Samples images with the Pentax 16-85

Joseph Tainter wrote:

jok1000 wrote:

Hi everyone,

Here are some real-world sample images taken with this new lens. These were shot RAW and subjected my normal PP workflow just to give you an idea of what sort of final result you can obtain with this lens. I would have normally cropped a couple of these, but have keep them as the full frame so you can see the edges. They are taken with a Kr.

Looking at these again, some are not as soft as I first thought they were. But some are.

In the first one, the focus point seems to be the grass at the lower right. Or you have front focusing

No. 2 is not bad.

No. 3 is very sharp. Nice.

No. 4--I think you are focused on the foreground. Front focusing?

No. 5--the sharpest parts seem to be the grass and tree at lower left center.

No. 6--if you focused on the tree, this may be front focused.

No. 7--not bad, but I think you are focused on the grass in front of the Kangaroo.

This looks like you may have a problem with front focusing. So perhaps the problem is in the camera, not the lens.

Good luck with the lens. It is one I am interested in, so I appreciate reports like yours.

Joe

Questions of sharpness and focus accuracy aside (I didn't look closely, but don't expect miracles from a 5.3:1 zoom), the rendering and contrast look very good - in the warm Pentax tradition.

I'd much rather see Pentax concentrate on rendering and freedom from defects (CA, PF, bad bokeh) because improved resolution of sensors seem to make our lenses appear ever sharper. And the very best RAW converter never, ever deals entirely with CA (especially LOCA), PF, or bad bokeh - artifacts are left behind.