anyone using the DA 18-55mm II? impressions?

[xpiotiavos]

hi,

 

any news on whether or not the DA II offers any real improvement over the original kit lens? I can't find any actual reviews online.

 

thanks!

[jgredline]

I have heard from folks who have both, that they are the same..but who knows.

[john_behrends]

I bought this lense with my k200d, my first 'digital' camera. My impression has been very favorable. I own and use the Pentax 6x7 and 35mm systems and I own all different focal lengths of the "old" Pentax lenses for both formats . The 18-55 is my first new lense I have purchased in many years . I was a bit leary of the build of it, but it works extremely well and seems to produce quality shots, however I have put on some of the old glass and they are quite nice as well.Bottomline from me is a buy recommendation.<div></div>

[john_behrends]

Another shot , better than the last?<div></div>

[john_behrends]

Another shot with an old 80-200 m zoom.<div></div>

[xpiotiavos]

woah, there's some nasty color fringing on the main headstone in that second shot. i suppose that's nothing out of the

ordinary for a kit zoom at the wide end, but i guess pentax didn't make any efforts to fix that aspect.

[xpiotiavos]

thanks for the samples though, John!!

[john_behrends]

Hi Adam , the shot with the ferns was one of the first shots I took with the camera, frankly it looks better on the lcd on the camera, the cemetery shot was taken recently. To tell the truth I'm just learning how to use the 'digital' gear. I'm somewhat disappointed, compared to my film experience. Thanks

[renatoa]

My local Pentax dealer (the official one, from Pentax International web page directory) told me it IQ was improved for the 10M sensors, the older can cope only with the 6M generation. If anyone owns both, a simple Imatest run on 10M or greater res body images can tell imediately if resolution was improved.

[xpiotiavos]

John, coming from the 6x7 system, i'm not surprised your first response to the K200D + kit lens combination is a bit of

disappointment. the viewfinder on the K200D is no doubt dark compared to what you're used to, and the kit lens is, well,

a kit lens. it's a GREAT kit lens, to be sure, but i image it's got no where near the IQ of your 6x7 glass.

 

that being said, keep at it. the sensor in your camera is outstanding by all accounts, and the kit lens can be coerced

into getting some pretty fantastic results. my general rules for the 18-55mm (when quality is most important):

 

1) stay away from the long and short ends. CAs get really noticeable at 18mm, and it's a bit soft at 55mm

 

2) f/8 is the key.

 

3) 21-35mm (landscape bread-and-butter) and f/8 and it's as good as any lens on the market for sharpness.

 

4) take the filters off (assuming you don't buy super high quality filters to go with your sub $100 lens). that SMC coating

is amazing for flare control.

[stanrb]

I have the first version and my daughter has the II. I have used hers on my camera and couldn't really see a difference

when shooting the same scenes.

[john_ferguson3]

I've had both lenses (my son currently has the old version). I noticed quite a bit of difference between the two. The DA II definately has better IQ, IMHO.

[john_behrends]

Thanks Adam for the encouragement. My favorite 6x7 lense is the 45mm, which equals about 20mm in 35mm terms, awesome for landscapes , street scenes , abstracts, WOW!!, anyway I'm not giving up on the digital just yet!

[renatoa]

Beware, 20mm in 35mm terms does not equate K200D ! It is APS-c, and you need something like 14mm to have a FOV close to 20mm on film. Has anyone computed the crop factor between a medium format and an APS-C sensor ?

[xpiotiavos]

APS-C formats works out to having roughly a 3.4x "crop factor" if you use 6x7 as your base format.

 

13.33mm on APS-C = 20mm on 35mm film = 45mm on 6x7 film,

 

so 45mm divided by 13.33 equals 3.375 (so roughly 3.4)