Pentax DA 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 ED AL IF Lens for Pentax and Samsung Digital SLR Cameras by Pentax
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Digital camera reviews of Pentax DA 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 ED AL IF Lens for Pentax and Samsung Digital SLR Cameras
Digital camera Review: Excellent with a little help
Summary: 4 Stars
After reading so many great reviews of this lens I took the plunge and got it. Honestly, at first I was a bit disappointed. The lens works fine from about 30mm to 200mm, which is still an amazing range for a single lens. From 30mm down to 18 the barrel distortion on my copy gets pretty bad. There's also a bit of vignetting wide open, which goes away when stopping down. I'd seen sample photos on review sites demonstrating the barrel distortion, but thought that I could correct the problem in Photoshop. Unfortunately, the lens distortion fix there doesn't quite make photos look right. At the long end my lens is still sharp but picks up quite a bit of fringing.
It was still worth buying just not quite what I'd hoped it would be. Fortunately a friend told me about a Photoshop plugin called PTLens. It's also works as a stand alone and Aperture plugin if you use that program. I don't. With the profile for my K20d and this lens loaded in, the plugin does a really good job of fixing both the distortion and the fringing. Now, I'm not just satisfied but thrilled by the lens performance. Yes, sharpness is still a bit better in the middle of the zoom range but still decent at the extreme ends.
Digital camera Review: Fantastic Walk Around Lens
Summary: 5 Stars
This Pentax version of the Tamron original does JUST what I wanted it for at a very reasonable price. When I go on trips or outings, I want to carry very little. This more than adequately replaces my previous down-sized kit of an 18-55 and a 50-200. Not only is one lens much lighter than two, it takes considerably less space and provides me fewer opportunities to introduce dust into the camera body while I change lenses. On top of that, it produces sharp pictures with minimal CA.
What it's not:
Fast. Making this range of zoom fast would require lots more glass (bigger and heavier) and even more cash.
A real macro lens. It doesn't compete with my FA 100 2.8. This too is a heavy lens and I don't usually take it on trips.
A real telephoto lens. A 300 and up would be truly heavy and require mounting on a tripod (still more weight).
An ultra-wide ange lens. At its widest it's the equivalent of a 28.
What it is is a lens I can rely on to capture the picture in almost any situation without having to resort to extensive post-processing work,
Digital camera Review: Geart Lens, kind of dark tough
Summary: 4 Stars
This lens are great, i only wish they would produce higher contrast and more vivid colors as my old and cheaper Sigma lens use to.Digital camera Review: Good allround lens
Summary: 4 Stars
Fair to good image quality
Sometime slow focus in low light situation
Zoom creeping is a problem but Zoom lock switch help.
I own Pentax 16-50DA* and 12-24DA but this 18-250 mm lens still my workhorse lens due to very compact size and long zoom length.
You need to step down F stop to get a very good quality though.
So in a good light condition, it a very very good lens and the prize is very reasonable. However, Canon and Nikon will get same Temron 18-250mm lens with cheaper prize.
It a very best value lens to buy, you will not regret.
Digital camera Review: Good quality lens
Summary: 4 Stars
It pretty close to what it is advertised to be. Not good for low light. under bright natural or artificial lights it works great.