[regken]

I got the 75-210 range covered. Now I need to get a lens to cover the standard range. These are the 5 I'm looking at. Would anyone care to take a stab at rating these for IQ?

Tokina AF 28-70mm f/2.6-2.8 AT-X Pro II
SMC Pentax-FA 24-90mm F3.5-4.5 AL
Sigma AF 28-70mm f/2.8 EX
Sigma AF 28-70mm f/2.8
Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 sp xr DI

Got any other ideas that would cost less than $550.00? Need at least 70mm at the long end. Have to be at least 28mm on the wide end. The speed is not all that important.

Thanks for any help.

Ken

[Hopi]

I got the 75-210 range covered. Now I need to get a lens to cover the standard range. These are the 5 I'm looking at. Would anyone care to take a stab at rating these for IQ?

Tokina AF 28-70mm f/2.6-2.8 AT-X Pro II
SMC Pentax-FA 24-90mm F3.5-4.5 AL
Sigma AF 28-70mm f/2.8 EX
Sigma AF 28-70mm f/2.8
Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 sp xr DI

Got any other ideas that would cost less than $550.00? Need at least 70mm at the long end. Have to be at least 28mm on the wide end. The speed is not all that important.

Thanks for any help.

Ken

Hi Ken

I have the Tamron 28-75/2.8 and can recommend this lens. Nice colors and bokhe. A litle bit soft wide open at 75mm/2.8. but still a nice portrett lens. Try the lens in the store if you can, there is some bad samples of this lens,
but I think Tamron have better quality controll then Sigma.
Take a look at PhotoZone. They have done some test in Nikon and Canon mount of some of the lens you ask about.

You can find a test for the pentax 24-90 compared with 16-45/4 here: Translated version of http://www.pictchallenge-archives.net/TESTNUM/BxuREV7.html.

Good luck..

Hopi.

[smcclelland]

One lens I've been eyeing is the Sigma 17-70 f2.8 - f4.5. If speed isn't of priority to you then it might be a decent lens of choice, sigma4less has them for about $350US.

[philmorley]

Hi, I have the tamron, personally it is a beautiful lens and I can't recommend it enough. there are multiple models of the sigma 28-70 (there is also a 24-70) I went through 3 of the DF's (been replaced with the dg??) and found all 3 to be soft and finally decided it probably wasn't just quality variations (although some people are happy with the lens)

Phil

[Peter Zack]

All my glass to this point as been Pentax or Sigma and I do like many of the Sigma lenses. But after doing some reading and listening to others comments about the softness of the Sigma I decided to give the Tamron 28-75 f2.8 Di Macro a try. Only had it for a week but it seems to be a winner. One other forum member had this lens and an FA*28-70 at the same time and although he felt the IQ of the Pentax was a bit better he couldn't justify keeping the FA*.

I'm very happy with it and would definetly recommend the lens to anyone. You can see a few pics I've taken with it so far here: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/post-your-photos/10039-first-image-record-holding-lens.html

One of the things I really like is the flare control it seems to have. The tractor shot was straight into the sun and I took 18 frames of this image. Only 1 had any flare and it was minimal.

[FotoPete]

Ken, you've got some killer primes, I don't think you should be downgrading your IQ going zooms haha.

Under $500?

The Sigma 17-70 seems to be getting rave reviews so I'll just agree with that one haha.

Personally, I'd rather save some more $$ and pump up the metal.

Vivitar Series 1 28-90 f2.8-3.5
Vivitar Series 1 28-85 f2.8-3.8
Kiron 28-70 f3.5-4.5

Sigma 24-135 if you want to be really cheap haha.

I don't have much experience with any other standard lenses although you might want to take a look at the DA16-45/4. I've take test shots on a variety of occasions at the camera store and its very sharp!

[smcclelland]

Some example photos I found of the 17-70 while digging around today... quite impressed with the photos.

Sigma DC 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 Test Report Photo Gallery by jimcreek at pbase.com

[regken]

Ken, you've got some killer primes, I don't think you should be downgrading your IQ going zooms haha.

Under $500?

The Sigma 17-70 seems to be getting rave reviews so I'll just agree with that one haha.

Personally, I'd rather save some more $$ and pump up the metal.

Vivitar Series 1 28-90 f2.8-3.5
Vivitar Series 1 28-85 f2.8-3.8
Kiron 28-70 f3.5-4.5

Sigma 24-135 if you want to be really cheap haha.

I don't have much experience with any other standard lenses although you might want to take a look at the DA16-45/4. I've take test shots on a variety of occasions at the camera store and its very sharp!

Pete,

You are a bad influence!! I'm afraid you are pushing me toward the series 1 lenses. What should a good 28-90 or 28-85 sell for?

Thanks,

Ken

[FotoPete]

you should be able to get them for under $100 on ebay. lol personally I don't see what the fuss is all about regarding most AF lenses. Most I think are overrated especially for the price charged. Its worse when you see a manual lens thats just as good optical but built with metal and selling for cheaper.

Besides getting SLRs is for creative control right? Autofocus for the most part, is not going to be doing you any favours.

[regken]

Personally, I'd rather save some more $$ and pump up the metal.

Vivitar Series 1 28-90 f2.8-3.5
Vivitar Series 1 28-85 f2.8-3.8
Kiron 28-70 f3.5-4.5

Pete, How do I tell if this is a series 1?
Vivitar Auto Focus Zoom Lens 70-210mm - mint condition - (item 180144210865 end time Aug-05-07 19:10:49 PDT)

Thanks,

Ken

[FotoPete]

It ain't Series 1 and I've never seen a Vivitar like that before. Probably a Tokina rebadge or something.

check the first two Vivitar serial #s. The good ones are usually from Kiron (#22), Komine (#28) and Tokina (#37). Note this does not apply to every lens but a good rule of thumb. Cosina made Vivitars (#09) are not as good and their build quality tends to be worse.

If you don't like vivitar, there are plenty of other strong k-Mount offerings including Pentax's own lenses.

[little laker]

I couldn't find any reviews on it, but here's a very affordable lens from Pentax themselves
https://pc-wweb.pentax.com/scripts/wgate/zw20_pc/!?~language=en&~Okcode=star...rea=0000000002
$83.00 US new.

It can't be the best quality in the world, but it's probably good for the money.

[and]

I got the 75-210 range covered. Now I need to get a lens to cover the standard range. These are the 5 I'm looking at. Would anyone care to take a stab at rating these for IQ?

Sigma AF 28-70mm f/2.8 EX
Sigma AF 28-70mm f/2.8

*throws garlic and holy water at the sigma ex*

I have one and its pretty usefull!

because its pretty hot in summer and I turn my fan on but the wind can blow papers off my desk so this lens is great for keeping those papers from being blown away. Because of the constant f2.8 aperature, this lens has the added advantage of extra weight to keep those papers down.

[bc_the_path]

Without the Sigma 17-70mm, that list is incomplete!

[Bramela]

Yes, Bulent, I was just about to send the same message.
Sigma 17-70 must be included as one lens of high rating for its price.
I use it and swear by it.