Together at Last

[Joseph Tainter]

My DA 16-45 f4, assembled in Vietnam, and my *ist D, assembled in the 
Philippines, are now assembled to each other in New Mexico.

I picked up the DA 16-45 lens today. My first reaction is disappointment 
at the design. The lens barrel extends 3.5 cm. as one zooms from tele to 
wide angle. This is the same design as the FA 24-90 (which reverses 
matters by being shortest at wide angle), and it is a design that I 
don't like. Here's why:

I took an FA 24-90 to Mali, along with a Tamron 24-135 and two MZ-S 
bodies. The FA 24-90 is a fine lens optically, and I recommend it for 
that. Once I left it, barrel extended, and an MZ-S sitting on the auto 
seat. The next time I bounced from the vehicle, both bounced with me 
straight to the ground. My fault, but the FA 24-90's barrel now wobbles, 
and it has to go to Pentax for repair. I think the lens would have been 
fine had I zoomed it back to its shortest setting (24) -- or, better 
yet, if all zooming was done internally so that there is no barrel 
extension. I now consider such lenses fragile when the barrel is 
extended, and feel that I have to zoom the lens back to its shortest 
length after each shot. That is how I will treat the DA 16-45. It is a 
nuisance, and I'm not happy.

Hey, now that the aperture ring is indeed gone, we need something new to 
complain about.

That said, this is probably a fine lens optically (as suggested by its 
price). The front does not rotate when focusing or zooming (which I know 
many will like). Once I start to use it I may warm to it. The manual 
focus override works smoothly.

Still, I will be watching to see if Tokina/Tamron/Sigma comes out with a 
sturdy f2.8 zoom in this range that is optically excellent and zooms 
internally -- like my Tokina AT-X AF Pro 28-80 f2.8, a lens that has 
spoiled me. If such appears I may get one.

I won't have time to shoot much with it this weekend, but may try to get 
in a few shots.

Am I the first North American on the list with one?

I suggest that we officially name it "da lens" -- as in "da Bears" 
(Chicago's football team, for non-Americans).

Joe