Thanks for the replies.
I have done some more testing after I realised I had shake reduction on, on the Tripod
I now have a relatively sharp image at 16mm F2.8 which improves at about F5.6/6.7 and is nice to F19. At mid zoom a similar scenario. But at 50mm I see more softness at F2.8 than at I do at 16mm, in particular the top left hand corner of the image, however things improve to acceptable levels at F5.6 again up to F19 as before. Only at 50mm, wide open do I see an imbalance between left (top corner) and right. I think this is probably acceptable because I agree with ReubenO that I'm not looking for edge sharpness when at F2.8/F3.5.
I suppose more annoying for me is the CA which can be PP'd out but I would have thought a lens of this stature would have been a little better in this regard. Ho hum

What should I expect from the DA* 16-50?
I've been running a few tests today with a self constructed test card on a wall(read Blue Peter ) with the my K20D tripod mounted.
In summary I am finding that from F2.8 to F4.5/F5.6 the image is soft with some CA noticeable towards the edges. As soon as you hit F6.7 things spring into high definition! This continues through to F16 (even F19 at a pinch). I would say also this trend is fairly consistent throughout the zoom range. Maybe I'm being unfair but having a Oly ED 12-60 SWD to compare it with doesn't help! What are others experiences with the DA* 16-50?
Thanks.

Well from limited testing this evening it looks like the 16-50 is OK. I shall try a further few tests tripod mounted in daylight. But it's looking good so far

Thanks.
Larger yes but not has large (or heavy) as an E-3. Actually my E-510 has the 12-60 on it most of the time which isn't the smallest of lenses (pretty similarly sized to the 16-50). In fact the K20D with the 16-50 mounted is probably better balanced as a package from a handling point of view.

I think about 3 hours or so... still waiting

Well my K20D and DA* 16-50 has arrived (courtesy of excellent service by SRS). The battery is on charge and I'm flicking through the manual (in between some work :wink. The overriding impression is that it has quality written all over it. I had forgotten to large extent about the feel of the K series since I last picked one up (over a year ago). Very happy and looking forward the checking out the 16-50

Cheers

Hello davex,

Welcome from another Pentax User forum newcomer

Hello Richard,

Welcome from another Pentax User forum newcomer

I don't have a problem with Vista, particularly since SP1, I run the 64bit version (have done for over a year). 32 bit applications run fine on my machine.
One point I would mention is that it benefits from as much memory as you can throw at it (within reason). My system currently has 4GB and that in combination with a quad core (or dual) I find the performance easily exceeds XP.... it's a much slicker experience. I can't comment on Silkypix as such as I don't use it in anger although I did try and evaluation version for a short time and didn't have any issues. My preference is CaptureOne4 which I find is an excellent PP tool.

Blimey! Thanks Chris, that's what I call service