SMC-DA 12-24 ED AL (IF)

Well, I took the plunge and ordered the 12-24mm from www.TechnikDirekt.de
Couldn't believe it - ordered it on Wednesday, shipped on Thursday, and arrived this morning (Monday) before 9am. Pretty sure it wasn't Parcelfarce too - I was so stunned the only thing I noticed was the green uniform.

Have noticed there's some CA on the lens (easily corrected in Adobe Camera RAW), but will do some more in depth tests and comparisons with the 16-45mm later.

Matt

Sounds like good service - just looking to get either a Pentax 16-45 or possibly Sigma 17-70 to replace the 18-35 that came with my D. I've tried the Sigma on a Nikon D70, and the CA was far better than my 18-35, but am very much tempted by the wider end of the 16-45.

But then the Sigma's f/2.8 at the wide end.

But then the Pentax is constant aperture...

Decisions, decisions!

I know what everyone's going to say - "GET THE PENTAX!", and I probably will, especially seeing the price on Technikdirect.

Matt, I couldn't see how to get the item delivered, there was only a pick-up option. I was only having a quick look before I go out, but I was a little confused.

Hope you have fun with the new lens,
Dan

Dan,
First of all, the 16-45 is a stonkingly good lens. I've had my best shots from this lens. It's been beautiful for landscapes. The 12-24 has a lot to live up to compared to the 16-45!!

With the "Pick Up" option - that seems a bit of a mis-translation. That was the option I used, and it implies "Pick Up from TechnikDirekt by a courier". That was €22. Like you I was nervous at first, but it all worked out in the end!! Total price was around £460 (will check when I get my card bill in)

I've tried the Sigma 10-20 on a Canon 20D. It's a monster compared to the Pentax 12-24 which is surprisingly compact (even though it has 77mm filters). The petal hood is huge though!

I've had a quick read up about CA, and Panotools will be my correction of choice (so that I can still use Capture One). I've read some scary tutorials about calculating the a,b,c,d values for Panotools - but I will try and find time to suss it all out
I may be first up with CS and CS2 values just to get you in the right ballpark at the 12mm end.

First look at a couple of samples - the resolution looks a winner!
I'll keep you posted...
Matt

Despite quite liking the higher spec Sigma lenses I think when it comes to a good quality normal range zoom the Pentax 16-45 has to be the front runner. I'd have bought one myself but as I'd decided to go with the 10-20mm Sigma for the wide end the 24-135 F2.8-F4 Sigma was a better zoom range match. I might still buy one though as it'd be useful for those days when I only want to carry a single lens.

The Sigma is a fair old size but it seems to match well with the DS body and they feel right as a combination.

Thanks all for info. Just realised you can get the 16-45 at the same price (or less) in the UK, so will do that when I decide - may well even walk into a shop and order it (unless they have one on the shelf ), rather than mail-order.

I'm missing the high resolution at the wide angle end that I used to get with my 24mm on film, and, like many others I'm sure, I said "I'll still use film for the really important stuff", but 1 roll in the last year shows the D is more than capable.

Or that I've done nothing important in 12 months.

Dan

The 16-45 will give you that 24mm wide angle that you miss, and it is an excellent lens. Very sharp, with well controlled chromatic abberation (not totally eliminated, but pretty good).

The 12-24mm will go as wide as most of us will ever need, and a lot wider than most of us has lenses for 35mm format for anyway.

I use the 12-24 and the 16-45 on the D, and they are both exquisite lenses. Under high magnification you might find a touch of CA with the 12-20, but it's easy to fix in Adobe Camera RAW.

Well, I threw caution to the wind and ordered a 16-45 yesterday, should get it Friday. Thanks for all your recommendations.

Dan

I started doing some resolution tests and CA tests on the 12-24, but haven't had time to finish them

My initial findings at f4 are that the 12-24 is sharper than the 24-90, but not quite as sharp as the 16-45. If you're wondering, f4 was the MTF for both the 12-24 and 16-45, but I need to test at other f-stops too.

There was definitely more CA in the 12-24 at 18mm compared to the 16-45 at 16mm. However, it looks controllable, and I'm trying to map it out for Panotools and get you some half-decent coefficients. The coefficients for the 16-45 are already available in the PTLens profiles (which are just text files. Hint hint).

Just to whet your appetite though for this still amazing piece of glass, check this out http://www.ephotozine.com/gallery/showlargepic.cfm?photoid=451621 (Shameless plug) If you are an ePhotozine member, do take a look at the larger size

I'll be back with some more samples after the weekend
Matt

(Just a minor piece of cross posting)

Bought PTLens anyway - it's a very nice plugin! It includes the correction data for the SMC-DA 16-45. Furthermore it includes the distortion characteristics for the Tokina 12-24mm, which I reckon is pretty close to the Pentax

I've also discovered that not all CA is easy to fix with Panotools. PTLens includes the regular sliders (as available in Adobe Camera RAW and CS2) to correct basic CA. However, when there are very bright highlights these tend to "bloom" into coloured CA which needs other correction (in fact this is the type of CA I experienced when using the SMC-F 100mm/f2.8 macro) - there's not a lot can be done automatically...

... except I'll be trying out the other link I posted for the $10 action that purports to fix this type of blooming CA. I'll let you know

Matt

Well, I took over 200 shots with the SMC-DA 12-24 and SMC-FA 24-90 around Paris at the weekend

The 12-24 is a really nice lens, and the two lenses work really well together. PTLens does a great job of fixing the distortions and adjusting basic CA. The images are nice'n'sharp. I'm just pondering on uploading a full resolution image or two at PBase (but there'll be some 1000 pixel images for view at my ePhotozine gallery of the same user name).

Matt

Here's a shot (of the Louvre and the railings of the Jardin de Touilleries).

The original is here:
http://www.pbase.com/image/58584965
Straight out of Capture One, in sRGB colour space.

The reworked image is:
http://www.pbase.com/image/58584956
PTLens corrected, Sharpen-O-Matic, and some Photoshop selective curves to bring out the clouds. I didn't fully correct the CA in this - the far tower for instance.

They are available at full res.

Enjoy
Matt

Do I detect a bit of vignetting in the original?

I've just bought the 16-45mm DA lens and I'm very pleased with it. Does the slightly increased angle of view of the 12-24 DA make a significant difference to photographic opportunity though ? At nearly twice the price of the 16-45mm DA, I would certainly have trouble (as an amateur) justifying the purchase of this lens to myself, let alone 'the boss (wife)'.