Having owned both, I have to say that the DA 16-45 shows considerably
more distortion at the wide end than the DA* 16-50, although both are
good in this regard. From what I've seen both are far better in terms
of wide end distortion than the DA 17-70, although they are a bit
wider. Also remember that the field of view varies greatly among these
lenses. The FOV of a 20 is equivalent to that of a 30 in full frame,
while the FOV of a 16 is that of a 24. Much more useful FOV for shots
where you need wide.
But you've certainly done some homework. Best of luck with this. I
think the Tamron is a good choice if the price is right.
Paul
On Nov 15, 2008, at 1:42 PM, Boris Liberman wrote:
Hi!
So here is the list of some lenses that I thought about recently and
the considerations that may prevent me from buying them.
1. SMCP DA* 16-50/2.8 - serious distortions at wide end, quality
control issues still there
2. SMCP DA 17-70/4 SDM - some say it is a sibling of SMCP DA 10-17
fish eye wide end distortion-wise. Perfect otherwise.
3. SMCP DA 16-45/4 - slightly less distortions at wide end,
basically ok, though the CAs could be a problem.
4. Tamron 17-50/2.8 - suffers from curvature of field, rather good
otherwise
5. Sigma 18-50/2.8 - well, I just don't quite like Sigma, and
certain people call Sigma really nasty names
6. SMCP DA 21/3.2 AL Limited - excellent lens, just not wide enough
7. Tamron 17-35/2.8-4 - covers full frame, but also suffers from
curvature of field
8. Sigma 17-70/2.8-4.5 - well, another Sigma
9. SMCP FA 20-35/4 - said to be excellent, but expensive and
starting to become quite rare these days.
No matter how strange this sounds, but it seems that there is no
decidedly good lens in 16(17,18)-45(50, 70) range for modern Pentax
DSLR. Each lens has some serious drawbacks.
So here you have it - a short summary. Please don't kill the scribe.
Boris
P.S. I already have 21 ltd, it is listed here just for sake of
completeness.
P.P.S. I should watch for reviews of DA 17-70/4 and some sample
shots as well.
P.P.P.S. The price on (even brand new) DA 16-45/4 has gone down
considerably now...
4P.1S. I have placed an order for Tamron 17-50/2.8 and I may still
buy one for lack of better alternative due to its speed and
sharpness. Having excellent sample of Tamron 28-75/2.8 has its
impact on my reasoning...
--
PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
[email protected]
http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above
and follow the directions.
--
PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List
[email protected]
http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow
the directions.
