For the Love of the Force - Bowlers Manchester

On Thursday last week I noticed SRS selling a DA*16-50 2.8 for £349 on ebay with a years warranty. I've wanted to try one for a while and at that price with warranty it was to tempting to refuse. Within minutes of ordering I received notification of dispatch from SRS and picked up from a local Argos less than 24hrs later, great service!

That same afternoon I had my first try with the lens at the 'for the love of the force' star wars fans convention at bowlers in Manchester. I've posted a few of my favourite images with the 16-50 on my K3 here. My initial impressions are that the image quality is a considerable step above the 18-135, 16-45 and tamron 17-50s I've owned. I was mainly using it wide open at 16mm in the convention too, so not at its sweet spot. hopefully I'm lucky with the SDM, but if it breaks after the warranty I think I'd just hack it to screw drive













A heavy crop from the last image shows why I rate the image quality of the lens, In my experience the 18-135 and tamron 17-50 would have been significantly softer when cropped that heavily, and the tamron would have much cooler colours.

This lens gets quite a lot of criticism for a variety of reasons, but my personal experience has been similar to your initial impressions - it's a notable step up from the Kit (18-55) and 16-45 lenses in quality, with the advantage of the faster, constant aperture. I understand the concerns many have over SDM issues (I've been lucky so far) but now they have started to appear for such low prices they are an excellent buy (IMO).

Looks like the pair of you had a great day playing with different toys

I agree that the lens looks really sharp...and as you say, for the price and with a years warranty from SRS it does seem like a good purchase.

I never really got into the Star Wars thing myself but as LennyBloke says you both looked like you were having a great time.

regards

Karlo

Unless S/H 16-50s are going through SRS very frequently I suspect that lens was mine. SRS took one from me on 25th November.

I have no note of the serial number as I handed everything over to SRS, box, all the supplied accessories, warranty card and original purchase receipt. It still has a month left on the original warranty. Not a mark or scuff anywhere on it when I last saw it.

Interesting to see how much it went for because I haven't a clue what SRS are going to give me for it. It was part of a complex deal which is not yet complete. Perhaps I should have asked but I trust SRS to always do the decent thing.

I agree it was better than my 18-135 and hope it stays good for you - but I didn't need two of the things!

I have five SDM lenses. Not had a motor failure yet.

Great images.. An event I think I should of attended as it was on my doorstep...

Great shots but the very first one is magic. Awesome job

+1

Fabulous shots and that lens looks like a cracker to me.

Regards
David

Thanks for the positive feedback everyone




It was definitely worth a visit and my son really enjoyed dressing up and meeting all the characters. My wife and son are more into star wars than me, but these events are well worth a visit for photography. We've been to a couple of film/comic cons too and the people in costume are all very happy to stop and pose for pictures


I've seen a few recently from SRS on ebay, most were selling at £399, so I jumped for it when I saw the one at £349. Looking on ebays sold listings it looks like that's a good price even for private used sales. I'm not sure the one I got is yours Malcolm but it seems in good condition.