I'm thinking about adding this zoom to my lineup.

I have received one valued opinion on this lens and would like a few more.

Anyone have this lens? And, if so, your opinions

[daacon]

I had the lens Ed and then sold it. I now have sellers remorse. You can get incrediabley close with this lens.

cons:
There is some distortion at 12mm but not very much. I will either buy it again or get the Sigma 10-20. The thread size is huge (77mm) so filters are a bit expensive. The hood is also very wide making it hard to fit into the bag. This is one lens where at the wide end I had more issues with AF locking. A lot of of times I had to recompose picture and try again. This was not much of an issue for Landscapes but it was something I noticed.

Pros:
This is a very sharp lens. f4 in low light light works very well. I used it in Vegas Vegas2007-CarShow - a set on Flickr for an indoor car show as well as last christmas Maisie's House - a set on Flickr taking some decorations shots at night.

As mentioned I sold it on an impluse and now regret it

[Marc Langille]

Hi Ed,

No regrets about buying it. I agree with Dave, but the cons are generally minor. I've not used the Sigma, and I can endorse the DA 12-24...

Incredibly sharp... even at F/4. Wonderful zoom, and a CPL is on the front 99.9% of the time for landscape work. Of course, getting it last year when the rebates were running was almost a no-brainer - $100 off was a serious rebate!

Cheers,
Marc

[benjikan]

I have this lens and have used it for several pro shoots....

One of my favorites.

Here are some samples.

Ben

Attached Images

   

[Richard Day]

Had 2 Sigma 10-20's and returned both.

Tried a 12-24 and it was in a different league, superb IQ and excellent build quality, one of the best Pentax zooms.

It even has less distortion and is sharper than the prime DA14 at any aperture. It's the definitive WA zoom for Pentax, worth the extra over the Sigma any day.

I'm also very fond of the DA 10-17 as I often prefer no perspective stretch to the fattening effect that you get with rectilinear wide angles.

Examples:

Fisheye at 10mm




Corrected to rectilinear format:




It's even still evident at 17mm




Corrected to rectilinear, the guy on the right is still a bit fatter than in reality!




You have to be careful with both types of lens of course, which is why you'll probably need both! At least with the fish eye, you can defish, but theIQ is not as good as compared to a properly corrected rectilinear wide angle lens such as the DA 12-24.

[gnaztee]

It's part of my 3-lens kit right now with the DA 35 and the DA 70. I bought it because looking at the alternatives, I thought it was better on these points:

vs. Sigma 10-20: I didn't want a Sigma (silly, maybe, but I got Pentax for a reason)

vs. DA 14: Similar in size, but the flexibility of the zoom for landscape (where shooting at big apertures isn't necessary, at least for me).

vs. DA 21: Only 1/2 stop difference, not wide enough

vs. DA 16-45: Loved this lens when I had it, but wanted wider, plus had too much overlap.

And here are a couple of pics:





Hope this helps!

Todd

[davef]

I had it and sold it but recommend it highly. As others have noted, it is a great lens. I am still amazed at the lack of distortion in a rectilinear zoom that wide. Dave

Thanks everyone,

All of the positive comments lead me to the fact the this lens belongs in my line up.

Now, hmmmm Let me see what I can sell........

[TomInJax]

Now, hmmmm Let me see what I can sell........

Ed - that will be toughest part. First - either the Pentax 12-24 or the Sigma 10-20 will be a great lens. But - don't sell anything you have in your kit now. Sell something that your wife has. Didn't you say that she has expensive bicycles? *hint* *hint*

I have a few lenses that I have thought about selling, but I do occasionally use them. So I figure that life if too short to worry about a few hundred dollars. Especially since todays dollar is worth less and less over time. Buy it now while the dollar is still worth something. Once your kit is set up just the way you like it, you can pay your credit card with dollars that are worth less.

LBA!! Go for it!!

Ed - that will be toughest part. First - either the Pentax 12-24 or the Sigma 10-20 will be a great lens. But - don't sell anything you have in your kit now. Sell something that your wife has. Didn't you say that she has expensive bicycles? *hint* *hint*

I have a few lenses that I have thought about selling, but I do occasionally use them. So I figure that life if too short to worry about a few hundred dollars. Especially since todays dollar is worth less and less over time. Buy it now while the dollar is still worth something. Once your kit is set up just the way you like it, you can pay your credit card with dollars that are worth less.

LBA!! Go for it!!

Tom,

I don't have anything left that I want to sell.

Now, about Toni's Cannondale. She needs a new seat for it that costs around $200. I told her to go ahead and get it and reminded her that she probably needed a couple of new tires and maybe an extra front wheel to take with her.

I also told her that a couple of new riding outfits would sure look good on her.


More stuff for the Cannondale = More Camera stuff for Ed.



I guess that if someone had a DA 12-24 laying around, collecting dust, that they felt they needed to get rid of.....

I'd certainly be willing to help them out.

[heatherslightbox]

Ed,

I thought you were done with buying lenses for a while.
It must be that LBA flaring up again.

My LBA hasn't gone away--it's simply in remission, as I've just about run out of funds to support it. Unless DH agrees with me that we should split our tax rebate money, then the earliest I could afford to buy another lens would be late-July or early August.

After going out and shooting some beautiful waterfalls today with the 17-70, a wider zoom is definitely in my roadmap.

Heather