For me it would be K35 f/3.5, FA43 f/1.9, A50 f/1.2, FA77 f/1.8 and i'm looking closely at a D-FA100 WR

Why, why, why have Pentax not rebodied this gem?

I am at a loss as to explain why he is held in such high esteem. His website is atrocious, his grammar and prose are lacking and his opinions boorish. He does not seem the right sort to join our Pentax club

I thought the survey was pretty interesting. Towards the end it moved away from K-S2 and onto more general APS-C and even FF opinions / questions. Spent a good half an hour typing up a few ideas, opinions.

Pixelshift and GPS are a better fit for me over the built in flash. Sensor / firmware tweaks add to the II being the more desirable option.

John, you are very probably correct but since we do not have an exact month / year that the fix was implemented and that the Pentax lens serial number for this series cannot be used to indicate a definite fix i.e. current lens being sold should have a serial beginning with 905**** with older versions starting with 901****
Unfortunately I have seen failures reported for 901s through 905s.

I am in the same position as you George, looking for a wide zoom to take with on holidays. The DA* from a user review perspective is hampered by mainly 3 things, a: SDM failure, b: price, c: it has a QA related character.

Price is set by the idiots running the global financials, value of whatever currency you are using to buy with has been lowered by various schemes. I am assuming that the real cost of glass is the same.

SDM failure is a design flaw that due to Japanese psyche was never admitted to correctly and an awful lot of the reviews are of owners venting due to a real or imagined failure. This should have had a general recall but some spreadsheet with cost / brand value analysis indicated otherwise.

Character, this is harder to define, but from what I can gather, the DA* is a bit of a lottery from a optical QA point, some are stronger wide open than others, some reach peak sharpness at f/4 while others need f/8. Suffice to say that wide open, center will be sharp enough, stop it down and the rest of the frame catches up. Absolute sweet spot is dependent on your actual lens. I have seen some fantastic shots from this lens with great contrast, colours and sharpness throughout the aperture range. Suffice to say it is one of those lenses that you will need to learn and understand to gain best results but instead of GCSE level of learning, think Degree Thesis

On the other hand, the DA16-85 is overall more optically balanced from a performance point. It has the typical Pentax contrast, colours, better flare control and more stable resolution parameters across the frame. It will also focus faster which is a bit of a mute point as both these lenses are not really targeted for sports / action but again this is a usage parameter. There is one user on Flickr that put up some absolutely stunning landscape shots that had me about to hand over €800 so optically it will deliver top of line results. It is also lighter, will come with a warranty and will work very well with current Pentax DSLRs.

But...

It is like a DA Limited verses FA Limited argument (debate). DA is easier to use with more of its performance available more if the time, DA* is harder to use (assuming you get a reasonable copy) but it's highs are completely out of reach of the DA, get it in its sweet spot and it will give you a very 'prime' like look.
I'm picking the DA*, used and will budget for SDM failure. I might get lucky, I might not.

Bump - £40 shipped.

Bump - £50 Shipped.

Bump - £70 shipped.