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Is my HD 16-85mm DC WR copy good?

Started Jan 9, 2016 | Questions thread
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gnath11 Regular Member • Posts: 137
Is my HD 16-85mm DC WR copy good?

From the forum discussions, I know that quite a few of you have the HD 16-85mm DC WR lens. I bought one two days ago. The fit and finish of the lens is good. I did some quick test on decentering using Zeiss chart and then took some indoor brick wall kind of test shots. It seems it has no decentering. The sharpness seems to be more even than Pentax 18-135mm lens whose design emphasizes center sharpness. The color rendition, as many of you know, is a bit neutral than the vibrant color of Pentax 18-135mm.

My purpose of buying this lens is to use it as a walk around lens with my K-5, especially during wet and rainy days. I am mainly a Canon shooter but always liked Pentax bodies and the color rendition of Pentax lenses. I have a few Canon bodies and for travel I also use my 7D Mark II with Canon 18-135mm STM a lot. But my love for Pentax stays intact. I have only two other Pentax lenses, the HD 15mm f/4 limited and DA 40mm Limited (an excellent lens). The 16-85mm gives me more wide angle at the sacrifice of reach and this lens does not have that dreaded SDM motor -- you folks all know these!

So from the pictures I took so far in gloomy winter days, I am not sure if my copy is very good or not. It certainly looks OK, devoid of any flaw, but some of you who own this lens should be able to give me some feedback on sharpness from their copies. The first picture is with K-5 built in flash. The rest without any flash. Focus is AF-S with all 9 focus points on. Some pictures were by auto mode, some with P mode. The lens serial number is 44002XX. Some of you might know how to interpret the S/N and if this is from a recent or older batch. Many thanks in advance.

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Canon EOS 7D Mark II Pentax 16-85mm F3.5-5.6 WR Pentax K-5
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