Pentax SMCP-DA 16-45mm f/4.0 ED AL Autofocus Lens for Digital Camera USA

Comments about Pentax SMCP-DA 16-45mm f/4.0 ED AL Autofocus Lens for Digital Camera:

I bought this lens to have a walk-around lens for my Pentax K5. I normally shoot with fixed focal length lenses but sometimes the convenience of a zoom is nice. The focal length covered by this lens is very useful, and while there are some inevitable trade-offs, the image quality is very decent for a zoom. What I was somewhat surprised about is the size of the lens. GIven its relatively modest maximum aperture, I expected something a bit smaller. It is frankly not very balanced on the K5, and becomes extremely long when zoomed to the widest setting.

Comments about Pentax SMCP-DA 16-45mm f/4.0 ED AL Autofocus Lens for Digital Camera:

Extremely versatile field of view and zoom range with outstanding image quality.

Hood attachment is problematic.

Comments about Pentax SMCP-DA 16-45mm f/4.0 ED AL Autofocus Lens for Digital Camera:

I purchased this lens for the extra 2mm on the wide end over the 18-55mm kit lens and also assumed the image quality would be better. Having a constant f/4 aperture throughout the range was nice, but when comparing image quality with that of the 18-55mm kit lens, it doesn't seem worth the upgrade. The build quality of this lens felt about the same as the kit lens. I did some comparison photos using both lenses, and this lens at 16mm wide open (f/4) was much softer looking than the kit lens at 18mm f/4. Stopped down things got better, but still not better than the 18-55mm lens included with Pentax bodies.

Comments about Pentax SMCP-DA 16-45mm f/4.0 ED AL Autofocus Lens for Digital Camera:

I really like the quality of the lens. Very good contrast, sharpness and color rendering. People allways comment about the saturation and color with photos taken with this. I also own a 24-90FA and this lens does better in the overlap range. I also find it to be much better than the kit lens (18-55) Build quality is good, not great.

Only drawbacks
1) Wish it were longer
2) the lens will shade the internal flash.

Comments about Pentax SMCP-DA 16-45mm f/4.0 ED AL Autofocus Lens for Digital Camera:

For architectural work I needed a wider view than the kit lens provides. To my happy surprise, the DA 16-45 exhibits minimal barrel/pincushion distortion and satisfies my requirements. Color and contrast are excellent, even under severe lighting conditions.

Comments about Pentax SMCP-DA 16-45mm f/4.0 ED AL Autofocus Lens for Digital Camera:

This is my walk around lens. I have it on my camera 90 percent of the time. It produces excellent photos and great color. I have other lenses in this range but always seem to use this lens.

Comments about Pentax SMCP-DA 16-45mm f/4.0 ED AL Autofocus Lens for Digital Camera:

If you're looking for a professional quality lens, this is not it-spring for the 16-50mm f2.8 ED AL (IF) instead- the difference is night and day. For one this lens is not sharp, secondly it is very slow and very loud. You're wasting a really good sensor on your camera by using a sub-standard lens. For the price, it's a good enough lens, but don't think that it's as sharp as their more expensive lenses.

Comments about Pentax SMCP-DA 16-45mm f/4.0 ED AL Autofocus Lens for Digital Camera:

Purchased this lens as an alternative to the 18-55mm kit lens and its a marked improvement. I use it mainly as a walking around lens and it works great. Vignetting is kept to a minimum at its widest end and overall sharpness and color saturation is very good. By no means a macro lens - it focusses pretty close as well
The build quality seems OK but is not its strong suit

Comments about Pentax SMCP-DA 16-45mm f/4.0 ED AL Autofocus Lens for Digital Camera:

Pentax did their homework with this lens and it is very sharp wide open, except at 45mm it is not as sharp. If it were better built, the performance might be even better, but then this lens is rather affordable too.

Comments about Pentax SMCP-DA 16-45mm f/4.0 ED AL Autofocus Lens for Digital Camera:

I bought this lens some 6 months before I bought a digital body. It is usable on an AF film body though you'll get vignetting wider than about 21mm. Use it for the artistic effect and excellent wide angle image quality on film!The main impression I have of this lens is the concentration of tone and image. Gradations are captured well, and there's lots of detail (while not quite as much as the 43 Limited) rendered in a very natural way. It does wide angle in an exemplary way.It is very flexible in use- I too appreciate the close focus ability - and covers a very useful range. Negatives: it gets longer as you zoom wider, and interferes with the pop up flash. The f/4 aperture causes AF hunt in dim surroundings. The lens is a bit large. That's it.

Expertise: Long term amateur

Problems Encountered: Especially zoomed wide, interferes with the pop up flash. You'll want a hot shoe flash or something similar to counter this.

Previous Equivalent Item Owned: Tamron SP 35-80 2.8-3.8; Pentax 28-80 film kit lens

Comments about Pentax SMCP-DA 16-45mm f/4.0 ED AL Autofocus Lens for Digital Camera:

I recently purchased a Pentax K10D. I didn't have anylenses specific for my digital camera, so I thought I wouldget something to go along with the camera. I looked at thekit lens and I looked at this lens. I opted for thislens because it looked like better glass than the kitlens. Plus it has a wider angle of view than the kit lens.I have not been disappointed in the slightest. Althoughthis is not a macro lens, the minimum focus on the lens is3 or 4 inches regardless of the focal length. Very nice.One of the first photos that I took with the camera andlens was a picture of my wife and kids standing next to mymother-in-law. Everyone was about 10 - 15 ft. away. Isnapped the picture and didn't think much about it. Laterwhen I was in Adobe Lightroom, I noticed my mother-in-law'swatch. I zoomed in and I am able to see the time on mymother-in-law's watch when I took the picture! Amazing! I'm sure part of it is the camera, but a camera is only asgood as the glass on the front of it.The lens is well built and is very solid. The zoom sectionis nice and big, giving you plenty of space to grab thelens and move the zoom portion. The lens also has theability to focus manually without the need to turn offautofocus on the camera body itself. This is the firstPentax lens that I have that has this ability. Very nice.Is this worth the extra $200 - $300? I think so.

Expertise: Advanced amateur

Problems Encountered: No problems. The lens uses a 67mm filter. Because it is afairly wide angle lens, it is a bit heavy. Small price topay for such a nice piece of glass.

Items I Recommend: B+W 67mm UV Haze 010 (MRC) Multi-Resistant Coating Glass Filter