Dpreview launches lens reviews -- Pentax lenses in initial batch

[mattdm]

This looks like it'll be a nice resource, and I'm glad to see they're not neglecting Pentax:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0801/08...ensreviews.asp

[wulf]

Thanks for noting that. I look forward to seeing if they talk about some of the lenses I have, so I can judge whether it will be a helpful guide for potential future purchases.

Wulf

[mattdm]

One weakness is that they only test one lens, and some manufacturers (notoriously, Sigma) are prone to significant variation between different copies of the same lens. Historically, Pentax has been very solid, but recently there's been a lot of complaining about getting bad copies of the DA★ 16-50. Whether there's actually a significant variation in new Pentax lenses or just in the critical eye (either too little or too much) of the observers, I don't know. It's too bad some objective site can't test half a dozen samples of each lens.

[jdepould]

As a side note, that DA*16-50 is nearly identical to the Tokina 165 AT-X Pro. Apparently the two companies have been working together closely in recent years.

[GEli]

Besides being a bit puzzled about the IQ complaints regarding the DA 16-45mm f/4 I'm rather excited about this. I like the interactive sharpness/CA window, and the review on the DA 18-55 seems accurate. Though Photozone.de will still remain my primary review resource, I'll definitely be keeping DPR in mind for second opinions.

[mattdm]

Originally Posted by GEli

Besides being a bit puzzled about the IQ complaints regarding the DA 16-45mm f/4 I'm rather excited about this. I like the interactive sharpness/CA window, and the review on the DA 18-55 seems accurate. Though Photozone.de will still remain my primary review resource, I'll definitely be keeping DPR in mind for second opinions.

Which complaints about the DA★ 16-45 do you take issue with? They seem to come to about the same conclusion as photozone.de — a very good lens with some CA/sharpness issues at the wide end.

[GEli]

Originally Posted by mattdm

Which complaints about the DA★ 16-45 do you take issue with? They seem to come to about the same conclusion as photozone.de — a very good lens with some CA/sharpness issues at the wide end.

When I first read it last night at 3AM (perhaps my first mistake) I could've sworn they made a bigger issue out of the moderate border-IQ drop off at 16mm. Rereading it, they didn't. Never mind!