Saturday, June 20, 2009

DA 18-55mm WR Lens

We're celebrating the birth of our newest granddaughter who arrived late Thursday night, and watching a few of the grand kids this weekend. Therefore, any extensive testing of the K-7 naturally has been put on the back burner. However, I did have a chance to try out the new 18-55 WR lens, and will be posting a few samples over the weekend.

First, the pebble like texture of the zoom ring feels very nice, the zoom action is nicely dampened, and there's a minimum of noise and no sloppy feel when you hit either end of the zoom range. Although I don't have any previous 18-55's to compare to, I'm finding the focusing with this lens on the K-7 to be quite fast and snappy.

I realize most 18-55 lens designations are thought to be poor quality, "kit" lenses. However, I think anyone considering the WR as their primary lens will be pleasantly surprised by its performance...plus it has the added bonus of basic weather sealing.

Posted images were all shot in JPEG in the "bright" mode with no other camera adjustments. Images were sized in PhotoShop to no more than 1600 x 2400, as I still do not have a final production sample of the K-7 to shoot with. Click on any thumbnail to see a larger image.