So what can I say about this lens that hasn't been said before. Not much
really, except that it works, nicely. It's a good complement to the F
70-210 as a two lens kit.
Mechanically it's an older lens, so no fancy SDM style motor, and focus
is a bit noisy using the camera's motor, but not exceptionally so, and
autofocus is fairly fast and accurate. It's mostly plastic, but has
metal in it's barrel and mount. That said it is coated with Sigma's
rubberized plastic on most exposed surfaces, so the differences between
plastic and metal parts is minimal to the user.
It has a zoom lock that works only at 17 mm as the lens does tend to
zoom by itself when the lens is pointed down or up at two great an
angle. The zooming is smooth though and feels very good.
Focusing throw for manual focusing is only about 18° and isn't quick
shift capable, (not that any of the other lenses I use are but it might
matter to someone else), and a goodly part of that is beyond infinity,
so it can be a bit finicky, but it's pretty well damped and holds position;
Optically it's good enough, maybe others using higher resolution sensors
might find problems with it but with the 16mp and 14 mp sensors in the
K-5II and K20D, it has sufficient resolving power to give acceptably
clear sharp images from corner to corner. Vignetting isn't noticeable in
normal usage, though there is some at shorter focal lengths with wider
apertures.
The build quality feels pretty good, better than the FA 20-35, which
feels decidedly plasticy.
The only real nit I have is the lens cap, which is a PITA to take off
and replace with the supplied lens hood, so I've replaced it with a
Tamron center pinch cap.
Finally for those who care what it looks like on a camera it's no more
out of place on the K-5II cosmetically than the the original F series
lenses, and about the same but in another direction than those same
lenses on the K20D.
So bottom line, if you're looking for a good walking around lens or even
a semi pro event lens, I'd recommend it. At current used prices?
KEH.com often sells them for less than $200. US. Which makes them
almost a steal.
What this means to me is that my FA 20-35mm is now semi retired, and my
FA 28-70mm, which I haven't used in years now that I think about it, is
officially retired.
--
America wasn't founded so that we could all be better.
America was founded so we could all be anything we damn well please.
- P.J. O'Rourke
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