Alternative ultrawide?

Unfortunately I have just missed out on the last of the reasonably-priced 12-24mm f4s from Walters, so I am now looking at alternatives in this category. I really liked the look of the 12-24, but can't justify spending the ludicrous amounts of money Pentax charge for it nowadays.

Anyway, enough moping, I've listed the various options (with the exception of the 15mm f4, since it isn't that much wider than the 16-45 which I could buy instead, and is over £600). I'm also open to alternate suggestions within the same sort of budget - the Pentax 17-70mm (though it is obviously a standard zoom rather than an ultrawide) has been catching my eye lately despite my strong anti-SDM prejudice, as has the Tamron 28-75 (as a portrait lens).

Contact DAE0707 by PM and he'll give you a ring - he sold me a 12-24 for the same price as Walters and said he had a couple more left at the £525 price ("old" stock, but 2 year Pentax Pro warrantee).

Very helpful guy and delivered well boxed and secured by courier next day.

I'm quite enjoying the 12-24, although do tend to be at either one end of it or the other! Watch out for the lens hood if at 12mm though...

I regularly use a Sigma 10-20 f4-5.6 and am very pleased with it.
I also use a Pentax 17-70, which is a great standard lens. I am of the opinion that the Tamron 28-75 does not have the range at the wide end, to be really useful.
The industrial photos in my portfolio were taken with the Sigma 10-20.

Might well do that then - cheers for the tip! If he still has any that would be the best option.

Also check the adverts at the back of Amateur Photographer - offers appear suddenly from unusual suppliers. If you keep your eyes open you might catch a good deal.

SRS have some s/h (nearly as new ) Samsung and Pentax 12-24's. The Samsungs are identical optically, but don't have the same lens ID code so the auto lens correction of the K-x and K-7 (JPEG only) doesn't work, but then, none of the alternatives you list will either, none of which are as good optically as the 12-24 design.

It's gotta be the 14mm for its flare resistance & close focus abilities. I miss it !

Hi,

I'm suffering the same frustration....the 12-24 is far too expensive now, Pentax lens sales must be suffering !!

Iknow a lot of people have the Sigma 10-20 and are happy with it but I owned one for 4/5 months & didn't get on with it, I found the distortion a bit "odd" for my tastes.

Having read endless reviews/personal comments on the alternatives over the last 18months though I tend to agree with Richard, the 12-24 is the best option. Reviews suggest it's sharper than the 15mm prime and the other alternatives and distortion levels are the lowest you'll probably find in current UWA lenses.

Sorry if this doesn't help, my own thinking is do without or spend the now silly money for the 12-24

Simon

Realise that reviving this borders on necromancy, but with the last of the reasonably-priced DA12-24s gone and the Sigma 8-16 announced at north of £600 street price my options are now between the two Sigmas. Is the impression I'm getting from reviews - that the old Sigma is actually better than the new one - an accurate one?

I'm casting vote for Sigma 10-20/4-5.6.
Excellent lens. Great IQ and very good price!
My gave me quite a few PPG accepted shots....

The Tamron isn't getting much love, I notice. Why is that? From what I see the distortion is better than the sigma and it's about as sharp.

Hmm one of the two reviewers, either dpreview or photozone (can't remember which one) said that it was noticeably less sharp than the Sigma until f8 (and never achieved the same corner performance).

Klaus at Photozone kindly pointed me to Sigma's own MTF charts for their ultrawides, and the newer 10-20's is sufficiently discouraging that I've essentially discounted it. Since the 8-16 (good though it will no doubt be) will be selling at over £600 I'm therefore pretty set on the 4-5.6 Sigma. Some of the images people have produced with it are absolutely stunning - my own photographic ability will have to improve to get into that sort of region of course!

I own a sigma 10-20/4-5,6. I bought it used (8 months) with marumi polarising filter fitted for 350€. At that price it really was a no brainer. Ofcourse I considered the DA 12-24 but it is a bit off my student budget. Since I have my sigma, I really don't think about replacing it. It is a good lens.

cheers, Luka

Cost verses quality,the sigmas hard to beat.

Depends on what you want to do with the lens, for landscapes the sigma would be fine but with buildings and interior shots I would rather have the DA12-24 because it has less distortions.
Although CS5 has an auto correction for sigma lenses but it doesn't include Pentax yet...