I recently picked up a used Tamron 18-250 for £180 off Ebay which is only slightly above your budget - it's regularly quoted as the best "walkabout" available and my initial impressions certainly are positive

Simon

Personally I wouldnt take anymore than your original choice - I went to China with the DA12-24, DA40mm and DA 55-300mm & never missed my DA17-70 which I left at home

Simon

Nice series - last one is my favourite too, great foreground colours. Hope you found it as fascinating as I did - such a contrast of architecture, casinos/old town/temples and a lighthouse in the middle of a park!! Look forward to seeing more shots

Simon

Always keep an eye on this thread...

regarding dust I've never had any issues on either my previous K10D or current K20D - maybe I've just been lucky

Simon

Hi Chris,

Having posted on the "other forum" you already know that whilst I'm very pleased with the DA12-24 I still find my DA17-70 gets used more often for landscapes, I prefer the colour/contrast - having said that when I visited China last year the 12-24 was invaluable for all the architectural shots I wanted to take as the 17-70 wasn't wide enough.

Sorry for not helping your decision much but it's a difficult one, personally I think an UWA complements the DA17-70 not replaces it

Simon

I used both the 17-70 & 12-24...Derwent water, Borrowdale & Dale Head are all with the 17-70 whilst both Buttermere shots are with the 12-24 @ 12mm - both shots would have been pretty much impossible without the UWA. That said, during the week, I still found I used the 17-70 most of the time.

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If you mean the brown/yellows then it's pretty much how the mountains were - I'd agree it's pretty unnatural for this time of year - it looked more like autumn - I've never seen the place so dry, hardly any of the normal lush green scenery that the Lakes is famous for.

Simon

I've returned from a great week in the Lake District, in fact probably the best weather week I've had there, it shows in the colours around the mountains too - amazingly dry. These were all taken whilst hiking so "golden hour" light wasn't an option (mainly because I was too shattered to get out of bed early!!) - all comments welcome as usual though!!

Simon

Derwent water



Descending from Red Pike



View from Haystacks



Borrowdale from Castle Crag




Dale Head returning from Watendlath

Mhuni covers most of what needs to be said but just to add..

In the 17-70 range, whilst the Sigma is a very good lens, for me the Pentax DA beats it, not for sharpness as they're about equal, but definitely for colour/contrast rendition - the Pentax just produces nicer looking images (in my mind anyway).

The DA17-70 is a very good lens, the DA18-135 doesn't appeal as much to me, partly due to the Photozone review but also of all the images I've seen posted from it I've seen little that really impressed me.

Now to the slight negative...the DA 17-70 does struggle occasionally in low contrast scenes, particularly towards the 70mm end - for my use I've never really found this a significant issue. I'm not convinced this issue is unique to the 17-70 either or as a result of SDM, my DA55-300 does exactly the same on the odd occasion.

Simon

Nice one !!

Simon