16-45mm lens

Hi I am looking at buying a 16-45mm Pentax lens to replace the kit lens I got with my 200d. Does anyone have any experience with this lens an if so what is your verdict. I see it is availble on e bay via a company in Hong Kong for #156 inc postage. Should I consider other options?

The 16-45 is very highly regarded here, but not used one myself, went straight for the DA* 16-50.

The £156 you quoted though, does that include import duty, VAT & courier handling fee for taking the duties? Doubt it, in which case I would buy it from SRS for £199 with, I believe a 2 year Pentax Warranty as they are a Pentax Pro centre.

Definately better than sending it back to Hong Kong if it develops a fault!

It is also available from SRS for £199 but you'll have the peace of mind of a two year warranty. Just noted we don't know where you are!

Best wishes, Kris.

The 16-45mm is a superb lens and at £199 a real bargain.

If you look in the latest Pentax User Club magazine you'll see several photographs by John R. using the 16-45mm.

Best wishes, Kris.

Don't forget the £25.00 cash back on this lens till January.

Thanks for the good advice guys, SRS it is.

what filters, if any, would you reccomend for this lens? I will take mainly landscape shots so I thought perhaps a UV filter, Polarizer, ND filter? Hoya or Cokin type. Any suggestions?

I've used this lens for a few years. It's one of the best zooms I've ever used. Outstanding quality.

Buy a skylight to protect the lens and add a polariser (screw in are more convenient) and an ND grad is always useful (square filter system for this not screw in) although HDR techniques can save you using a grad if you don't mind spending more time on the computer processing.

Using a UV filter as 'protection' is really not worth it for two reasons, the first is putting a filter on the front of a lens can never improve image quality, but the main reason is that they don't work as protection. A light blow that the lens probably would survive will shatter the thin glass of the filter which then goes on to scratch the lens coating rendering it useless. A lens hood offers much better protection.

A polarizing filter is good, as are graduated ND to help with the 'white sky' effect you get due to the limited tonal range of digital sensors. (you can either get a nice sky with a dark foreground or a correctly exposed foreground with a blown out sky) a graduated ND filter can help to even up the exposure between the two extremes.

Solid ND filters to hold back the light for those slow shutter speed shots of water are always useful.

The 16-45 is a superb lens.

The new 17-70 was dubbed as its replacement (and is similar in size). Personally I'd prefer the extra reach of the 17-70 (now I mainly use the older SMC-FA 24-90 for more than half of my shots).

And as has been said, £199 with a £25 cash back offer is an absolute steal!!
(FWIW, the 17-70 has a £50 cash back)

I nearly duffed in the front element of the 16-45. It had a nice slim Hoya Pro UV filter for "protection". The camera was knocked off a seat - in its padded case - and the filter splintered into razor sharp shards Having done that twice in different circumstances I prefer to keep the lens hood on instead of using a filter But that's just my opinion

Matt

I go for hood rather than filter as well. My logic being that unless the filter is needed for some photographic effect then its presence can only detract from the optical quality.

But a hood doesn't stop dust etc getting on the lens and the lens is kept pristine. A contently cleaned lens is surely going to be less optically perfect than a optical quality filter? I've replaced several scratched filters through being in contact with other stuff in a gadget bag etc, I'm glad it wasn't the front element of the lens. I've (touch wood) never had a filter shatter on a lens.

That's what lens caps are for.

As for cleaning, I never touch the glass on my lenses unless cleaning off marks left by liquids (and then only lightly with a microfibre cloth) - dust etc is best dealt with using a blower.

I give both camera and lenses a good blow over at the end of every day, always use a hood when the lens is on the camera and always put the caps on before returning the lens to the bag. So far I've never damaged any glass and I've not had to resort to using filters.

Some find using a UV filter as protection gives them extra peace of mind and that's fair enough, but if you're careful with your kit then I really don't think they're neccessary. Just my $0.02.

Great, thanks guys. I think I will def get a polarizer and a grad ND. Any suggestions for what type and where to purchase?