The Pentax 18-55 AL II is the kit lens for Pentax DSLR camera. You can get the best price from Amazon
It is often sold in a package with the K10D and other budget DSLRs.
The DA designation means that it can only be used with cropped sensor DSLR camera.
This focal length is ideal for beginner photographer who is new to this field and want to shoot a bit of everything.
Although this review might be unnecessary for beginner photographer to understand, it might be useful to see how this glass will compares against other Pentax lenses.
Read the complete Pentax 18-55 review below.
Specs • Performance • Sample Image • Conclusion • Where to Buy
Pentax 18-55 Specs
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Official Name:
Pentax SMC DA 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AL II
Focal Length Markings:
18, 24, 35, 45, 55mm
Features:
SMC – Super Multi Coating – Minimizes flare in the glass elements.
DA – Only compatible with cropped sensor DSLR camera.
AL -Aspherical Elements – Minimizing chromatic aberration by installing aspherical elements.
II – Second edition or version.
Full Technical Specs
| Technical Specifications | |
| Groups / Elements | 8 / 11 |
| Angle of View | 76 – 29° |
| Number of Blade Diaphragm | 6 |
| Minimum Aperture | f/22-38 |
| Minimum Focusing Distance | 9.84ft. (0.25m) |
| Filter Thread | 52mm |
| Weight | 7.8oz. (220g) |
| Dimension (Diameter x Length) | ø2.7 x 2.7″ (68 x 67.5mm) |
| Macro Magnification Ratio | 0.34X |
| Available at | Amazon, B&H Photo, Adorama |
Optical Performance
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Pentax 18-55 Sharpness
The center sharpness here is excellent at any focal length and apertures.
Border sharpness is a bit soft at 18mm f/3.5. At other focal length and apertures, they are great.
To get maximum sharpness here, shoot at f/8.
Sharpness Scale (from Best to Worst):
(5) Excellent
(4) Great
(3) Good
(2) Fair
(1) Poor
Center Sharpness
| Focal Length / Aperture | f/3.5-4.5 | f/5.6 | f/8 | f/11 |
| 18mm | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Great |
| 35mm | Excellent | Excellent | Excellent | Great |
| 55mm | n/a | Great | Excellent | Great |
Border Sharpness
| Focal Length / Aperture | f/3.5-4.5 | f/5.6 | f/8 | f/11 |
| 18mm | Good | Great | Great | Great |
| 35mm | Great | Great | Great | Great |
| 55mm | n/a | Great | Great | Great |
Distortion
Barrel distortion is visible on this lens at 18mm. At 35mm and 55mm, distortion can be ignored.
See the distortion grid test below for each focal lengths.
Vignetting
Vignetting control is pretty poor at 18mm. At the widest aperture (f/3.5) it is very heavy. Stopping down also does not help in this case. The best solution is to remove it via a post processing software in this case.
At 35mm and 55mm, vignetting is visible at the widest aperture as well. However, here stopping down will greatly help reduce the vignetting.
See the full vignetting test below for every focal lengths and apertures.
Chromatic Aberration
Surprisingly, chromatic aberration is very well controlled on this lens. It can be considered very low at any aperture and focal lengths.
You can see the chromatic aberration test table result below for each focal lengths and apertures.
Chromatic Aberration Scale (from Best to Worst):
(5) Negligible
(4) Very Low
(3) Low
(2) High
(1) Very High
Chromatic Aberration
| Focal Length / Aperture | f/3.5-4.5 | f/5.6 | f/8 | f/11 |
| 18mm | Very Low | Low | Low | Low |
| 35mm | Very Low | Very Low | Very Low | Very Low |
| 55mm | n/a | Negligible | Negligible | Negligible |
Build Quality
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Materials
For a kit lens, the build quality is quite decent. It is made out of plastics, but the mount is made from metal (which is great for a kit lens).
Zoom Ring
The zoom ring operates quite smooth on this lens. The lens will extend when zoomed towards the extreme telephoto and extreme wide range.
Focusing
The focus ring on this lens is quite usable, unlike most kit lenses out there. It also operates very smoothly.
The front filter thread on this lens does not rotate, so you can use a polarizing filter with ease.
Autofocus will generate some slight noise because it has no internal autofocus motor. The speed is quite fast and autofocusing is accurate as well.
The Quick Shift Focus System manual focusing will be available once the autofocus have achieved focus.
Image Stabilization
The Image Stabilization feature is installed in the camera body, not on the lenses. Check your DSLR camera if it has Image Stabilization feature.
Compatibility
The DA designation means that this lens is only compatible with cropped sensor DSLR. It should not be used with a full frame DSLR or 35mm film SLR camera.
Sample Image
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Below are some sample shots that I took using this Pentax 18-55 lens. Click on any thumbnail to open the image.
Get the best price online from these sites: Amazon
Conclusion
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In this section, I will be summarizing this Pentax 18-55 review.
Drawbacks
- Soft borders at 18mm f/3.5
- Barrel distortion at 18mm
- Heavy vignetting at 18mm at every aperture
- Vignetting at 35mm and 55mm at the widest aperture
Positives
- Sharp on the center at any focal length and apertures
- Excellent chromatic aberration control
- Decent build quality for a kit lens
- Fast and accurate autofocus mechanism
- Good value for money
Good For
- Beginner’s lens
Not So Good For
- Any serious type of photography
- Low light photography due to the small aperture
What Others Are Saying…
by “James Rahrig”
I’m a former pro photographer for a newspaper & now freelance my skills for special events & corporate needs. The original kit lens was quite good for general use and serves well for newspaper…
Click here to see the full review
by “J. Powell”
When I purchased the Pentax K7 camera, I had some older manual lenses that I used first. Those were not truly digital lenses, so there was a lot of manual futzing around with the settings…
Click here to see the full review
Where to Buy
Support this site, buy the Pentax 18-55 lens from these sites (best price online):
Amazon (Best Price + FREE Shipping)
See the related post below to see more options.
Thanks for reading this Pentax 18-55 review, hope you’ve enjoyed it and found it helpful.
| Lens Score | |
|---|---|
| Optical Quality | |
| Build Quality | |
| Value for Money | |
| Overall | |
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