Review on 📷 Pentax SMC DA Series 16-50mm f/2.8 ED AL IF SDM Lens: Wide Angle Zoom for Pentax Digital SLRs by Abhi Abhilasha ᠌

Name: 📷 Pentax SMC DA Series 16-50mm f/2.8 ED AL IF SDM Lens: Wide Angle Zoom for Pentax Digital SLRs
Item: 📷 Pentax SMC DA Series 16-50mm f/2.8 ED AL IF SDM Lens: Wide Angle Zoom for Pentax Digital SLRs
Rating: 4

October 08, 2022

The product is completely satisfied, performs its functions.

It seems that this lens was made somewhat "in a hurry", if only it was present in the lineup for purely marketing reasons. Don't get me wrong, he does his job, sometimes well, sometimes exceptionally well, but. there are more good things about him on paper than in real life (I have something to compare to). When I first took it in my hands, I did not experience the "holy awe" from the feeling of "reinforced concrete" quality, as happens, for example, when you touch Nikon 27-70 / 2.8 or Zuiko 14-35 / 2.0. Probably, further impressions are already perceived through the prism of the "first touch". Yes, focusing is quiet, almost fast in good light, but they saw faster; yes, the zoom ring rotates (but not so smoothly and "oily"); yes, it is possible to bring the focus "on the fly" without switching to manual mode, but that's what scares me, after reading reviews about this "feature" on the net. In my opinion, this lens makes sense only in one case: professional shooting of weddings, namely their reportage part. There is simply no choice. A smaller aperture zoom with a larger range of focal lengths will not give such a "kosher" picture and an acceptable ISO value in combination with a short shutter speed in extreme lighting conditions, but with fixes (for those "who are over forty" do not run back and forth), besides , with fixes, it is desirable to have a couple of "carcasses" so as not to constantly change the lens from one to another. I simply don’t see any other reasonable explanation for the acquisition of this lens. And yes: use less "shift focus" - the lens will live longer.

Pros

1. Metal; 2. Big and weighty; 3. Ultrasonic as well as screwdriver drive for compatibility with older cameras; 4. Acceptable price (but not in 2022); 5. On some focal lengths, a pleasant blur (for zoom); 6. Micro-contrast, so necessary for digital; 7. On some focal lengths, sharp already from 2.8 .; 8. All weather.

Cons

1. Ultrasonic drive - there are a lot of complaints about it in terms of reliability, its implementation is not as fast as that of theoretical competitors; 2. Does he really need a screwdriver drive (?), And what is its component in terms of price (?); 3. On some focal "soft" on 2.8; 4. For my taste, the zoom ring is narrow; 5. The movements of both rings (focus / zoom) are not as "oily" and clearly calibrated, as expected from a product of this level; 6. When zooming in the direction of 50mm, the lens significantly increases in length: it has two "tubes", although they are metal, but somehow it becomes not calm (maybe only psychologically, but still); 7. On some focal lengths, there is more chromatite than we would like, however, approximately no more than approximate analogues; 8. Price in 2022 (where is the limit of dealers' greed(?)).

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Comments (1)

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Abhey Raj ᠌

November 16, 2022

Has pros: + Excellent fast lens for the money. Its cons: - On the Pentax K-5, due to its size, it partially overlaps the autofocus illuminator and the built-in flash. - fuzziness may appear at the maximum open aperture.