Pentax SMC DA 18 135mm F 3 5 5 6 ED AL IF DC WR Review | 54 Data compared

The ePHOTOzine review highlights the SMC Pentax-DA 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 ED AL [IF] DC WR as a compact, sturdy, and weather-sealed lens, featuring a fast and silent DC autofocus motor and the Quick Shift focus system. It produces excellent color rendition and strong central contrast, making it a versatile, high-quality walk-around option despite some technical compromises. However, the lens suffers from significantly lower sharpness in the corners compared to the center, along with high levels of chromatic aberration and noticeable distortion across the zoom range. Additionally, the manual focus ring is positioned closer to the camera body, requiring user adjustment, and the lens shows a severe drop in fine detail towards the edges.

The SMC Pentax-DA 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 ED AL [IF] DC WR is widely regarded as a versatile, weather-sealed (WR) walkaround lens for APS-C cameras, offering a 27.7-207mm equivalent focal range with a fast DC autofocus motor. It features a durable, lightweight design with internal focusing (IF) and effectively controls chromatic aberrations, making it suitable for travel, landscape, and general photography. Optically, the lens delivers good central sharpness across most of its range, though it can be quite soft wide open at 135mm and displays noticeable corner softness and vignetting at wider angles. Other noted drawbacks include potential zoom creep and a variable aperture that limits low-light performance.

Here is a summary of the lens review: The Pentax SMC DA 18-135mm F/3.5-5.6 ED AL (IF) DC WR lens is a compact, lightweight 7.5x zoom lens built with an all-weather design that features internal seals and a red O-ring around the lens mount. Its wide-angle performance is decent, achieving 1,962 lines of sharpness at 18mm f/3.5 and strong results at 35mm. The lens also features a large, rubber-textured zoom ring and delivers a versatile 1:4 reproduction ratio at 135mm, allowing users to closely focus on small details. However, the lens received a "Fair" 2.5-star rating due to disappointing image quality at longer focal lengths. Weaknesses include soft edges, poor telephoto performance that leaves photos blurry at 135mm, and noticeable distortion—specifically 3.6% barrel distortion at 18mm alongside pincushion distortion at higher zoom ranges. It also experiences a natural vignette with corners lagging behind the center by 2.2 f-stops of brightness at 18mm f/3.5. Due to these optical flaws, the reviewer recommends alternative setups, such as pairing a shorter weather-resistant lens with a telephoto companion or opting for a sharper third-party...

The SMC Pentax-DA 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 ED AL [IF] DC WR is described as a compact, lightweight (405g), and weather-sealed lens ideal for general, all-in-one "walkaround" use, offering a versatile 7.5x zoom range. Key pros include its fast, silent DC autofocus, good color rendering, and convenient full-time manual focus, making it suitable for travel and general photography, say ePhotozine. However, the review notes significant cons stemming from its extensive zoom range, particularly regarding image quality. The lens exhibits marked sharpness falloff at the edges, high chromatic aberration, and reduced clarity beyond 70mm, rendering it unsuitable for precision-focused tasks, reports ePhotozine.

The SMC Pentax-DA 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 ED AL [IF] DC WR is a highly versatile, compact 405g "all-in-one" APS-C lens, featuring robust weather-sealed (WR) construction, a metal mount, and fast, silent DC motor autofocus. It provides a practical 27–203mm equivalent zoom range, along with convenient Quick-Shift manual focus override. Optically, the lens compromises sharpness, with soft edges and corners when wide open and significant field curvature that requires stopping down to achieve uniformity. It also exhibits pronounced barrel distortion at 18mm, high chromatic aberrations, and slight mechanical play in the lens barrel when extended to 135mm.

The Imaging Resource review identifies the Pentax 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 ED AL [IF] DC WR as a versatile, weather-sealed walk-around lens with robust build quality. Its key strengths include quiet, rapid DC autofocus with manual override and an internal focusing design that supports easy filter usage. Conversely, the lens suffers from notable optical compromises, including poor edge sharpness at wide focal lengths and significant barrel distortion at 18mm. Strong vignetting and a somewhat restrictive manual focus ring are additional downsides, making it best suited as a convenient, all-in-one travel option rather than a landscape specialist.

The Pentax smc DA 18-135mm F3.5-5.6ED AL IF DC WR is a highly versatile, all-in-one standard zoom lens released in September 2010 for Pentax KAF mount APS-C DSLRs, carrying an indicative launch price of $459. Architecturally, it comprises 13 optical elements in 11 groups, a 7-blade diaphragm, and a 62mm filter diameter, packed into a relatively compact 405-gram body measuring 73mm by 76mm. Its chief strengths lie in its massive 7.5x focal range (18-135mm), giving it excellent everyday utility, alongside its highly praised weather-resistant (WR) build and full-time manual focus override capabilities. Additionally, reviewers highlight its fast, smooth center sharpness, pleasant bokeh, and excellent handling. However, the lens makes notable engineering compromises to achieve its compact, lightweight design. Its primary optical drawbacks include severe edge and corner softness, along with heavy distortion and vignetting, particularly at the wider 18mm end. Optical performance also degrades noticeably at the telephoto end, yielding weaker fine resolution and increased chromatic aberration toward the borders of the frame. On the hardware side, it lacks built-in image stabilization and an internal AF motor, relying instead on...