Comparison of 16-50 and 16-85

And another welcome back from me George

Very kind of you!

Cheers

G

Hello again George. I love my 16-50, well perhaps love is a bit strong for an inanimate object.

It works well for me, just occasionally a tad heavy when on the hills for a full day.

It's understandable that those who have experienced a focus motor issue are wary of the lens, but those who haven't generally seem to be impressed. I think it's a super lens.

G

Cheers George

Having tried both but the 16-85 only briefly I'd say that the newbie has better edges but the centre sharpness is not quite the same as the F2.8 George, like the old 17-70 which I think the new lens really replaces it is very even in resolution pretty much right across the frame. Being a Landscape shooter I really thought it would be the lens for me but I was recently offered a very good deal on a 16-50 F2.8 and even though it has just failed on me, (Not AF, and luckily I have a guarantee, second one I've owned, so I'm at a fifty percent success rate here) still given the choice of the new 16-85mm F4-5.6 and a good secondhand 16-50mm F2.8 I would still go for the latter, it just has the sparkle and you can get a lot more joy from an F2.8 when you need it. The difference in weight is not too great because the 16-85 is pretty long, when closed down, so the balance on camera for carrying around is not much different, hope my rambling helps...

Cheers, Jules.

Ramble much appreciated. Sparkle is the word.

G

The 16-85mm does look very good... and I was considering it... but then the aperture put me off.

I wasn't sure how much I'd use it in good weather or when I'm not travelling.

Then there's the problem of the 18-135mm being significantly less costly and smaller etc.

So I can see the appeal of the 16-85mm for a one lens or two lens travel kit... but not much else.

-------

Don't own the 16-50mm but it does seem very capable... stopped down it seems to have incredible IQ (IMO).

It also seems to flare a fair bit though.

Flare? Sometimes.

Flair? Always.

G

I am in the same position as you George, looking for a wide zoom to take with on holidays. The DA* from a user review perspective is hampered by mainly 3 things, a: SDM failure, b: price, c: it has a QA related character.

Price is set by the idiots running the global financials, value of whatever currency you are using to buy with has been lowered by various schemes. I am assuming that the real cost of glass is the same.

SDM failure is a design flaw that due to Japanese psyche was never admitted to correctly and an awful lot of the reviews are of owners venting due to a real or imagined failure. This should have had a general recall but some spreadsheet with cost / brand value analysis indicated otherwise.

Character, this is harder to define, but from what I can gather, the DA* is a bit of a lottery from a optical QA point, some are stronger wide open than others, some reach peak sharpness at f/4 while others need f/8. Suffice to say that wide open, center will be sharp enough, stop it down and the rest of the frame catches up. Absolute sweet spot is dependent on your actual lens. I have seen some fantastic shots from this lens with great contrast, colours and sharpness throughout the aperture range. Suffice to say it is one of those lenses that you will need to learn and understand to gain best results but instead of GCSE level of learning, think Degree Thesis

On the other hand, the DA16-85 is overall more optically balanced from a performance point. It has the typical Pentax contrast, colours, better flare control and more stable resolution parameters across the frame. It will also focus faster which is a bit of a mute point as both these lenses are not really targeted for sports / action but again this is a usage parameter. There is one user on Flickr that put up some absolutely stunning landscape shots that had me about to hand over €800 so optically it will deliver top of line results. It is also lighter, will come with a warranty and will work very well with current Pentax DSLRs.

But...

It is like a DA Limited verses FA Limited argument (debate). DA is easier to use with more of its performance available more if the time, DA* is harder to use (assuming you get a reasonable copy) but it's highs are completely out of reach of the DA, get it in its sweet spot and it will give you a very 'prime' like look.
I'm picking the DA*, used and will budget for SDM failure. I might get lucky, I might not.

You're unlikely to have SDM failure as there was a design tweak that meant lenses from the past several years will be fine. Unfortunately, once a problem is highlighted it never goes away on the internet.

John, you are very probably correct but since we do not have an exact month / year that the fix was implemented and that the Pentax lens serial number for this series cannot be used to indicate a definite fix i.e. current lens being sold should have a serial beginning with 905**** with older versions starting with 901****
Unfortunately I have seen failures reported for 901s through 905s.

DA 20-40mm
+
DA* 50-135mm

What a combo that is. Though its a lot of £££

I would buy with confidence from SRS. They have new stock so I would not expect any problems.