Sample DA 17-70 shots

[Richard Day]

There has been a post over on the other forum regarding test shots from the new DA 17-70 on the Japanese DCWATCH website.
http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/lens_review/2008/07/18/8861.html

It seems to have gone largely ignored, but I have downloaded all 20 sample images and I must say they are very good. They are all highest res out of camera (K20D) images and as they haven't been post processed in any way are viable images for a true evaluation.

Here is a brief synopsis of what I think.

Lateral CA seemes less than the 16-45 by a reasonable amount. Looking at the images in SilkyPix and using the CA correction tool, the correction amounts at 17mm are typically 20-30% less than I usually need for the 16-45 at 16mm.

There is evidence of slight purple fringing in *very* high contrast transition zones, like leaves against a white sky, but still less than many other lenses, nothing to cause any concern.

There appears to be very little evidence of centering defects. In fact the edge to edge performance seems exceptionally good.

The distortion at 17mm seems very low, I would guess at less than 2%.

Sharpness seems very good at f4.5 and 17mm with little evidence of vignetting.

Colour is excellent, typical Pentax contrast and evenly saturated colours.

Bokeh seems a bit variable, in some shots it appears slightly ragged and in others quite smooth, appears worst at 17mm but still not what I would call objectionable.

In the mid range around 30mm the lens appears very sharp with excellent performance. At the long end it still seems reasonable, but I suspect it does soften somewhat at 70mm, but still not bad, even wide open.

If the production consistency is well controlled, this could be a very worthwhile lens to get. Certainly from the 20 shots available, I would have nothing to complain about.

Looking at the low apparent distortion at 17mm, it begs the question why they didn't squeeze it to 16mm, I would accept more distortion than it appears to exhibit at the wide end for that extra 1mm, it certainly seems much less than the DA*16-50 has at 16mm (and considerably less CA as well).

If the 17mm is generous and not an optimistic 18mm, then I would be very interested to replace my 16-45 with this lens. I hope to have one to try in the near future against my 16-45 and will post my results.

[aleonx3]

Anxiously waiting - will be my walk-around lens one day

[Miserere]

Thanks for that, Richard. I'm not interested in this lens, but I hope it's of high quality and they bring it out at a reasonable price. In theory this would be an almost perfect walk-around lens for the advanced amateur and it would do Pentax good to sell a lot of them...so they can invest the earnings in producing the DA* 85mm f/1.4

[Alfisti]

Originally Posted by Miserere

they bring it out at a reasonable price.

There's the rub, it's about 40% too expensive.

[kenyee]

Richard: have you tried out the Sigma 17-70? Curious what you thought of it compared to what you saw out of the DA17-70?
I think the 17-70 will make a great kit lens for the K1D or whatever that high end body is...

[clawhammer]

Economy Stimulus Check plus FY year end bonus from work = so many choices! I've been wanting this lens ever since I heard how silent my brother's sony 17-70 was compared to my FA 20-35 or DA 18-55. Nice to hear that it looks like a good performer.

[sewebster]

I've read in certain places that this lens has weather sealing and in others that it doesn't. Anyone know for sure?

[Alfisti]

Absolutely certain it doesn't.

[k100d]

i remember reading there was a ring around the lens mount

[Gooshin]

someone with CNC knowledge can cut a small grove into the OEM mount and then apply a rubber ring with some super glue..

ofcourse, the rest of the lens wont be sealed, OTOH, its not liek its full of holes waiting to have water sucked into it either.

[Torphoto]

ok now we really need to get this lens state side at $400 or less. I would like to see a comparo vs the sigma 17-70 but I think overall from the samples this will be a good kit addition for K10/K20D users.

No lets hope the 60-260 isn't far behind.

[creampuff]

Well the lens' target price is 65,000 Yen. The current DA 16-45 is priced at about 55,000 Yen (street price).

From the specs, NOT weather sealed but it has the SP protect water/oil repellent coating on the front element. The lens has 2 aspherical elements. Uses internal focusing of the elements with Quick Shift, so the front element nor lens barrel does not move when focusing. Has a minimum focusing distance of 0.28m. The lens does come with a recommendation to use slim type circular polarizing filters to avoid vignetting.

[Mike Cash]

Originally Posted by creampuff

Well the lens' target price is 65,000 Yen.

Ranges from about 57,000 ~ 65,000

The current DA 16-45 is priced at about 55,000 Yen (street price).

Ranges from about 39,300 ~ 58,000

[Richard Day]

Originally Posted by Mike Cash

Ranges from about 57,000 ~ 65,000


Ranges from about 39,300 ~ 58,000

Interesting. That's about £270 - £305 for the DA 17-70, does that include any taxes? Current UK price (SRS) is £375 inc VAT (£320 w/o tax)

For the DA 16-45, thats between £184 - £272. Current UK price (SRS) is £199.

So, hopefully, we may see some reasonable reductions in the price of the 17-70 shortly.

[pastorbbc]

B&H has it in stock and Amazon says it will be in stock today. I think it is $599.00