Jonathan, There are other 17 and 18mm choices out there: 1. Ricoh made an XR Rikenon 18/2.8. A couple months ago one was on German EBay. It sold March 10 to a European PDMLer for just 156 Euros (about $120). It resembles the Pentax 18/3.5 but uses a 67mm filter (vs. 58). I have a photo of it; it looks like a serious lens. But almost impossible to find; the German one was one of two I've seen. 0.25m close focus, 348 g, 76mm wide, 71mm long; 11 elements in 9 groups, multicoated.
2. Since 18mm is something of a specialty lens, you may decide you don't need the K mount. If so, you might consider the Pentax SMC 17/4, or the highly regarded Sigma XQ 18/3.5 in screwmount with a YS adapter. It was also sold by Ritz as the Quantary Tech-10. 72mm filter size. I have a photo or two of the Sigma, if you're interested. It sells for $175 to $275 when you find it online. I'm reasonably sure this was different from the Sigma that was rebadged as the Spiratone, Vivitar, and Tokina. 3. Before introducing the ATX 17/3.5 PRO in AF, Tokina sold the ATX 17-AF, the same optics but not as well built. Unlike the PRO, it was offered in K mount! And even if the focal length was fudged 1mm, you're still in the 18mm ballpark. Collected comments: Average Overall Rating: 4.33 out of 5 stars with 3 review(s) Submitted by Arnon Hubara , Date Reviewed: 1/14/01 12:10:37 AM Professional photographer from Helsinki Finland. With 11-20 years experience in Outdoor photography. Price Paid: $350 Purchased At: helsinki Strengths: The lens I own produces excellent images. Sharpness and contrast is very high thanks to the aspherical element. Weaknesses: The lens I own is AT-X non pro, it's mechanism is very weak and causes a lot of problems. Other Products Used: Pentax-A 15mm 3.5 Nikon 20mm 2.8 Customer Service: It was repaired once by Tokina's representative, good service. Twice by an independent, excellent service! Review Summary: Boasts excellent optical quality specialty comparing to it's very low price. Produces far better images than the much more expensive Pentax that I had before. However due to mechanical problems I intend to exchange it with the Pro model which is optically identical. The rating I submit is only for the non pro lens. 4 stars value, 4 stars overall. Submitted by Alberto Baffa , Date Reviewed: 4/29/00 4:56:16 PM Intermediate photographer from Lecce, Italy . With 6-10 years experience in Outdoor photography. Strengths: Very good construction quality and - surprise! - good (never said) resistance to ghost and flares! Weaknesses: on the plastic mount of a Minolta HTsi it sometimes fail in monitoring shutter opening (just a stupid problem); you have to be used with a bit of distortion (but it's a 17...) Other Products Used: no one so wide Review Summary: I falled in love with super wide angles shoot, and decided to got this Tokina for the 17 vs price; I took my first three rolls from the lab two days ago (superia100, ultra100 and Ekta100vs): no vignetting with polarizer and, believe me, I am very very happy. TIP!: choose this or another prime super wide, and not a zoom like 17-35 or similar: very close focus is ESSENTIAL (imho) to got smart pictures with this focal length. 5 stars value, 4 stars overall. As reviewed by Ken Welsh , Date Reviewed: 4/21/00 1:36:48 PM Professional photographer from Dublin, County Dublin Eire. With 21+ years experience in photography. (Note: This review is apparently for the PRO version) Strengths: Exceptionally well built. My sample offers extremely sharp optics. Have duped some shots up to 6x9cm Weaknesses: I'm happy. Other Products Used: 20mm Nikon f4 and 20mm Nikon AF f2.8 Customer Service: No problems, so far (3 years) Review Summary: My sample is a bargain alternative to much more expensive marquee optics. I have two other ATX Tokina lenses which are also excellent: the 28-70mm f2.6-F2.8 and the 100-300mm f4. The only bad luck I have had with Tokina ATX lenses is with the f2.8 20-35mm. My tests - on a tripod - showed the edges to be soft. I sold it. 5 stars value, 5 stars overall. Paul Franklin Stregevsky - 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 .
