How good is the 18-55 kit lens with istDL

[songyang_chen]

I'm going to buy a DL, but don't know whether the kit lens worth the

95 bucks difference? I only have an old 50mm f1.7 SMC-A lens. Any

suggestions or comments? Thanks

 

S. C.

[daniel_tong1]

There are no lack of new users favoring the kit lens given its cost and coverage.

Likely mine was one of the bad lot. I found it barely ok around 25 mm. The rest of the focal length are all soft and with sub-par resolution.

I ebayed that away at around $95. Good deal of both of us and the purchaser was happy.

If I am to do that again, I will get those $499 kit deal and ebay that kits away. Well $405 for the body is definitely a great deal.

I used some of the money to get fa28-28 and fa40 1.4 & fa100 Macro2.8 to cover the kit lens range

If you have 50mm1.7 , the kit lens can never never match your expectation at all. Maybe it is just me.

 

Daniel

[songyang_chen]

Hi Daniel, thanks for sharing your experience. I will skip the kit lens and get the body only.

 

I know primes are supposed superior than zoom, but is there any suggestions for an all around zoom lens? I mainly shoot streets and candids, and have no need for longer than 135mm.

 

Thanks for any inputs.

 

SC

[steve graham]

I got the 18-55 kit lens with my DS because it was no more expensive than the body only price. I've found the kit lenses to be quite poor though with the corner sharpness being particularily bad, especially wide open. Having said that it might be worth 95 dollars for the range coverage until you get better lenses at the focal lengths you like.

 

The SMC-A 50mm F1.7 (which works well on a digital body) will vastly outperform the kit lens.

[steve graham]

"I know primes are supposed superior than zoom, but is there any suggestions for an all around zoom lens? I mainly shoot streets and candids, and have no need for longer than 135mm. "

 

Depends what you mean about all round. I'm not conviced there is a single lens available which will give good results both from wide angle (say 28mm equivalent) to 135mm equivalent or so. The 16-45mm F4 Pentax (24-68mm equivalent) is highly regarded but while it offers a good wide angle focal length it's a little short at the long end. The older 24-90mm Pentax is also highly regarded but while on digital it offers 135mm equivalent at the long end it's not too wide at the short end with only a 36mm equivalent focal length.

 

For lightweight use I've started carrying a 10-20mm and a 24-135mm (both Sigmas) and that works quite well however there is a still a fair bit of lens switching involved.

[markku_ylilammi]

The 18-55 kit lens is not at all so bad as here suggested. You just have to remember to stop down (to f:8 in wide end, to f:11 in long end). Considering the price and the usability of the wide angle (equiv. 27 mm) I would highly recommend it. Of course if you never use wide angles you may want to skip this.

[steve graham]

"The 18-55 kit lens is not at all so bad as here suggested."

 

Mine is. It was comprehensively outperformed by a cheap 19-35mm Pheonix at the wide end, and by a 28-200 at longer focal lengths. The corner sharpness of my 18-55 is the worst of any lens I've experienced. Yes it gets better at F8 & F11 but even then it's not that good.

[rod_dinkins]

Perhaps look at the many reviews of the "18 - 55mm kit lens" on the Pentax SLR forum at dpreviews URL:

 

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1036

 

There you can see many photos taken with the kit lens and user assessments.

 

Use the "Find" box and type in "18 - 55mm kit lens"

 

I wanted a one lens carry around from wide angle to moderate telephoto and settled on the Sigma 18 to 125mm lens.

 

I do have several primes which I use for "serious" work.

[vuk_vuksanovic]

that lens is pretty awful. for other suggestions, you can have a look at my review of the *istDS:<p>

<a href='http://www.photo.net/equipment/pentax/istds/'>http://www.photo.net/equipment/pentax/istds/</a>

[michellemandat]

Awful is exagerated. If it's not the best lens - but what is the best lens ? - It's a good lens for general purpose and budget.

[george_d._gianni]

Every lens has its relative merits. Compared to my four primes in this range (20, 28, 43, 50) the kit lens is slower and has to be stopped down to 5.6 to 8 to deliver comparable resolution. In its wide position (18mm) it distorts visibly and it is soft at 50-55mm. But compared to a Sigma 18-35 it delivers much better contrast and it is much more flare resistant. And it beats the corresponding Canon 18-55 zoom on my 10D in every respect.<br>

I also noticed a much better corner to corner resolution between say 20mm and 45mm than at the extreme ends 18 and 55mm. Either Stephen was unlucky or I was lucky with this lens.<p>

I would not claim that the 18-55 lens is among the best lenses made by Pentax, but it still has its strengths. If you need a very compact and versatile <b>zoom</b> lens for everyday use and have covered the top end of the range with another prime or zoom, there really is no better alternative. Consider also that due to its reduced size the kit lens is compatible with your built in flash.<p>

If you are prepared to spend some more, the 16-45mm is an excellent performer.

[songyang_chen]

Thanks everybody for the inputs. I probably go for 16-45mm due to its good reputation and $100 rebate. I'll cover my long end later on.