Joe, A friend of mine has that lens in Canon mount. It is sharpest near 50mm and so-so through the rest of the range. Contrast is a little flat and most of his pictures don't have the punch that he wants. It does focus close and is cheap (both price and build quality). Recently he bought a 50mm prime for his Rebel and is much happier with it.
Bruce Tuesday, January 7, 2003, 10:49:34 AM, you wrote: JW> I'm helping a co-worker who initially wanted a point-and-shoot camera JW> with a "macro" function to take pictures of small flower and jewelry JW> arrangements at workshops she attends. She tried the Fuji Zoom Date JW> 1000 (1:4 or so in its "macro" mode at 100mm), but quickly saw the JW> limitations of even a pseudo-macro function on a point-and-shoot JW> camera (framing errors and the macro mode cancelling after each shot, JW> requiring numerous button pushes to re-engage each time). JW> I now have the chance to help her buy a Pentax -- I've also read a JW> bit about the Sigma Mini Zoom Macro JW> (http://www.sigmaphoto.com/html/pages/28_80.htm) that does 28-80 and JW> has a 1:2 macro function on the long end. JW> I don't think she'll go for a separate macro lens -- she's JW> intimidated by the thought of an SLR, but I've convinced her that JW> it's the best option for her (she doesn't want to do digital, either). JW> What's the combo you'd recommend? Is there a Pentax zoom with a macro JW> function even close to the Sigma's specs? And what body? the ZX-7? JW> ZX-60? ZX-5N? ZX-L? JW> She'd like point-and-shoot simplicity with at least the ability to JW> force flash on or off at times, and a macro mode that doesn't cancel JW> itself after each shot. She'd also likely use it as a snapshot camera JW> as well, and at this point would not be looking at using more than JW> one lens. JW> Joe
