and partially because I've been conditioned to think that "kit lens" is a bad word and there's nothing good that can come out of them. Clearly that's wrong.
I really really love how lightweight the lens is. Yeah, I like a nice heavy metal lens as much as the next gal, but I have a lot of heavy metal lenses and using this plastic-constructed lens for my (more or less) month-long experiment was a real joy. I had no issues with the quality of the materials, not even the plastic mount. (Don't be afraid!)
There's no getting around it: Yes, the retraction is a bit of a hassle. But it does make the lens extremely compact. I did not have any issues with the retraction mechanism at all - it ain't rocket science - but it was another step that had to be taken before I could make an exposure.
The quick-shift focus is cool and handy, and I wish I had it on my only other auto-focus lens, the DA 50/1.8. Auto-focus on the 18-50 seemed fast and accurate enough for me, although I did have one instance of it struggling in low light. However, switching to MF and using live view was simple and very effective. The auto-focus is SIGNIFICANTLY more quiet than I remember from my past experience with AF lenses. Very impressive! I didn't have any issues with front- or back-focusing that I noticed.
The zoom range is pretty much ideal for me. More and more I realize that I like wide angle lenses, and I loved the FoV at 18mm, and 50mm got me as close as I ever needed to be.
At 18mm, the eddges were a little soft and slightly muddy, but it was a mild defect. There was some CA/fringing in all high-contrast situations, but Lightroom cured those ills easily and it was never a problem.
There was a pretty significant amount of distortion at 18mm, but if you thought there wouldn't be, then I don't know what to tell you... Distortion correction took away most of it in Lightroom, but there were some images that I couldn't totally remove the "bulge" from. I got over it.
My main gripe with the lens is that f/4 is pretty dang slow. It's forgivable at 18mm, because I like DoF, but by the time you zoom to 50mm and are stuck with f/5.6 you might be feelin' blue (like I was). But, for the convenience of the zoom range, the lightweight build and the very decent IQ it produces, I was able to overlook the slow aperture MOST of the time.
I think it's a pretty poor lens for indoor shots and dim lighting, but as a casual daytime walk around, especially when you're going to be carrying your camera all day and weight is an issue, it's hard to beat. I'm glad I took the time to get to know it a little better.
Here's my Flickr Album with images from the DAL 18-50/4-5.6 DC WR RE: CLICK HERE | | | | | New Member Registered: March, 2012 Posts: 6
4 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: August 26, 2015 | Recommended
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | lightweight, inexpensive, zoom range, weather sealed | | Cons: | clunky operation, plasticky, no lens hood included | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Autofocus: 9
Handling: 7
Value: 9
New or Used: New
Camera Used: KS-2
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I recently purchased a KS-2 with the 18-50 DA-L WR DC included as part of the kit. I am a modestly experienced Pentax owner (first camera was a K100D Super in 2007) but wanted the lens for its compactness, zoom, light weight, and WR qualities. I specify a price of ~$60 as this was the difference between the kit and a body only version. I consider this an excellent value.
I preface this review by saying that I am a casual photographer. I take pictures for fun and my own personal enjoyment and collection. I am not a professional and while I do a bit of pixel peeping, my expectations are generally fairly modest. I tend to prioritize sharpness and colour rendition over other features. I am not interested in post-processing so 100% of my pictures are straight OOTC JPG. Given the level of my expertise and expectations, you may want to scale your own scoring of the lens accordingly. I.e., if you are very exacting, then you should probably revise my scores down.
With that out of the way, on to the review, with a few sample pictures of some flowers. Flowers are generally a good test for what I'm interested in since I can check focusing, sharpness, colour, and to some extent, bokeh. They are not great for wide shot performance so I didn't do a very good or thorough evaluation of the wide angle performance.
Sharpness
I am quite pleased with the sharpness of these photos. I did some serious pixel peeping on these images and I was definitely satisfied with the detail in the images. The bee image is a good example. I know the composition is poor but it was mostly taken to check how detailed the bee was among complicated surrounding objects. Borders of all the different flower parts look quite distinct to my eye. Overall, very happy.
Aberrations
I didn't test wide angle in these images but went out later to shoot some walls and other angular objects. Performance is about what I expect and what other more comprehensive reviews have reported. That is, good not great for distortions. I am generally satisfied and it suits my purposes fine. In other words, nothing that really offends my sensibilities.
I did not see too much purple fringing but then again, conditions were probably not such to generate too much of that kind of problem.
Bokeh
Bokeh is a particularly subjective evaluation and to my untrained eye, I admit to not being great at distinguishing "harsh" bokeh from "pleasing" bokeh. To me, I suppose the question is "is the bokeh distracting or not?" Looking at photo 4 and 5 in particular, I am pretty happy with that. Given that those were taken at f/5.6 (smallest aperture at 50mm) it's satisfactory.
Autofocus
I was very pleased with the autofocus. Admittedly it's nearly perfect conditions, since it was bright and sunny with very distinct colours, but I found the AF very fast and near silent. I have a few screw drive AF lenses still so hearing the slightest hum from the DC motor was certainly a nice change to wrrrrr...wrrrr...thunk. Thinking back, I was actually super pleased with how quick it was. I'd find a subject, compose it, and then bzz...ding...snap in seconds. For reference, I consider the old Sigma 70-300 the absolute worst in AF speed and sound.
Handling
Handling is one area that I was pretty disappointed in. I had been warned about this in other reviews but I found the lock and zoom mechanism very clunky to use. The lens in fully collapsed mode needs to be unlocked with a button while you rotate the ring counter-clockwise. Once it hits 18mm then it freely rotates between 18-50. You cannot collapse the lens (past 18) until you push the button again. I found out though that on my copy at least, if you are holding the button down while you rotate clockwise past 18mm towards closed, the mechanism sort of seizes up. I was quite alarmed at first to notice that it didn't seem to retract. I much later found out that (on my copy) you need to push the button to get past 18, release it, and then it will collapse without issue. In other words, don't keep the button depressed as you collapse the barrel. I found all this quite cumbersome and annoying. I get that it's a property of the design but I didn't like it.
Also, while it is very lightweight, it feels very flimsy and plasticky. There is a slight wobble in the focal length ring and definitely in the focus ring, which feels particularly loose. While I am very much an AF person anyway, this wobbliness really deters me from doing any manual focusing. I guess I am spoiled by the smoothness of my DA 15 and DA 100 WR Macro.
Value
Despite my concerns about handling, overall I would rate this lens very highly for value, especially given that I paid about $60 for it. I think I'd probably be a lot more hesitant at $299 for the HD version, but even at up to $150 I think I'd be pretty satisfied. For what it does and for the weather sealing (will need it in humid SE Asia in a few months), I think it's very nice indeed. I am disappointed the lens hood was not included though.
Overall
Overall, I am very happy with this lens. When I need to travel or have weather sealing, it will be my go to lens on my KS-2. It will also have a home on my K-01 for sure (even more compact). But without a doubt, if size and weight aren't an issue, I'll probably be using my Sigma 24-70 instead. That being said, for my purposes this lens is terrific.
| | | | | Pentaxian Registered: February, 2020 Location: Smoky Mountains, NC Posts: 1,605
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: December 17, 2020 | Recommended
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | size, weight, IQ, sharpness, WR, fast AF, inexpensive | | Cons: | 50mm is a little short | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 6
Bokeh: 6
Autofocus: 8
Handling: 7
Value: 9
New or Used: New
Camera Used: K-S2, KP
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Here is a short review of a short lens!! I got this lens as a kit with the K-S2 back in 2016. Overall I really like this lens. It is surprisingly sharp, and with the decent minimum focusing distance you can get good close up shots. Plus, due to its sharpness, a fair amount of cropping is possible to get macro-like shots. The build quality is OK, it is all plastic, and the retractability means that the zoom tubes are not very tight, also there is some zoom creep due to the necessary looseness, but I cured this with a black rubber band. It is NOT junk, though, just lightweight and easily retracted. When retracted, the lens can easily fit into a pocket and because it only weighs 5.6oz you barely know it is there! I have noticed some CA on high contrast areas, but that is to be expected, no big deal. Focusing is super fast and virtually silent. The aperture is slow, but bokeh is achievable at 40mm and higher when focusing closely. I used it mainly as a wide angle lens, from 21mm to 35mm and for that I wanted deeper DOF anyway. I used this lens quite a bit until I acquired the 18-135, and the only real con I can say is that it is a pretty short focal length at only 50mm. That is just my personal taste in versatility. For a landscape, close up, or general use lens it is really hard to beat this little gem. They go pretty cheaply on the used market, so I recommend getting a good used copy. I bought a clip-on petal hood that works well, but makes the lens more bulky. Sharp, light, small, great IQ, inexpensive, weather resistant, silent and fast focusing… a great lens to have in your kit.
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