DA* 16-55 SDM

I have just purchase this lens and the sharpness and lack of distortion is amazing at the telephoto end. Shame it is not the same at the wide end. To be honest, I have a sigma 28-300 super zoom which can perform better at 28mm than the DA can at the same setting and that is saying something.

The SDM doesn't seem to be as fast as I expected but it is virtually silent and accurate.

For the price I paid for this lens I was expecting more but it wasn't a waste of money because most of my work uses around the 50mm for portraits

You mean the DA*16-50 right?
There were in the begining some problems with quality controll of these lenses, maybe you can compare some photos with someone else with the lens to see if it's performing okay.

The build quality of the lens seem very good and it is weather sealed so that cost something too.
I bought for myself the DA*50-135 for portrait since I found it a better range for that, maybe worth buying to get the set complete

edit: added some text...

Might be worth sending it back. Other people have got better lenses on their second attempt.

Sorry to hear you are not satisfied with your 16-50mm lens simonsteph. I have this lens and as a firm film chap and think the old Pentax lenses are better made and superior to the digital range, this is one of the few digital lenses I regard as being quality. So I would consider sending your lens back for a replacement!

Yes 16-50 is correct, sorry for that

Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with the lens and the sharpness is across the zoom ranges, it is just the CA at wide what is letting this lens down. maybe I'm expecting too much especially when the cannon and nikon equivilant cost a lot more but they too are not without their problems.

Am I expecting too much to have near-enough-zero CA for £500? Should I have considered another SDM lens for cheaper?

BTW yes the build quality is very good

Yes CA at the wide end is something this lens seems to suffer from. It can be 'dialled' out with a good RAW converter though.
This lens has a few positives and negatives, call it character but generally I like it particularly when used in the sweet spot(s)

The DA*16-50 is a wonderful lens and sometimes I wonder whether I have a duff example because it doesn't focus spot-on all the time.... but it's sharp, and let Lightroom deal with the imperfections

I have had my DA* 16-50 for a month now and it is fast becomming my most used lens! I also have the DA* 50-135 and that is firmly remaining my favourite lens.

I do find that the 16-50 doesn't always focus right, then I just focus again and it seems to get it right. For me focus is fast enough.

The CA is a problem sometimes, however a recent AP article highlighted the significant technical problem of preventing CA on wide angle zooms. This is done by the coating and needs to be optimised for the balance of the lens, not just the wide end, hense this leads to CA on the wide settings. More superior coatings are being developed that may one day resolve this issue.

I too got the occasional missed focus but found the lens was front focussing when wide open, particularly in poor lighting. I dialled in a correction and now I would say its 99% spot on