salve for my disappointment

Several new Pentax products have been announced for the CP+ trade show: a 1.7x teleconverter, some medium-format updates, compact cameras (now labeled Ricoh not Pentax, as expected).  No 17-85± or 130-380± zooms - although a new 70-200± was placed on the list of future items.  I had hoped that one or two future lenses would become imminent ones.

Given no 17-85 option is forthcoming, I have picked up another copy of the DA 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 - my third.   Recent shots in snowstorms demonstrated the value of a wider weather-friendly zoom, and since I really don't want to change lenses at ~50mm any more this is the answer for now (i.e. this coming week).  It's not that it's a poor lens, but shooting at the long end revealed color fringing beyond my tolerance, and my unwillingness to engage the in-cam corrections led to many results that left me dissatisfied.  If I stop before 100mm and stop down more at the long end, this should be satisfactory.


I have felt that the 18-135 lens has been overpriced since its inception, but this used copy was 'properly' priced at about 3x the 18-55WR.  Quiet, WR and good range; just remember to go to f/8 above 80mm and you'll love it, I keep telling myself.  It's the doing that matters though!