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Pentax SMC DA* Series 16-50mm f/2.8 ED AL IF SDM Wide Angle Zoom Lens for Pentax Digital SLR Cameras
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| SMC DA 16-50mm F2.8 ED/AL (IF) Lens, Lens Cap, Rear Lens Cap B (31006), Lens Hood, Lens Soft Case |
| High performance, wide angle zoom lens |
| SDM system creates smoother, quieter auto focus |
| Weather resistant and dust resistant body |
| Quick-shift Focus System for instant switching from auto focus to manual |
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Accessories
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Customers Reviews
2010-02-16
A SUPERB LENS
This review is for both 16-50mm and 50-135mm DA*lenses. I have both of them and they are fantastic! I couldn't recommend them highly enough. If you only have enough money to get one for now, I would suggest getting the 50-135mm first. This lens is so sharp you couldn't believe it. Yes they are expensive, but they are worth the money. When I got them, they are $100-$150 cheaper than they are now. I just don't know why the prices have gone up, but I guess that goes for Nikon and Canon as well. Regardless, Pentax lenses are a lot cheaper than Nikon and Canon.
I'm not one of those lucky people who got their lenses right the first time. It was quite a bit of work, but at the end, everything is okay and I am really happy. I did have to send in my two lenses to Pentax for service due to front and back focus issues. With the 16-50mm front focus, and 50-135mm back focus. To make the story short, it took Pentax about 6 weeks to adjust the lenses and send them back to me. Now they are perfect and they are my two favorite lenses where ever I go, well the 50mm too!
Hope this helps and good luck to you!
Your neighbor,
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2010-02-05
DA* 16-50/2.8
Absolutely beautiful lens. Both the product visually, and the images that it creates. The barrel distortion on the wide end is as much as can be expected at 16mm, and is plenty acceptable depending on what you're shooting. The color rendition and contrast really have to be seen to be believed. A professional level lens really will bring your photography up a couple notches.
I wish you had the choice of using the SDM OR the screw drive for autofocus, but on the k20d you are limited to the SDM. It is absolutely silent, but is about the same speed, if not slower, as the screw drive on other lenses. And honestly, I prefer the screw drive, especially at the wide end, to be able to hear and know it's focusing, and when it's stopped.
Autofocus issues aside, I would gladly pay [...] bucks for this lens, even if it were manual focus. The optics are just THAT good.
I do 90% of my work outdoors, and the weather sealing is a huge bonus. Being able to pull out battery powered flashes and do full lighting set ups even in pouring down rain is amazing.
I cannot recommend this lens highly enough.
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2009-12-16
Silky smooth but not quite perfect - UPDATE 1/4/10
Update - Jan. 4, 2010: Below I noted the occasional balky response but had not determined whether this was a problem. Unfortunately, it is! I have had another significant episode where the focusing system simply refused to budge and this was in broad daylight. After doing a number of checks on settings, remounting the lens to insure there were no contact issues, the lens simply would not focus (i.e. the focus motor wasn't even trying to focus). Pull out my trusty, but noisy, 18-250mm Pentax and . . . zip! All is well. So back to Amazon it goes. Still deciding on whether to stay with this lens and assume that I just got a bad copy or . . . ? The photos are wonderful from the lens so I cannot complain in that regard, but it would be nice to have confidence that it would handle most of the focusing chores for me!
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For reference, my original set-up was the K20d with the Pentax 18-250mm. Given my usage, the 18-250 is a remarkable walk around lens but I came to realize that its shortcomings can be visible when I printed up some photos from a recent trip to Big Bend National Park in Texas. Specifically, when I had to press things out to the full 250mm end, I wound up with images that were too soft to print at any reasonable size. I made the decision to improve my set-up by shifting to a two or three lens system and the first of the purchases was the 16-50mm. I purchased this because I needed a bit more width (I shoot some home interiors for my business use) and the difference between having 16mm vs. 18mm at the wide end is remarkably helpful! I also wanted the weather resistance of the DA* as well as the constant f2.8 so this was the logical choice. With that in mind, and with awareness of the many pros and cons that others have cited, here are my impressions after a few months of usage:
Pros:
> Build: The 18-250 is a very nice lens and feels solid, but the 16-50mm is soooo much nicer! The balance, the feel of the zoom and focus rings (as well as the fact that the focus ring is actually big enough to use!) - this is just a much more professional build overall.
> Quiet: At first I thought the focus was not set to auto! I was so used to hearing the rather loud focus noise from the 18-250mm that I kept manually putting the focus out of focus just to (not) hear the lens!
> Photo Quality: I have taken some nice photos with the 18-250mm but the 16-50mm has better color saturation and produces natural images with minimal need for post-processing. I recently shot almost 150 photos at a party indoors, most of them without flash. I was very pleasantly surprised how crisp, clean, saturated and properly white-balanced they came out without retouching!
Con:
> Occasional Balky Response: Then there is the rare, but always frustrating occasion when the lens seems to refuse to focus! I have not yet figured this out nor decided whether this necessitates a visit to Pentax service, but every once in a while, with decent lighting, the lens seems to freeze and not find a focus lock. Sometimes it is when everything seems fairly well focused in the viewfinder, but since the autofocus doesn't agree you cannot take a picture. If I manually defocus the lens intentionally, it will usually do a normal focus and take the shot. If this happened often I would be more concerned, but it is very frustrating when it does because the 'moment' might be gone by the time the camera allows the shutter to release.
Regarding the various comments on focus accuracy, while I have not done a fully controlled test and 'pixel peeped' to find the more minute flaws, my experience so far has been very good. Other than those odd balky occasions noted above, the focus is crisp and edge to edge detail seems remarkably consistent. Vignetting is well controlled as is chromatic aberration even when shooting close to wide open.
Overall, I am very happy with the feel of the lens and the quality of the photos. A definite step up from the 18-250mm, but that is not a surprise! Four stars only because of my balky gremlin but even this has been so rare that it does not preclude me from recommending this lens highly. While I know that Nikon and Canon make excellent products, I am so happy that Pentax makes more affordable products that are capable of producing equally compelling photos! (Now, I wonder about that new 60-250mm DA* lens! Hey, Amazon, need a Vine tester for that?!)
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2009-09-18
Stunning lens
It's too bad there are bad copies out there because the only thing thing I can say about my copy is "stunning." Well, there are other adjectives but you get the idea;)
I've had mine for a little over a month now and it's by far my favorite lens. Crystal clear sharpness, incredible colors, great bokeh, and wonderful contrast. For me it's the perfect walkaround lens--although I wouldn't mind getting my hands on a 31mm Limited!
My copy does have very, very slight vignetting at 16mm at 2.8 but it's never been annoying, but it can be easily PP'd out if need be. I didn't mark it down for this because it is so slight and is actually pleasing to the eye, imo.
One thing, however, is you should buy it from a reputable dealer with a good return policy so if you do get a bad one it won't be a hassle to return it. I have to say, though, that this lens is so good it's worth taking the risk.
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2009-09-17
I sent the first two back
They are still having problems with quality assurance. This lens arrived and it looked great. I took several test images of a large 2 foot square black-on-white ink line drawing. It had sharply defined ink pen lines all over it, all the way to the edges. The images showed that the focus was unacceptably out of alignment from left to right and also a bit out from bottom to top. Looking at the test images over all, it seems like it might be a good lens if they can get me one with the alignment right.
Ammended 9/24 2009
The replacement arrived I tested it today using the same method and the alignment on this replacement lens was out of alignment in roughly the opposite direction by a similar amount, making the left edge significantly less sharp focused than the right. I returned it for replacement. We shall see what we get on the next try. I really would like to to get a properly aligned example of this lens that can provide images with a consistent focus left and right and top and bottom.
Ammended 9/29/2009
Amazon declined to send a third lens, offering simultaneously that getting two defective examples was very unusual, and strangely that, were they to ship a third, it would likely suffer the same defect. They volunteered to refund my shipping cost and purchase price, and recommended I contact Pentax. I will post clips from the center and each of the two extreme edges of the test image on this site.
It was very easy to alert Amazon and initiate a return. I really would still like to get a good one of these lenses. Apparently you do need some amount of luck to accomplish that.
My advice to anyone wanting one of these is, be prepared to test what you get, and do not order it a week before your big vacation trip expecting to have one arrive at the last minute that is good enough to use.
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Product Details
Batteries Included: 0
Binding: Electronics
Brand: Pentax
Color:
EAN: 0027075129252
Floppy Disk Drive Description:
Has Red Eye Reduction:
Is Autographed: 0
Is Memorabilia: 0
Label: Pentax
Legal Disclaimer:
Manufacturer: Pentax
Model: B000NO5QV6
Publisher: Pentax
Release Date: 2007-08-15
Special Features:
Studio: Pentax
System Memory Size: |
Pentax Cameras HistoryPENTAX Corporation (before 2000 known as Asahi Optical Joint Stock Co.) was founded in 1919.
 In 1952 they manufactured first Japanese 35mm SLR camera with a cloth curtain focal plain shutter and shutter speeds range from 1/20 to 1/500 sec. It was called Asahiflex I. But even more revolutionary was their Asahiflex II (1954), having has the world's first instant return mirror system. Before that a photographer had to manually bring down mirror after having taken a picture. This system made rapid shooting possible with a SLR.
In 1957 Asahi Optical Joint Stock Co. carried out another coup - they used of a pentaprism in the viewfinder of the Asahi Pentax SLR. The pentaprism made eye-level viewing possible and provided correct images. It was also the first time that the name Pentax was used on a camera. The very name, as you might have guessed, is derived from “PENTAprism reflex.”
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