On Thu, 20 Dec 2001 15:22:07 -0700, Weist, Jeff wrote: > I also picked up a Sigma 400 5.6 APO for kicks, although it is so > dark to focus that I can probably only use it on sunny days at noon.
I got the AF Macro version of this lens earlier this week. I haven't shot any film with it yet, but I like what I've seen in the playing around I've been doing after work. I start Christmas holidays tomorrow, so hopefully I'll get a chance to take it out and play with it in the coming days. I hope that the combination of APO and Macro features lead to a lens that's at least as sharp as my SMC-K 400/5.6 (which seems to me to be sharper than my Tokina SD 400/5.6 PK-A). Even if the K is actually sharper, I may get more good shots with the AF Sigma, if I can get my panning and AF technique refined. It's handy that it uses the same filter size as the K 400/5.6 (77mm). The build quality feels fine to me. I like the built in hood, but mine is a little tough to extend and retract. That will probably ease with use. There's none of the "whirring" that some folks (including me) object to in some of the AF lenses when focused manually. (I wonder if that's related to the fact that there's an HSM version of the lens?) It has an MF/AF clutch so you're not driving the camera's motor around when manually focusing the lens and the body is in AF mode. Clutching to MF and leaving the camera body in AF gives you the same "snap in focus" behavior you can get with the K, M, and A Pentax lenses. Apparently clutching to MF changes the values the lens presents to the contacts in the mount. I _really_ like the tripod collar and foot on this lens. I especially like that it's easily removable, can be reversed to move the CG around, and has index lines for both landscape and portrait orientations so I don't have to use a plumb bob and a spirit level. :-) On the "who needs a manual" front, I'd probably never have figured out how to remove the tripod collar without the manual or a lot of dumb luck. :-) The "macro" goes to 1:3, meaning a 1.6m closest focus. Quite a pleasant change from the 3m or 4m close focus of the K 400/5.6 and Tokina SD 400/5.6 manual focus lenses. I do not find the viewfinder to be particularly dark, but that's probably because I do quite a bit of shooting with 200/4 and 400/5.6 lenses ... and those lenses with one or two 2X-S T/Cs behind them. It autofocuses faster on my ZX-5 than I would have expected. It does tend to "micro hunt" a little in bad lighting, though. What I mean is that it quickly homes in on the focal distance of the subject, then hunts back and forth in very small increments on either side of the subject a couple or four times. Both of these effects are probably related to the relatively short end-to-end throw of the focusing ring and mechanism. I'll let you all know what I find optically when I do some shooting with it. TTYL, DougF - This message is from the Pentax-Discuss Mail List. To unsubscribe, go to http://www.pdml.net and follow the directions. Don't forget to visit the Pentax Users' Gallery at http://pug.komkon.org .
