Pentax 17-70 v Sigma 17-70

I love the 17-70 but Mike is quite right, it really isn't good enough that the lens doesn't perform as you would expect- it is more galling that 3rd party lenses can do this. I was aware of the problem prior to purchase and at £280 I was prepared to overlook it.

I think as Pentaxians we can sometimes make too many allowances for the brand, probably because they get such a kicking from non Pentax users.

Lets hope the Ricoh takeover makes these flaws a thing of the past when the new lenses start coming through.

I'm not saying the criticism isn't valid, but pretty much every lens has it's weaknesses. If you search for the Nikon 16-85mm, you seem to find plenty of people complaining about focus problems in the wide end. It'd be nice if everything worked as well as we hope it would, but the fact is these are mass produced consumer grade lenses- if you want perfection, it takes a bit more- you aren't into FA 31mm ltd territory here!

Admittedly I only had the thing for a week, but I took plenty of shots in the 50-70 range, and it always got there in the end- I could see it struggled at times, but none of the shots were soft. It's worth being aware, but I wouldn't let it put you off unless you know (as with Mike) that you can't stand the hesitation!

You mean like the DA* 16-50mm f2.8 and DA* 50-135mm?

Exactly

Mmmm, I suppose we should be glad those 2 don't have any SDM problems as well.


Oh wait .......

What do you expect? Should have bought Canikon