Ed, I've had a 16-45 since I bought my (now my daughter's) istD. It's a great lens--very sharp, compact, and fast enough, especiaily with the K-5.
I was very tempted by the 17-70 because of its longer zoom range, but the constant reports of SDM problems (which didn't seem to taper off as the lens got older) put me off--as did the reviews of its optical quality compared to the 16-45. In my 60's, weight is an increasingly important variable; so my travel kit is a 16-45, a 50-200, and a 10-17 fisheye. I keep looking, but I haven't seen anything with which I'd replace any of these. I've considered replacing the 16-45 with my 21 Ltd, 40 Ltd, and FA 50/1.7, but they would weigh the same amount, are less versatile, and only of higher quality if one has achieved a pathological level of pixel-peeping. Cheers, Rick On Jan 29, 2016, at 11:27 AM, Ed Keeney wrote: > Hello all! > > I have the following in my bag at the moment... > > Pentax K-50 > SMC-DAL 18-55 3.5/5.6 > SMC-DA 50-200 4-5.6 > SMC-FA 50 1.4 > > I find that the image quality of the 50 is outstanding when comparing > to the other 2 lenses (primarily the 18-55). Not that the kit lens is > bad, but the 50 is very sharp. I attribute this to the fixed aperture > and overall better quality glass. > > I'm thinking of saving for a new higher quality lens (aren't we all?). > At this point, I'm not sure which direction to take. Do I look at the > current lineup (below) or try to find a second hand older lens. > > The current fixed aperture zoom lens lineup from the Ricoh site (US prices)... > > PENTAX DA 12-24mm f/4 ED AL [IF] $ 699.95 > > PENTAX smc DA* 16-50mm f/2.8 ED AL [IF] SDM $1049.95 > > PENTAX smc DA 17-70mm f/4 AL [IF] SDM $ 499.95 > > PENTAX HD D FA 24-70mm f/2.8ED SDM WR $1299.95 > > PENTAX smc DA* 50-135mm f/2.8 ED [IF] SDM $1049.95 > > PENTAX smc DA* 60-250mm F4 [IF] SDM $1299.95 > > > To start, I am looking at the DA 17-70 to roughly cover the same range > as the 18-55 and luckily it's the lowest priced one. B&H has it > listed for $350, Amazon $300. > > Online reviews are hit and miss on this (SDM focusing issues). > > I'd like to get PDML thoughts, so fire away! > > Thanks! > Ed > http://www.flickr.com/photos/edkeeney/ > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. http://photo.net/photos/RickW -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
