new 18-55

did anyone else notice the 18-55 MkII hidden among the really interesting new lenses announced recently?

as far as I can see, it is 5g lighter, has SP coating and is short by one lens element compared to the original version.

I wonder if it will be better, or just cheaper to make? The reduction from 12 to 11 elements makes me think the 18-55 mk I may actually prove to be superior, but this is just a hunch.

Mongoose,

Tag.

You're it.

Now you have to buy one and do a side-by-side comparison for us!

That'll teach you!

It could just be marketing - although I doubt many people will rush out to replace mk1 with mk2 kit lenses...

I'm by no means a lens designer but I'd of thought its the quality of each element not the fact that theres one less, that matters

I've been led to believe that the original 18-55 and the K20D would not be a good combination, quality wise...

Chris

certainly true to a great extent, although more elements gives more options for corrections. It also implies a more expensive design which more thought is likely to have gone into. However, when it's a difference of one element in a 12 element lens that probably doesn't hold very true and so your point is probably more important.

As pointed out above, spending £60 on upgrading the kit lens to the same lens with a MKII on it makes no sense at all unless it's stunningly better (which is unlikely), but it is likely to become of interest (to some) in a few months when these lenses come onto the marketplace and people want to know if they should buy the K200D kit or get it body only and source an older lens.

Thanks Chris for your contribution, that at least seems to imply that the MKII will be a better lens optically. I guess they figured that the MKI is already beyond its limits on the 10MP K10D and therefore putting it on a 14MP camera is a bad idea.

Chris,

Pentax would probably like you to think that so you buy a new one!

or, in Chris' case, SELL a new one

good point though. It could easily be argued that anything less than the 16-45 F4 is a bad quality combo with the K20D.

That is what Pentax implied at the introduction of the new models. The original coudn't give enough resolution for the new sensor.

There's going to be a lot of unhappy Sigma users, then.

(Just joking!)

G