DA 18-55 WR "better" on K-5 than K-7?

There's a K-7 classified thread at the moment, and amid the discussion of whether the lens was part of the sale, was this comment:


As the "for sale" thread isn't the place to start this discussion, I though I'd ask here. Does anyone agree? Can anyone explain the thinking?

I can't see why this would be so.

With the improved sensor on the K5, one could argue that all lenses work better on it!

John

He hopefully will see his name mentioned and answer this for us.

Its almost certainly to do with lens and camera tolerances. QC allows a small range of error around the "ideal".
Say you allow a plus or minus 2% error in focus to achieve acceptable results. If your copy of a lens is at the -2% end of the range and your camera is at the +2% end of the scale then you now have a 4% error.
If the errors on the camera and lens are both at the same point of tolerence then you get a "perfect" result. Both don't have to be at the perfect 0% error point . If they are both at -2% that is also a "perfect" result.
So it is likely the camera to lens match is better on that particular lens and that particular K5.

Hi Guys, I have being using a Pentax 18-55wr on my K20D for the last couple of years with no problem and being getting some very good results, now i have upgraded to a K5 and i would say that the 18-55wr struggles to keep up with the sensor but my sigma 17-70 is fine on both. Needing a weather resistant lens i have bought a Pentax 18-135wr and i have to say the image quality is fantastic, not sure what happened with the Photozone test but i would ignore it.

Regards Robin.

http://exevalleyphotography.co.uk/

It's probably that the improved ISO results allow 'so-so' lenses like the kit lens to be used at their optimal aperture (f8?) without using slow shutter speeds (and introducing camera shake).

Sounds like the type of thing an ebay seller would say

I've just bought a used 18-55WR as a backup to my DA17-70, haven't used it so far and considering how good the DA17-70 probably rarely will but this thread has just prompted me into at least doing a couple of comparision shots!!

Simon

You may get different results using two different K7's or two K5's, not just a K7 & K5....

heres two similar shots on both the k5 and k7 first shot is the 7 second is the 5, not the same exact shot but around the same focal length.




and the k5




Both are about the same

I can't answer the question but I have to say that I've had some fantastic results with the kit lens for landscape photography and will continue to use it for this even though I also have a DA 16-45mm which is also fantastic.

Regards
David