----- Original Message ----- From: "Paul Stenquist" Subject: Re: DA* 16-58/2.8 and the flat focus problem
>I would look closely. I never test lenses. But I have taken advantage > of the focal point adjustment on the K20D. It's worthwhile. And when > this lens showed aberrant behavior, I tested it further. I could have > settled for what was essentially a defective lens. And if the chips > fell right I may never have noticed it in real world shooting. You > can always blame it on camera shake or simply missing the mark on the > focal point. But there are times when it's best to know that one's > equipment works correctly. Or one can choose blissful ignorance. Blissful ignoranceis a pretty mild term for ignoring a defective product. Years ago, before there was an internet, or digital imaging, I had bought a Tokina 35-105mm zoom lens for my Nikon. I was never really happy with the pictures, but was never able to figure out what I didn't like. It was sharp enough, and contrasty enough for what I had bought it for (weddings), but I just didn't like the pictures. I did a shoot for a friend for a record (not a CD), and finally discovered, because of the location I had chosen, that the lens had a very slight barrel distortion throughout the range, somewhat worse at middle focal lengths. I had to put a straight edge on the architectural details of the background to see it, but this was what had bothered me about the lens. I sold it, went back to primes and was happy. I've been very slow to adopt zooms because of this experience, and of the few zooms I do have, the only one I am really happy with is my old Tokina 80-200/2.8, which is very good indeed. William Robb -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.