Tanya Love wrote: >So I really am needing a good wide angle zoom. I've been procrastinating on >it for ages and "making do" with my 18-55mm kit lens, but it's not fast >enough, and optically, could be better too. Sooo, would love to hear your >words of wisdom in regards to comparing these: > >1. Sigma Lens 20-40mm f/2.8 EX DG ASP - about $400 >2. PENTAX-DA* 16-50mm f/2.8 ED AL[IF]SDM - about $1400 >3. Pentax Lens 12-24mm f/4 ED AL IF DA - about $1269 >4. Sigma Lens 10-20mm f/3.5 EX DC HSM - about $927
The 16-50 would be my first choice unless you really, really need to go wider. The SDM focusing, weather sealing and excellent build quality are important considerations. Optically, it's as good as all but the most expensive primes. It's probably my most-used lens. Of the other three, the only one I've used is the Pentax 12-24. It's a very good lens. Obviously a stop slower than the 16-50 and lacks the weather sealing. I bought the Pentax 12-24 after considering the Sigma 10-20 f/4.0-5.6. In the end, I couldn't accept the weird distortion of the Sigma. You list the newer Sigma 10-20/3.5 which may be better (ought to be, given the price) but I've never tried one. I wouldn't have any worries about the build quality of the EX series Sigmas, though: I've owned two (and still have one) and they're as good or better built than the DA* Pentax zooms. Really solid. -- 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.
